The history of Malayalam cinema has been explored in articles written by Chelangatt Gopalakrishnan. In the book, The History of Cinema, Chelangatt Gopalakrishnan established that J. C. Daniel was the father of Malayalam cinema and that his film Vigathakumaran was the first Malayalam film. Balan was the first Malayalam movie with synchronized sound.
The first cinema hall in Kerala, with a manually operated film projector, was opened in Trichur by K. W. Joseph in 1907. In 1913, the first electrically operated film projector was established (in Trichur again) by Jose Kattukkaran and was called the "Jose Electrical Bioscope". Soon such cinema halls were established in other major cities of Kerala. In the early days, Tamil, Hindi and English films were exhibited in these theatres.
The first Malayalam film, a silent film titled Vigathakumaran, was released in 1928. It was produced and directed by J. C. Daniel, a businessman with no prior film experience. The second film, Marthanda Varma, based on a novel by C. V. Raman Pillai, was produced in 1933. However, its release was limited due to legal disputes surrounding the use of Pillai's material.
Balan, released in 1938, was the first "talkie" in Malayalam. It was directed by S. Nottani with the screenplay and songs by Muthukulam Raghavan Pillai. It was produced at Chennai (then Madras) in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu. Malayalam films continued to be made mainly by Tamil producers till 1947, when the first major film studio, Udaya, was established in Kerala, in Alleppey (Alappuzha) by Kunchacko, who earned fame as a film producer and director.
Malayalam cinema has always taken its themes from relevant social issues and has been interwoven with material from literature, drama, and politics since its inception. One such film, Jeevithanauka (1951), was a musical drama which spoke about the problems in a joint family. This movie became very popular and is probably the first "super hit" of Malayalam cinema. However, this movie's success was bittersweet. Although its success accelerated Malayalam movie-making, films that were produced after Jeevithanouka closely mimicked its structure hoping to find some sort of "success formula", thus hampering creativity for a long time. Nevertheless, this time was hailed as "the period of giants" in Malayalam film industry, due to the work of film stars Sathyan and Prem Nazir.
Sathyan
Prem Nazir
In 1954, the film Neelakkuyil captured national interest by winning the President's silver medal. Scripted by the well-known Malayalam novelist, Uroob, and directed by P. Bhaskaran and Ramu Kariat, it is often considered as the first authentic Malayali film. Another notable production was Newspaper Boy (1955) which contained elements of Italian neorealism. This film is notable as the product of a group of amateur college filmmakers. It told the story of a printing press employee and his family being stricken with extreme poverty.
1960s
Ramu Karyat, one of the directors of Neelakkuyil (the other was P. Bhaskaran) 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. Notable films of this decade include Odayil Ninnu, Bhargavi Nilayam (1964), Chemmeen (1965), Murappennu (1965) and Iruttinte Atmavu (1966). The era of colour films came to Malayalam cinema with its first colour film Kandam Bacha Coat (1961). Chemmeen (1965), directed by Ramu Kariat and based on a story by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, went on to become immensely popular, and became the first Malayalam film to win the National Film Award for Best Film.
During the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, for over three decades Kunchacko made significant contributions to Malayalam cinema, both as a producer and as Director of some notable Malayalam movies. He started Udaya Studios in Alleppey (Alappuzha) in 1947, reducing the travel to Madras (Chennai) for film crew and artistes. This boosted Malayalam film production in Kerala.
Malayalam Parallel films of the 1970s
The 70s saw the emergence of a new wave of cinema in Malayalam. The growth of film society movement in Kerala introduced the works of the French and Italian New Wave directors to the discerning Malayali film enthusiasts. Adoor Gopalakrishnan's first film Swayamvaram (1972) brought Malayalam cinema to the international film arena. In 1973 M. T. Vasudevan Nair who was by then recognized as an important author in Malayalam, directed his first film Nirmalyam, which won the President's Gold Medal for the best film. G. Aravindan followed Adoor's lead with his Uttarayanam in 1974. K. P. Kumaran's 'Adhithi' (1974) was another film which was acclaimed by the critics. John Abraham, K. R. Mohanan, K. G. George, and G. S. Panikkar were products of the Pune Film Institute who made significant contributions.
During the late 1970s, some young artists started seeing Malayalam cinema as a medium of expression and thought of it as a tool to revitalize society. A noted director, Aravindan was famous in Kerala as a cartoonist before he started making films. His important movies include Kanchana Seeta (1977), Thampu (1978), Kummatty (1979), Chidambaram (1985), Oridathu (1986), and Vasthuhara (1990).
Malayalam art cinema of the early 1980s
Adoor Gopalakrishnan made Elipathayam in 1981. This movie was widely acclaimed and won the British Film Institute award. His other movies include Mukhamukham (1984), Anantharam (1987) Mathilukal (1989), Vidheyan (1994), Kathapurushan (1995), and Nizhalkkuthu (2003), I.V. Sasi the path breaker who has directed more than 131 odd films over a span of 34 years made "Kanamarayathu" (1984), Padmarajan made his early works in this period including the movie Koodevide? (1983).
P. A. Backer and Bharathan are other names worth mentioning.
'Golden Age' of Malayalam cinema
Most critics and audiences[5] consider this period as the golden age of Malayalam cinema. The Malayalam cinema of this period was characterised by detailed screenplays dealing with everyday life with a lucid narration of plot intermingling with humour and melancholy. This was aided by brilliant cinematography and lighting as in motion pictures like Perumthachan (1990), directed by Ajayan with Santosh Sivan as the cinematographer. These films are also remembered for their warm background music by composers like Johnson, as in the motion picture Namukku parkkan munthiri thoppukal (1986) by Padmarajan. The golden age saw big actors like Mammootty, Mohanlal etc.
Many of the movies released during this time narrowed the gap between art cinema and commercial cinema in the Malayalam film industry, as in Mrigaya starring Mammootty (1989, directed by I.V. Sasi and written by Lohithadas), Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha(1989), starring Mammootty,Kireedam (1989, directed by Sibi Malayil, starring Mohanlal and written by Lohithadas), Mathilukal starring Mammootty (1989, directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan), Amaram starring Mammootty (1991, directed by Bharathan), Kaakothikaavile Appoopan Thadikal (1988, directed by Kamal) and Sargam (1992, directed by Hariharan).
The period had an abundance of movies rich in creative humour from directors like Priyadarshan, Sathyan Anthikkad and Kamal. The era also saw well-crafted comedy by the Duo Siddique-Lal's, Ramji Rao Speaking (1989) and In Harihar Nagar (1990). The internationally acclaimed Piravi (1989) by Shaji N. Karun was the first Malayalam film to win the Caméra d'Or-Mention at the Cannes Film Festival. Other notable contributions of this period include His Highness Abdullah (1990) directed by Sibi Malayil, Abhayam (1991) directed by Sivan, and the motion picture Daisy (1988) an expressive depiction of separation and longing set in a boarding school, directed by Prathap K Pothan.
Malayalam cinema through the early-mid 1990s
Some examples are Mathilukal (1990) directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Bharatham (1991) by Sibi Malayil, Ulladakkam (1991) directed by Kamal, Kilukkam (1991) directed by Priyadarshan, Kamaladalam (1992) by Sibi Malayil, Vidheyan (1993) by Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Devaasuram (1993) by I. V. Sasi, Manichitrathazhu (1993) by Fazil, Ponthan Mada (1993) by T. V. Chandran, and Desadanam (1997) by Jayaraaj. Swaham (1994), directed by Shaji N. Karun, was the second Malayalam film entry in the Cannes International Film Festival, where it was a nominee for the Palme d'Or. Murali Nair's Marana Simhasanam later won the Caméra d'Or at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.[6] Guru (1997) directed by Rajiv Anchal was chosen as India's official entry to the Oscars to be considered for nomination in the Best Foreign Film category for that year, making it the first and last film in Malayalam, so far, to be chosen for Oscar nomination.
Malayalam cinema through the early-mid 2000s
The Malayalam film industry in recent times has been affected by the spread of satellite digital television and film piracy. Slapstick comedy is the predominant theme in the films of this era. C.I.D. Moosa (2003) by Johny Antony , Meesamadhavan (2002) by Lal Jose and Kunjikkoonan directed by Sasi Shankar (2002) are examples. Sequels to a number of successful films have been made. These include blockbuster hit Raavanaprabhu (Devaasuram) and the sequels to the 80s hit movie Oru CBI Diarykurippu, named Sethurama Iyer CBI (2004) and Nerariyan CBI (2005), which were well received. Many movies during the early 2000s were of low quality. Adding to this crisis, a parallel culture of adult-content movies named "Shakeela films" emerged to be the best grossers for more than a year. Malayalam cinema saw a rare dearth of talent. At the same time, Tamil movies saw a surge of new talent in scriptwriters, directors and actors. This resulted in increased popularity of Tamil and Hindi movies in Kerala. Several film theatres were closed in rural Kerala and were converted to marriage halls. But by the last of year 2003, it was a happy season for the industry.
Malayalam cinema through the late 2000s
Malayalam movies saw a comeback in 2005. New directors such as Lal Jose, Roshan Andrews, Blessy and Anwar Rasheed brought back original scripts to Malayalam movies. Notable movies of this era are Kaazhcha,Udayananu Tharam, Note Book, Classmates, Keerthi Chakra, Vinodayathra, Rajamanikyam, Arabikkatha, and Kadha Parayumbol. About half of Malayalam movies are remade into other languages. This era has seen new promising actors like Dileep, Kunchako Boban, Prithviraj, Jayasurya, and Indrajith, along with stalwarts Mammooty, Mohanlal and Suresh Gopi.
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