Contributions of Malayalam Cinema to Indian movies

As with any industry, Malayalam cinema has given positives and negatives to Indian cinema. But the contributions that improved overall Indian cinema far outweigh the negatives.

I am a simple observer of cinema, so it is very much likely that a lot of these themes, motifs, techniques and practices were prevalent in another film industry long before it came to Malayalam cinema. If that is the case, do comment them so that we all can learn about it. Also, I watch only Malayalam movies that I hear about, so I am not exactly an avid Mollywood fan.

Ace Technicians

If you commonly find the average level of cinematography in India to be excellent, you can thank partly Malayalam cinema for it. From Santhosh Sivan till Girish Gangadharan, the standard for work in Kerala is super-high. Their legacy and the level at which these folks operate paved the way for technical brilliance in Indian cinema. A lot of their latest advancements are shared by Tamil technicians helping Tamil cinema stay brilliant technically. Tamil fans are forever indebted for moments like these offered by Santhosh Sivan.

Original screenwriting

I have found that Malayalam cinema write original stuff more often than not. A lot of their writing is far ahead of it’s time. From the famed Manichitrathazhu till Drishyam 2, the detailing as well as execution of complex stories has had a special place in Indian cinema. While scripts like Yoda can be claimed as copies of hollywood movies, the sheer audacity to make a movie like that in 1992 speaks volumes about how much these guys are willing to experiment.

Controlled Budgets

Due to its arguably limited reach, movies had to be made on a smaller budget and had to be released at the right time. This keeps them grounded(for the most part). The whole idea of making cinema a viable business is to keep costs low to make them safer bets. If cinema was all about throwing money for the heck of it, it would slowly bleed everyone dry.

Superstars available for hire

Topmost actors from Malayalam have given back to Indian cinema by taking up roles in other languages, sometimes for fun, sometimes for variety. They are also affordable and what bang for the buck at that!? Their presence in many fan favorites cannot possibly be overstated. Some of these are timeless classics that can be used to literally teach cinema across the globe.

Dialogue heavy, but done right

This one works both ways, but I love the use of dialogues in Malayalam cinema. Whether it is to make things commercially or to build character traits, I have always loved Malayalam dialogues. The frequent use of English is another great contribution from Malayalam cinema in making regional movies truly pan-India. The point here is that, lot of dialogue is not bad if it can retain the attention of your audience. Not everything needs to be strictly visual.

Anticlimax

This is one area where cinema from Kerala trumps pretty much every other industry. The expectation that you can have an anti-climax or plainly a sad climax instead of the usual ‘And then they lived happily ever after’ is so damn underrated. I cannot give enough credit to Mollywood for this. I have heard that cinema from Punjab and Bengal also have this, but I haven’t watched their movies, so not sure. But other cine industries have borrowed this with varying results.