OpinionLineage can offer a backdoor entry, and maybe a longer rope, but Malayalam cinema has made it clear that a director’s longevity rests on their craftsmanship, an urge to do something radical, exciting, bold, and original.In 1987, when Mammootty’s career had hit a roadblock, it was director Joshiy’s salvo called New Delhi that helped him regain his stardom. Mammootty rose from there like the proverbial phoenix, reinventing himself, reshuffling genres, and prioritising the actor in him. Thirty six years later, as Joshiy’s son Abhilash Joshiy - a debutant director - and Mammootty’s son and a bona fide star Dulquer Salman united on screen, the stakes weren’t exactly that high. Dulquer, with over 34 films in his kitty and a marked presence in other language films, commanding a box office initial next only to Mammootty and Mohanlal with an envious pan-Indian fan following, was just testing the waters.
- 8/31/2023
- by LakshmiP
- The News Minute
MollywoodThe Shaji Kailas era in Malayalam cinema gave leverage to the emergence of the bombast-spouting alpha male heroes on screen. At a time when flawed, sensitive male characters are finding space on the screen, where do his alpha male heroes feature? Neelima MenonThe word is that filmmakers of the older generation from Sibi Malayil, Sathyan Anthikad, and Kamal to Lal Jose, are all struggling to make an impact, with their cinematic graphs showing a decline in the last 10 years. Among them is Shaji Kailas, one of the most successful mainstream filmmakers in Malayalam cinema, who had been in self-imposed exile for a long time since 2013 after his Malayalam film, Ginger (2013), a comedy headlining Jayaram, sank without a trace. Now 9 years later, when Malayalam cinema is chasing newer narratives, milieus, and subverting cliches and stereotypes, Shaji Kailas re-emerged with Kaduva, a story set in the ’90s, headlining an alpha male hero...
- 1/26/2023
- by AjayR
- The News Minute
MollywoodFrom 'Irakal' to 'Ayyappanum Koshiyum', the achayan role has gone through a transformation in Malayalam cinema over the years.Neelima MenonWhen it comes to Christian characters, Malayalam cinema has largely fallen back on characters who are Roman Catholics. Sources from the industry say that one reason is that most church scenes are shot inside the Catholic churches in cinema, as the other sects have stricter rules. It therfore seems logical that this became the popular choice. Though other subsections of the religion have also been explored, we're settling on the most popular characterisation of Christian men in Malayalam cinema—the Christian planter/achayan. It was Kg George who set the pattern for the archetypal rich, corrupt Christian planter/achayan family model with Irakal’s Mamachan and family: The rich fathers, the spoilt purposeless sons, and their bored homebound wives. This was later picked up by other filmmakers and...
- 4/17/2020
- by Sowmya
- The News Minute
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