Directors
Malayalam cinema boasts many brilliant film directors, starting with J. C. Daniel, the director and producer of the first Malayalam film, Vigathakumaran (1928). Unlike other Indian films at that time, most of which were films based on the puranas, he chose to base his film on a social theme.[16] Though the film failed commercially, he paved way for the Malayalam film industry and is widely considered the father of Malayalam cinema. Till the 1950s, Malayalam film didn't see many talented film directors. The milestone film Neelakkuyil (1954), directed by Ramu Karyat and P. Bhaskaran, shed a lot of limelight over its directors.[11] Ramu Karyat went on to become a celebrated director in the 1960s and 1970s. P. Bhaskaran also directed a few acclaimed films in the 1960s. The cameraman of Neelakkuyil, A. Vincent, also became a noted director of the 1960s and 1970s.[17] Another noted director of the 1950s was P. Ramadas, the director of the neorealistic film Newspaper Boy (1955).
In the 1970s, the Malayalam film industry saw the rise of film societies. It triggered a new genre of films known as "parallel cinema". The main driving forces of the movement, who gave priority to serious cinema, were Adoor Gopalakrishnan and G. Aravindan. People like John Abraham and P. A. Backer gave a new dimension to Malayalam cinema through their political themes. The later 1970s witnessed the emergence of another stream of Malayalam films, known as "middle-stream cinema", which seamlessly integrated the seriousness of the parallel cinema and the popularity of the mainstream cinema. Most of the films belonging to this stream were directed by I. V. Sasi, K. G. George, Bharathan and Padmarajan.[18]
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a period widely regarded as the Golden Age of Malayalam cinema, a new array of directors joined the stalwarts who had already made a mark in the industry. The Golden Age saw the narrowing of the gap between the different streams of the industry.[11] Directors like I. V. Sasi, Fazil, Joshy, Kamal, Sibi Malayil, Hariharan, Priyadarshan, Sathyan Anthikkad, K. Madhu and Siddique-Lal contributed heavily in the Golden Age. Then there were maverick filmmakers like John Abraham, Balachandra Menon and Sreenivasan who contributed their part as well.
The 2000s witnessed the decline of quality of Malayalam films. Many directors who excelled in the Golden Age struggled as many of their films continuously failed critically and commercially. As a result the gap between parallel cinema (now known as art cinema) and mainstream cinema (now known as commercial cinema) widened. The 2000s also saw a commercial film formula being created in line with Tamil and Bollywood films. Directors like Shaji Kailas, Rafi Mecartin and Anwar Rasheed directed blockbusters which had few artistic merits to boast of. Despite the overall decline, some directors stood apart and made quality cinema. Shaji N. Karun, T. V. Chandran, Lenin Rajendran, T. K. Rajeev Kumar, Shyama Prasad and Jayaraj made films that won laurels. Notable directors who debuted in this time include Blessy, Lal Jose, R. Sharath, Renjith and Roshan Andrews.
Malayalam film directors have made their mark in the national level as well. Out of the 40 National Film Awards for Best Director given away till 2007, Malayalam directors have pocketed 12, trailed only by Bengali (14 awards). The directors who have won the prestigious award are Adoor Gopalakrishnan (1973, 1985, 1988, 1990, 2007), G. Aravindan (1978, 1979, 1987), Shaji N. Karun (1989), T.V. Chandran (1994), Jayaraj (1998) and Rajivnath (1999). There are several recipients of the Special Jury Award as well: Mankada Ravi Varma (1984), John Abraham (1987), Shaji N. Karun (1995) and Pradeep Nair (2005).
Actors
Lead actors
A lead actor is called as a superstar when that person has become a driving force at the box office. Just like other Indian film industries, there are no clear-cut guidelines for decorating an actor as superstar, and this designation is almost always bestowed by the media after an actor proves to be a champion at the box office.
Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair was the first person in the Malayalam film history to be called a superstar,[11] following the tremendous success of his second film Jeevithanauka (1951), which is touted as the first superhit of Malayalam cinema. Later Prem Nazir, Sathyan, Madhu, Jayan, M. G. Soman, and Sukumaran came to be called superstars. Prem Nazir and Sathyan formed a bipolar industry in which a considerable number of films made in Malayalam in the later 1960s and almost the whole of 1970s starred one of them, until the rise of Jayan. Curiously, the trend was continued in the next era as well, with Mammootty & Mohanlal being established as superstars in the early 1980s. Mammootty had won three national awards.Suresh Gopi emerged as a superstar by mid 1990s, following a series of successful movies having police/political themes, most notably Commissioner, directed by Shaji Kailas. Other actors who are generally considered as superstars are Jayaram and Dileep.
As with most of the other Indian film industries, the Malayalam film industry is driven by male actors. None of the female actors who have been part of the industry have come to be known as superstars, though there have been immensely popular stars like Miss Kumari, Sharada, Sheela, Jayabharathi, Vidhubala, Srividya, Shobhana, Revathi, Urvashi, Manju Warrier, Samyuktha Varma, Kavya Madhavan and Meera Jasmine.
Many actors have brought laurels to Malayalam films with their performances. As of 2007, Malayalam film actors have won 11 out of the 42 National Film Awards for Best Actor ever given away, including two occasions of double awardees. 11 is the second highest number of award wins by a film industry trailed only by Hindi (17 awards). The Malayalam film actors who have won the award are P. J. Antony (1974), Gopi (1978), Balan K. Nair (1981), Premji (1988), Mammootty (1989, 1993, 1999), Mohanlal (1991, 2000), , Suresh Gopi (1998), Balachandra Menon (1998) and Murali (2002)and Salim Kumar (2011). Additionally, Malayalam film actors have won several Special Jury Awards as well: Mohanlal (1990), Kalabhavan Mani (2000), Nedumudi Venu (2004), Thilakan (2007).
Supporting actors
In the early times of Malayalam cinema, supporting roles, though mostly donned by established theatre artists, did not have any noted supporting actors. In the 1960s and 1970s several supporting actors like Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair, Adoor Bhasi, Bahadoor, Balan K. Nair, Adoor Bhavani and Aranmula Ponnamma came into the scene. Most of them went on to have lifelong careers. In the 1980s and 1990s many more joined them, notably Thilakan, Nedumudi Venu, Jagathy Sreekumar, Biju Menon, Vijayaraghavan, Innocent, Siddique, Jagadish, Kuthiravattam Pappu, Manoj K. Jayan, Rajan P. Dev, Sukumari, K.P.A.C. Lalitha and Bindu Panicker. Some of them had short careers with title roles as well.
Despite the presence of a number of talented actors, Malayalam films have only won 2 out of the 24 National Film Awards for Best Supporting Actor so far given away, as of 2007. Thilakan (1988) and Nedumudi Venu (1991) are the only actors to win the award. The same is not the case with female actors. They have won 6 out the 24 National Film Awards for Best Supporting Actress given away, trailed only by Hindi (10 awards). The winners are K.P.A.C. Lalitha (1991, 2001), Santha Devi (1992), Aranmula Ponnamma (1996), Sheela (2005) and Urvashi (2006).
From wikipedia
Malayalam cinema boasts many brilliant film directors, starting with J. C. Daniel, the director and producer of the first Malayalam film, Vigathakumaran (1928). Unlike other Indian films at that time, most of which were films based on the puranas, he chose to base his film on a social theme.[16] Though the film failed commercially, he paved way for the Malayalam film industry and is widely considered the father of Malayalam cinema. Till the 1950s, Malayalam film didn't see many talented film directors. The milestone film Neelakkuyil (1954), directed by Ramu Karyat and P. Bhaskaran, shed a lot of limelight over its directors.[11] Ramu Karyat went on to become a celebrated director in the 1960s and 1970s. P. Bhaskaran also directed a few acclaimed films in the 1960s. The cameraman of Neelakkuyil, A. Vincent, also became a noted director of the 1960s and 1970s.[17] Another noted director of the 1950s was P. Ramadas, the director of the neorealistic film Newspaper Boy (1955).
In the 1970s, the Malayalam film industry saw the rise of film societies. It triggered a new genre of films known as "parallel cinema". The main driving forces of the movement, who gave priority to serious cinema, were Adoor Gopalakrishnan and G. Aravindan. People like John Abraham and P. A. Backer gave a new dimension to Malayalam cinema through their political themes. The later 1970s witnessed the emergence of another stream of Malayalam films, known as "middle-stream cinema", which seamlessly integrated the seriousness of the parallel cinema and the popularity of the mainstream cinema. Most of the films belonging to this stream were directed by I. V. Sasi, K. G. George, Bharathan and Padmarajan.[18]
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a period widely regarded as the Golden Age of Malayalam cinema, a new array of directors joined the stalwarts who had already made a mark in the industry. The Golden Age saw the narrowing of the gap between the different streams of the industry.[11] Directors like I. V. Sasi, Fazil, Joshy, Kamal, Sibi Malayil, Hariharan, Priyadarshan, Sathyan Anthikkad, K. Madhu and Siddique-Lal contributed heavily in the Golden Age. Then there were maverick filmmakers like John Abraham, Balachandra Menon and Sreenivasan who contributed their part as well.
The 2000s witnessed the decline of quality of Malayalam films. Many directors who excelled in the Golden Age struggled as many of their films continuously failed critically and commercially. As a result the gap between parallel cinema (now known as art cinema) and mainstream cinema (now known as commercial cinema) widened. The 2000s also saw a commercial film formula being created in line with Tamil and Bollywood films. Directors like Shaji Kailas, Rafi Mecartin and Anwar Rasheed directed blockbusters which had few artistic merits to boast of. Despite the overall decline, some directors stood apart and made quality cinema. Shaji N. Karun, T. V. Chandran, Lenin Rajendran, T. K. Rajeev Kumar, Shyama Prasad and Jayaraj made films that won laurels. Notable directors who debuted in this time include Blessy, Lal Jose, R. Sharath, Renjith and Roshan Andrews.
Malayalam film directors have made their mark in the national level as well. Out of the 40 National Film Awards for Best Director given away till 2007, Malayalam directors have pocketed 12, trailed only by Bengali (14 awards). The directors who have won the prestigious award are Adoor Gopalakrishnan (1973, 1985, 1988, 1990, 2007), G. Aravindan (1978, 1979, 1987), Shaji N. Karun (1989), T.V. Chandran (1994), Jayaraj (1998) and Rajivnath (1999). There are several recipients of the Special Jury Award as well: Mankada Ravi Varma (1984), John Abraham (1987), Shaji N. Karun (1995) and Pradeep Nair (2005).
Actors
Lead actors
A lead actor is called as a superstar when that person has become a driving force at the box office. Just like other Indian film industries, there are no clear-cut guidelines for decorating an actor as superstar, and this designation is almost always bestowed by the media after an actor proves to be a champion at the box office.
Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair was the first person in the Malayalam film history to be called a superstar,[11] following the tremendous success of his second film Jeevithanauka (1951), which is touted as the first superhit of Malayalam cinema. Later Prem Nazir, Sathyan, Madhu, Jayan, M. G. Soman, and Sukumaran came to be called superstars. Prem Nazir and Sathyan formed a bipolar industry in which a considerable number of films made in Malayalam in the later 1960s and almost the whole of 1970s starred one of them, until the rise of Jayan. Curiously, the trend was continued in the next era as well, with Mammootty & Mohanlal being established as superstars in the early 1980s. Mammootty had won three national awards.Suresh Gopi emerged as a superstar by mid 1990s, following a series of successful movies having police/political themes, most notably Commissioner, directed by Shaji Kailas. Other actors who are generally considered as superstars are Jayaram and Dileep.
As with most of the other Indian film industries, the Malayalam film industry is driven by male actors. None of the female actors who have been part of the industry have come to be known as superstars, though there have been immensely popular stars like Miss Kumari, Sharada, Sheela, Jayabharathi, Vidhubala, Srividya, Shobhana, Revathi, Urvashi, Manju Warrier, Samyuktha Varma, Kavya Madhavan and Meera Jasmine.
Many actors have brought laurels to Malayalam films with their performances. As of 2007, Malayalam film actors have won 11 out of the 42 National Film Awards for Best Actor ever given away, including two occasions of double awardees. 11 is the second highest number of award wins by a film industry trailed only by Hindi (17 awards). The Malayalam film actors who have won the award are P. J. Antony (1974), Gopi (1978), Balan K. Nair (1981), Premji (1988), Mammootty (1989, 1993, 1999), Mohanlal (1991, 2000), , Suresh Gopi (1998), Balachandra Menon (1998) and Murali (2002)and Salim Kumar (2011). Additionally, Malayalam film actors have won several Special Jury Awards as well: Mohanlal (1990), Kalabhavan Mani (2000), Nedumudi Venu (2004), Thilakan (2007).
Supporting actors
In the early times of Malayalam cinema, supporting roles, though mostly donned by established theatre artists, did not have any noted supporting actors. In the 1960s and 1970s several supporting actors like Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair, Adoor Bhasi, Bahadoor, Balan K. Nair, Adoor Bhavani and Aranmula Ponnamma came into the scene. Most of them went on to have lifelong careers. In the 1980s and 1990s many more joined them, notably Thilakan, Nedumudi Venu, Jagathy Sreekumar, Biju Menon, Vijayaraghavan, Innocent, Siddique, Jagadish, Kuthiravattam Pappu, Manoj K. Jayan, Rajan P. Dev, Sukumari, K.P.A.C. Lalitha and Bindu Panicker. Some of them had short careers with title roles as well.
Despite the presence of a number of talented actors, Malayalam films have only won 2 out of the 24 National Film Awards for Best Supporting Actor so far given away, as of 2007. Thilakan (1988) and Nedumudi Venu (1991) are the only actors to win the award. The same is not the case with female actors. They have won 6 out the 24 National Film Awards for Best Supporting Actress given away, trailed only by Hindi (10 awards). The winners are K.P.A.C. Lalitha (1991, 2001), Santha Devi (1992), Aranmula Ponnamma (1996), Sheela (2005) and Urvashi (2006).
From wikipedia