Malayalam Industry has always concentrated on giving path breaking screenplays, good stories and a great movie experience for the people out here. Well, much before the release of the movie Premam, Malayalam Industry always had its eye on the storyline which a lot others haven’t realized until now. Not many of us know that it has been silently breaking barriers and has been giving critically acclaimed movies. Not many of us are aware that quality Indian movies have been produced by Malayalam Cinema and we have just remade it to get box office hits. It is sure a shame that Bollywood and Kollywood has always concentrated on superficial and extreme heroism.
There are a lot of lessons we as movie buffs can learn from Malayalam Industry. So, today, we are going to bring out the important and most valuable lessons that Malayalam Cinema has been following for decades that has gone unnoticed among other external factors like hero worship, fancy locations, vfx drama and whatnot!
Here’s an ode to Malayalam Cinema!
1Malayalam movies are like fine wine
A lot of people may complain that Malayalam movies are very draggy and slow which results in a low interest level. While, Kollywood and Bollywood industry believes in giving a chopped version of unbaked cake, Malayalam cinema gives a fully baked creamy cake that satisfies the audience and doesn’t leave them dumbfound or unsatisfied. Malayalam movies make you fall in love with them in a very slow manner and don’t expect you to like them right away. You will slowly get into the character and place yourself in the character’s shoes and then start to love it. You definitely need a lot of patience, but with patience, you will receive an absolutely breathtaking narrative. Every Malayalam movie is original and you will be transformed to another world by the end of the movie. That sure is the magic that Malayalam Industry can give us.
2Art knows no ego
Filmmaking is a great way of bringing the creative self out in open. Only if you have a like minded team, can you do anything that can astound your audience. The best movies have always been single handedly done by just one or maximum two lead stars. Hero worship has become the custom of our current movie world. How many Tamil, Telugu or Hindi heroes would not mind sharing screen space with their co-stars? A lot of these stars would want a larger screen space to showcase their talent, their power and definitely their heroism. But, Malayalam cinema right from the beginning has been sidelined this concept. Malayalam actors are plot oriented because they are very keen and respect the plot of the movie. If the director can justify multiple famous stars in one movie, then the actors don’t hesitate to do that.
3No foreign locations
If you take a close look at the movies that have been released in the past few years, you will notice that out of 10 movies, maximum 1 or 2 might have foreign locations. That is it! Movies like Premam, Charlie, Oru Vaddakan Selfie, Ustad Hotel and so many more happen in a city or a village. They don’t require foreign locations for songs or romance sequences. It just proves that you really don’t have to get out of the country to show beauty and serenity. Malayalam cinema focuses on showing their state’s serenity, beauty, landscapes, villages and culture. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have foreign locations at all. But if the movie is about a village, you can’t have a song for the lead couple in Argentina just for the heck of it. Malayalam movies focus on reality more than dream sequences which has proven to be a huge success.
4No woman objectification
Well, we have grown up seeing women as sex objects where the men in the movie objectify, mock and make fun of the womanhood. Bollywood mainly has always shown women as the lower sex class where the women are bought only for songs and important romance scenes. Malayalam Cinema has the path breaking portrayal of women and many heroines have played strong female characters in movies. There are so many wonderful cinematic portrayals of women in this industry like Mili, 22 Female Kotayam or even Munariyippu. Not just this, every Malayalam film treats their women characters with respect, dignity and doesn’t use them just as sex objects. The women characters portrayed are real and the ones that we witness in our day to day life.
Here are some Malayalam movies that every person has to watch
5Young fresh talent
If you go through most of the director’s profile in the Malayalam Cinema, you will find that most of them are not more than their 30s. This is because they are given the chance and they are believed by the producers for their scripts and screenplay. Mollywood believes in fresh breed and is definitely on a constant lookout for creativity and passion. So, they don’t really care how experienced or inexperienced the director is. As long as the story, the crew and the screenplay work fine for everyone, the movie will go on floors as planned. The Mollywood Industry sure has the audacity to risk it all and try new things that hasn’t been already tried by others.
6They credit the writers
We always thank, appreciate and love the directors of the movie but what about the writers of the movie? If the director is the writer himself, then that is fine, but there are so many writers who aren’t the directors of the movie. They do not get a lot of recognition. Well, Malayalam Industry sure gives them the much needed recognition and makes them proud of their work.
These lessons could be one of the reasons why Malayalam Industry is not credited as much as it has to amongst the other Industries, but we love you Mollywood! Keep making more amazing movies!
Also know – Some throwback comedy shows
-Pavithra Ravi
