The film industry of Kerala had a very slow and dragging start
since its inception in the early 1960’s. Those were the days when there was not much of an audience. With high unemployment these were
days of severe economic hardship for Malayali's. Only a small number of
Malayali's could afford
to pay for a cinema ticket. And those who did often had to to sacrifice
a lot to escape the harsh reality for a few hours...
Times changed with the first wave of Malayali's
that struck gold, by migrating to the Middle East. Returning home they had
the capacity to afford such luxuries. With industrialization and urbanization the first epoch of
Malayalam Movies caught on in a big way.
The irony still remains that the Malayalam film industry
still remains indebted to Chennai [previously known as Madras, Tamil Nadu]
which is the hub of South Indian film industry. The major studios and editing
theaters in South India have always been in Chennai. Films shot in the
backdrop of Kerala are still edited and processed in Chennai. Even the
posters are designed and printed in Sivakasi (a town in Tamil Nadu known
for being a center of the printing industry).
This is due to the fact that the government had a very
lackluster approach to recognizing film making as an industry in itself.
Besides all these discouragements, the industry has grown at a rapid pace
as it projected the native apathy of the population to entertainment, beginning
right from the days when there was no TV or radio in most households and
the best sort of entertainment was provided by local drama groups conducting plays
and classic performances of
Kathakali, Theyyam
and others.
In the beginning there was 'black & white' silent movies in
which a narrator told the story to the audience. One of the most prominent
narrators was a guy named Balan. Then came a rush of Tamil movies. Even
the very few Malayalam movies released, were made along the lines of Tamil
movies with songs and action scenes nearly replicating Tamil movies like
Parajitha, Bharya, Pariksha, Arikk-illum, Mooladhanam and others.
The first and most successful color film was 'Chemeen'
[directed by Mr. Ramu Keriath], which if released even today would run
a packed house. Other blockbusters included 'Ara Kalan Muka Kalan', 'Thacholi
Ambu', 'Moorkan', 'Padayotham', 'Kollilakkam', 'Theekadam', 'Azhakulla
Selina' and 'Etta Eviday Veray' to name just a few.
It was in the late 1970’s early 1980’s that these color
cinemas came about. With spiraling costs, producing a movie was not very affordable . Slowly but steadily nevertheless there was increase in
the production of Malayalam Movies and also many cinemas sprang up. These
went in accordance with the growth of common people's capability to watch
a movie in a theater. Each cinema and its story was scrutinized and its success
was speculated upon. Unlike other movie industries in India, Malayalam
Movies always had a class of their own and are very adept in capturing the
disposition of the society. Technology was lacking in terms of affordability and
although certain aspects were compromised the meaning of the story was always in
focus.
At present many theaters are on the verge of closure because
of the invasion of cable TV and other forms of entertainment. Nobody thinks
of investing in a theatre anymore.
The entire industry is hit by crisis and government levied taxes on the
industry make matters worse. Few producers are willing to take the big risk
as the success of a movie at the box office is quite unpredictable.
And while
Hollywood learned to reduce risks by selling film rights in advance to
international TV and new media, this can't be easily copied by Malayalam Movie
Makers.
Generally Indian films are centered around 2 or 3 male actors and a few female
actresses who are the story's heroes and often are almost worshipped like
incarnations of Gods. The Malayali's of Kerala do not go that far - probably
owing to the their high literacy rate.
The top actors in today’s Malayalam cinema are Mr.
Mammotty, Mr. Mohan Lal and Mr. Suresh Gopi, the heroines always keep on
changing. The current stars have replaced old and veteran actors like Mr. Sathyan,
Mr. Prem Nazir, Mr. Madhu and Mr. Jayan. Likewise the directors in the likes of
Mr. Sethumadhavan, Mr. Sasi Kumar, Mr. P.Chandrakumar, Mr. M. P. Sreenivasan
have been taken over by Mr. Bharathan, Mr. Hariharan, Mr. Balachandra Menon, Mr.
I V Sasi and Mr. Joshi.
The only studio that was developed for the purpose
of film development is the old Udaya Studios [established by the late Mr. Boban
Kunchacko]. It is now renamed Navodaya Studios and is located in Alleppey.
The crowd of movie goers in Kerala are usually
fond of commercial and entertaining cinema rather than art movies which are slow
paced and not trendy. The film industry is given massive publicity through the
mass media and magazines like Nana, Chitralokkam or Cinema. These magazines
specifically undertake the role of publicizing forthcoming movies.
The film industry personnel have formed organizations like Association of
Malayalam Movie Artists [AMMA] to be more organized and to sustain a line of
communication with all people associated with the film industry in Kerala.
Thousands of technicians and contractors rely on this business of film making.
Much is left to be seen in the development of film industry. The government’s
Kerala State Film Development Corporation [KSFDC] is in dire straits because of
mismanagement of its resources.
As the critics and the supporters of Malayalam film industry point
out, "if the government accedes the fact that the entertainment
industry is a source contributing a substantial income, then it is
their responsibility to save the industry from dying out by
introducing tax relief measures and by giving proper recognition to
the industry.”
By
Sojan
