A string of new age, mint fresh Malayalam movies brings back my belief and conviction in meaningful movie…a term that was almost endangered of being classified as an ‘oxymoron’ over the past few years. Being the hard-core eighties born phenomenon, childhood and adolescence were equally divided between the stimulating Malayalam movies of 80’s and a fair share of Hollywood movies. And come 90’s and early 2000’s, that favouritism and conviction in Malayalam movies slowly declined and finally vanished. It was almost an era where the movie makers literally went on a disastrous adventure..starting to mimic the gimmicks of the garish, colourful Tamil movies..stumbling and finally ending miserably trying to infuse the Bollywood song, action and dance formula into Malayalam movies. They almost lost touch with the ‘soul’ and heartbeat of Malayalam movie making…finally trampling and crushing its USP under the guise of ‘super star’ blockbusters… There was a surge in ‘masala’ movies (a term almost alien to Malayalam moviegoers)..almost a trend and belief that a song, fight and dance from the ‘immortal’ superstars would keep the audience stimulated and happy..unique stories, witty dialogues, enchanting camera angles all took backseat in this race for Masala filmdom!
A look back at the 80’s and one cannot help but pride and praise the geniuses that gave us movies that broke all ‘conventions’..contemporary stories beyond their age and era..stories that even today may sound ‘futuristic’..dialogues that probably can tickle my funny bone despite hearing it a million times. When the entire industry was saluting dramatic performances, Malayalam movies stood its ground with ‘realistic’ subtle performances. The large churn of today’s Bollywood remakes of 80’s Malayalam movies can be taken as an insult or a tribute to the intellectual supremacy of these movies...The haunting brilliance that lived through those numerous characters …it remains in my Mal heart as vintage charm..difficult to erase and impossible to recreate..
Just when we thought the war was lost, a breed of movie makers almost woke up from their slumber to give us an array of scintillating Malayalam movies…so reminiscent of its glorious past.! Stories that broke the ‘boy meets girl’ moulds..scripts that kept the audience hooked till the end…performances (and not actors) that ruled the movies..new faces, experimental themes, crisp ‘no-nonsense’ scenes..it was a journey away from the stereotypes and clichés of moviemaking…there was no reliance on big stars and raunchy item numbers to make it to the ‘blockbbuster’ race! Its success rode on a simple story..just well told and well crafted! It raced into the audiences’ hearts without the trappings of ‘exotic locations’ and ‘larger than life’ characters! Home coming in the truest sense for Malayalam movies..finally back to where it belongs…close to the Mal heart and soul!
