A superhero movie, a pro-choice drama, a violent slug-fest with compelling politics and a confounding maze we’re still lost inside, Malayalam cinema this year was a glorious place that offered a bit of everything for every kind of viewer.
Produced by Nivin Pauly, directed by Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduval, and starring Nivin Pauly, Grace Antony, Vinay Fort and Jaffer Idukki, Kanakam Kaamini Kalaham releases on Disney+ Hotstar on November 12.
The monotones of Kumarankari from Amen, the nameless ‘Ikkara’ from Iblis with its own set of rules and the unforgettable fictional village in Priyadarshan’s Thenmavin Kombathu—Satvik Kumar revisits these unique universes to see how Malayalam films dealt with fantastical lands
“Whenever I went for auditions and got rejected, I never thought, ‘I will show you who I am one day ’”, says the actor, ahead of the release of Jagame Thandhiram.
Framing a broken man through a broken home in Chemmeen. Holding hands with ten Kathakali dancers while skipping along the fields in Chandranudikkunna Dikkil. Kumbalangi Nights and how it became our Google Image Search for ‘bioluminescence’ and Mary’s beehive in Premam. Here’s a wedding photo album of a marriage between Malayalam cinema and its beloved cinematographers, costume designers and art directors
From Jagadeesh in ‘Leela’ to Indrans in ‘Aalorukkam’, Soumya Varier looks at some stellar serious performances from actors who were stereotyped as merely comic relief.