Once upon a time, Malayalam cinema played to the tunes of the incredible hero, the ever-green Prem Nazir, who never tired of wooing heroines, running around trees with damsels half his age, and wiping out a dozen villains single-handedly as the film climaxed. Those were the early 1970s, when assembly-line formula films had rubbed off from Bollywood to the South of India, complete with hackneyed story-lines the future course of which could be predicted with ease. The only other choice was to view fares doled out by directors infatuated with Marxist-Leninist ideology who produced absolute tear-jerkers on the rich-poor divide.
Today, a new wind is blowing over Malayalam cinema. Call it fresh, avante garde, or whatever, it is fetching golden moments for Malayalam films. The brightest could be Marana Simhasanam that saw Murali Nair bag the coveted Camera d'Or Award at Cannes earlier in the year. The movie tells the tale of a poor labourer who is apprehended while stealing coconuts, and then slapped with murder charges. The 33-year-old London-based Murali now has production offers pouring in, and is receiving invitations to prestigious film festivals across the globe. Says film historian P.K. Nair of the younger Nair, "He has a certain vision that is different from other filmmakers. He captures visuals and moods rather than being stuck in dramatic developments."
Then there is Jayaraj, whose Kaliyaatam, based on the Shakespearean play Othello, attracted rave reviews at the International Film Festival in New Delhi in 1998. Visual opulence takes centrestage in Kaliyaatam where the characters are exponents of Theyyam, the spectacular ritual dance of northern Kerala. Aided by a tight script and some brilliant performances, Jayaraj and cinematographer Radhakrishnan have expertly exploited the bizarre, stylised costumes of Theyyam.
Shaji M. Karun is another Malayalam director who has been making waves in international circles. Acclaimed for his Piravi and Swaham, Shaji's latest offering is Vanaprastham, an Indo-French production, and the costliest Malayalam film to date (USD 1 million/INR 42 million). The film is based on Kerala's well-known Kathakali dance, and as Shaji says, "My major challenge was to make a film which was not just a documentary on Kathakali and to ensure that the form did not overshadow the content."