Has the time arrived for Malayalam superstars to let go of mass motion pictures?

Superstardom and mass motion pictures have been a vital a part of all movie industries for years now. If Bollywood has Salman Khan, Tollywood has Pawan Kalyan, Kollywood has Rajinikanth, Vijay, Ajith amongst others to do bigger than life roles. When this phenomenon involves the Malayalam movie trade, we don’t have many names apart from the large M’s – Mohanlal and Mammootty. These superstars and their ‘mass’ motion pictures, riddled with predictability and clichés, enhance the funds of the trade. Prithviraj, who made Lucifer with Mohanlal within the lead position in 2019, has even admitted that if motion pictures like Lucifer are marketed and branded properly, it will probably enhance the financial mileage of small industries like Mollywood. Mohanlal and Prithviraj have their very own manufacturing corporations, if not of their identify, and have each proper to view cinema as a enterprise. They spend cash to earn more money, however will their enterprise mannequin survive with their age-old formulation of mass masala motion pictures? Let’s see if these mass motion pictures nonetheless have the facility to attract individuals into theatres, or has their time come to step away as we will see motion pictures with grounded scripts and relatable characters gaining extra recognition among the many viewers.
To perceive the shortage of high quality in content material and narration of famous person motion pictures, we are going to take Mohanlal’s cinematic journey since 2000 as a reference. Malayalam movie trade is accomplished by Mohanalal, or Mohanlal completes this comparatively small south Indian movie trade. Such is the impression this veteran actor has on the hearts of viewers, due to some memorable roles he portrayed in the course of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Mohanlal has played a plethora of characters during this golden era of Malayalam cinema thanks to some brilliant filmmakers and writers like Padmarajan, IV Sasi, Venu Nagavalli, Lohithadas, Faasil, G Aravindan, MT Vasudevan Nair among others who created some relatable, versatile and intense characters for the actor to portray on screen. It’s no shock that he turned the icon or poster boy of Malayalam cinema by 2000’s together with one other famous person Mammootty. Mohanlal went one step forward to develop into a model in himself. There have been tv reveals made about Mohanlal, reveals hosted by Mohanlal and plenty of business motion pictures used ‘Lalettan’ reference to generate frenzy in theatres. Thus, Mohanlal has develop into such an enormous determine within the Malayalam movie trade however the motion pictures he acted in since 2000 lacked conviction and character. Since 2000, with the arrival of superstardom, most Mohanlal motion pictures lacked human components and relatable characters, and as a substitute began to focus solely on the actor’s famous person picture the place the lead character is that this bigger than life persona.
Mohanlal in Varavelpu. (Photo: Twitter/PrimeVideoIN)

The actor has starred in round 95 motion pictures since 2000. Of these 95 odd motion pictures, solely six to eight motion pictures garnered a constructive response from viewers and critics.
For a more in-depth examination of this development, let’s analyze what occurred to the final ten motion pictures of Mohanlal earlier than the discharge of the a lot hyped Marakkar Arabikkadalinte Simham. Not the film’s field workplace income however how they have been obtained by film lovers. Mohanlal’s final 10 movies as a lead actor embrace 1971: Beyond Borders, Velipadinte Pusthakam, Villain, Neerali, Drama, Odiyan, Lucifer, Ittymani: Made in China, Big Brother and Drishyam 2. He additionally appeared in cameo roles in Kayamkulam Kochunni and Aadhi throughout this era. Of these ten motion pictures during which he performed the lead character, aside from Lucifer and Drishyam, not one of the motion pictures made any impression on the field workplace nor did it achieve important appreciation. Moreover, motion pictures like 1971: Beyond Borders, Villain, Ittymani Made in China and Big Brother turned meme materials as a result of their novice screenplay and cringe-inducing clichés. It’s not the primary time Mohanlal has struggled to ship memorable characters and films with substance. Since the beginning of 2000, regardless that there are not less than 5 motion pictures of Mohanlal launched yearly, the variety of critically acclaimed or memorable motion pictures have been scarce. We can at all times argue that this occurs as a result of not many screenwriters and administrators are eager to create a film out of an unique thought or have an thrilling script in hand. But, in actuality, most of them need to exploit model Mohanlal for simple returns, particularly with tv and satellite tv for pc rights fetching good cash for producers.

But now with a few of the most hyped motion pictures like Marakkar Arabikkadalinte Simham, Odiyan, Big Brother amongst others failing to make an impression among the many viewers, it’s really time for a few of the enterprise techniques to alter. The greatest get up name for a few of the producers, filmmakers and actors shall be to sit down and watch a few of the small however efficient motion pictures which have launched not too long ago in theatres and OTT platforms. One of the films that launched this yr that stunned everybody and impressed critics and viewers alike is Jaan e Man. Written and helmed by debutant director Chidambaram, Jaan e Mann received the hearts of viewers with its clever craft, fascinating story line and relatable characters. The film, which was launched with out a lot hype and advertising, turned an enormous success with phrase of mouth. Similarly, motion pictures like Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam, Home, Kunjeldho, Sara’s , Nayattu, The Great Indian Kitchen have been motion pictures that didn’t have large stars, advertising methods or hype, as a substitute they got here silently with none large claims and received hearts with plots and characters which can be relatable to frequent viewers.
A very completely different instance is the success of Minnal Murali. The film had lots of strain to ship a cinematic expertise that might match the hype it created. But director Basil Joseph, actor Tovino Thomas and a few glorious technicians with the assistance of a well-grounded script have managed to inform a superhero story convincingly inside a relatable premise of a small Kerala village. The hero and the villain had a previous that emotionally related with the viewers.

In distinction to such profitable tales of small motion pictures, the response from viewers after the discharge of Marakkar Arabikkadalinte Simham reveals that even the diehard followers of Mohanlal are upset with the film. The viewers gave the impression to be important in regards to the film’s predictable storyline and novice script relatively than being awestruck by its visible grandeur. Malayalam cine-goers have been uncovered to overseas motion pictures and worldwide filmmakers lengthy earlier than the arrival of Netflix, Disney Plus Hotstar and Amazon Prime Video. Kerala’s movie societies, movie festivals and pirated CD retailers in Bheemapalli and Kochi has helped in making a mature viewers. They have embraced the change in Malayalam cinema additionally which was evident when motion pictures like Thondimuthalum Drisakshiyum and Kumbalangi Nights turned profitable due to the scripts and characters that have been rooted. Cine-goers in Kerala not hassle about superstars or mass motion pictures.

Now it has come to some extent the place these superstars themselves are pleading to the general public to cease the criticism which they time period as ‘degrading’. Mohanlal even went to the extent of claiming that those that criticize his Marakkar Arabikkadalinte Simham is definitely making an attempt to destroy the Malayalam movie trade and even nation’s picture, as a result of the film has been awarded greatest function movie in final yr’s National Film Awards. Suresh Gopi additionally got here out overtly in opposition to critics who panned his not too long ago launched film Kaaval. These superstars need the viewers to not watch their motion pictures anticipating mass scenes. If that’s probably the most infantile factor to listen to from a few of the largest stars of this trade, their collection of motion pictures appears to be much more infantile. Mohanlal has Barroz, Ram, Bro Daddy and Aaraattu set to hit the screens subsequent yr. It stays to be seen if the famous person can generate real constructive response from viewers and critics for his upcoming ventures, contemplating his success price within the final 20 years is properly beneath the requirements he has set for himself.