milestones of malayalam cinema

1907 - the first cinema hall was established in trichur by k.w. joseph with a manual film projector.

1913 - jose kattukkaran established the first electrically operated film projector called the jose electrical bioscope.

1926 - after gathering enough knowledge about film-making, j.c. daniel established the first film studio, 'the travancore national pictures' by selling the land he had.

1928 - the first movie 'vigathakumaran', produced and directed by the dentist cum businessman j.c. daniel, who hailed from nagercoil in tamil nadu, also wrote, photographed, edited and acted in the socially significant movie when most indian films at that time were based on the puranas. the movie starred daniel and rosy. since it was a time when movies were considered on par with prostitution, the movie received the wrath of the orthodox groups since it had a woman in it. the movie did only moderate business and to overcome the debts, daniel had to sell of the studio, ending his film career.

1933 - the second movie was the 118 minute long 'marthanda varma' directed by p.v. rao. it was produced by r. sunder raj, and was based on the 1891 malayalam novel of the same name by c.v. raman pillai. the movie ran into copyright problems with the publishers of the novel and subsequently, the movie was withdrawn from screening after a couple of days.

1938 - the third movie was also the first malayalam talkie - 'balan'. it was directed by s. nottani, had the story written by sundaram pillai and the script by 'akshara guru' muthukulam raghavan pillai. the movie was shot at madras and starred k.k. aroor, allepey vincent and m.k. kamalam. it was produced by t.r. sunderam under the 'modern theatres' and so, had more of a tamil influence. it told the story of two children rescued by a lawyer from the evil clutches of their step-mother. it had 23 songs written by muthukulam raghavan pillai set to tunes by k.k. aroor and ibrahim. the songs were sung by palluruthi lakshmi, madanagopal, m.k. kamalam and sivanandan.

1948 - the first malayalam film by a malayali producer p.j. cherian was 'nirmala' which was directed by p.v. krishnayyer. it was the also first malayalam film to have songs with lyrics by noted poet g. sankara kurup and music by p.s. divakar and l. warrier. it had 08 songs sung by t.k. govindrao, vimala b. varma, sarojini and p. leela. it starred joseph cherian.

1951 - the first widely-accepted and money-minting movie was 'jeevithanouka' a musical drama that dealt with the ego clashes in a joint family. it was directed by k. vembu and made theatre actor thikkurissi sukumaran nair into the first super-star of malayalam cinema. films that were later produced closely mimicked its structure hoping to find a success formula, thus hampering creativity for a long time since the actors were given more predominance than the directors. the movie had 16 songs with lyrics by abhayadev, muisc by dakshinamoorthy and sung by mehboob, sebastian kunju kunju bhagavathar, kaviyoor revamma, t. lokanathan, alappuzha pushpa, p. leela.

1954 - 'neelakkuyil' directed by ramu karyat and p. bhaskaran. it is considered to be the first mature malayalam movie. it starred sathyan and miss kumari. it had its story by padmanabhan nair and was scripted by well-known malayalam novelist, uroob (p. krishnankutty). the movie captured national interest and became the first movie to win the national award for best second film(president's silver lotus award). the movie had 09 songs with lyrics by p. bhaskaran, music by m. raghavan and was cinematographed by a. vincent. the songs were sung by janamma david, k. abdul khader, k. raghavan, kozhikode pushpa, mehboob ans santha p. nair. malayalam film music, till then were cheap imitations of hindi and tamil film music but the songs of this movie became highly popular.

1955 - the first neorealistic film 'newspaper boy' directed by p. ramadas and starring child artist moni. the movie had elements of italian neorealism and was the product of a group of amateur collge film makers and told the story of a printing press employee and his family being struck with extreme poverty. upon his death, his children are forced to stop their education, the eldest son leaves to madras but fails in finding a job and returns to become a newspaper boy.

1961 - the first color film 'kandam bacha coat' directed by t.r. sundaram. it starred thikkurissi, prem nawaz and ambika.

1964 - the first horror family 'bhargavi nilayam' directed by cinematorgrapher a. vincent. it was written by vaikom muhammed basheer and starred madhu, prem nazir, vijaya nirmala and p.j. anthony. it had 07 songs with lyrics by p. bhaskaran, music by baburaj with songs sungs by kamukara, k.j. yesudas, s. janaki and p. susheela.

1965 - the landmark movie 'odayil ninnu' directed by k.s. sethumadhavan was based on the novel of the same name by p. kesava dev. it starred sathyan, prem nazir, vijaya k.r., thikkurissi, suresh gopi and baby padmini. it told the story of a rickshawala and his care towards a young girl he pulls out of the gutters.

1965 - 'murapennu' was the first movie to be shot extensively outdoors. it was directed by a. vincent and was the debut script of noted writer m.t. vasudevan nair. it starred prem nazir, p.j. anthony, adoor bhasi and sharada.

1965 - the epic 'chemmeen' directed by ramu karyat based on the 1956 novel of the same name by thakazhi sivasankara pillai. it starred madhu, sathyan, kottarakkara sreedharan nair, sheela and adoor bhavani. it was the first malayalam and south indian movie to win the national award for best film (president's golden lotus award). the script was by s.l. puram sadanandan, cinematography by marcus bartley and editing by hrishikesh mukherjee and k.d. george. it had 04 songs with lyrics by vayalar ramavarma, music by salil choudhary and songs sung by manna dey, k.j. yesudas, k.p. udayabhanu and p. leela. it was produced by 20 year old babu ismail.

1966 - one of the landmark movies 'iruttinte aathmaavu' which was noted for its sensitive attempt at story-telling. it was directed by p. bhaskaran on the script of m.t. and was appreciated for prem nazir's and shantha devi's stellar performances.

1968 - s.l. puram sadanandan won the national award for best script for 'agniputhri' directed by m. krishnan nair.

1969 - sharadha, hailing from andhra pradesh, won the national award for best actress (urvashi) for 'thulabharam' directed by a. vincent. the movie also won the national award for best second film.

1969 - 'janma bhoomi' won the nargis dutt award for best feature film on national integration, directed by john sankaramangalam.

1971 - 'thurakaatha vaathil' won the nargis dutt award for best feature film on national integration, directed by p. bhaskaran.

1972 - adoor gopalakrsihnan's debut directorial 'swayamvaram' brought malayalam cinema to global recognition by attending many international film festivals. it starred madhu, thikkurissi and sharada. through this movie, adoor became the first malayali director to receive the national award for best director. the movie also received the national award for best film. sharadha won the national award for best actress (urvashi) for the second time for this movie. m.c. ravi varma won the national award for best cinematography in the b/w category.

1973 - vayalar ramavarma won the national award for best lyrics for 'achanum baapayum'. for the same movie, kattassery joseph yesudas won the national award for best male playback singer for the song 'manushyam mathangale srishtichu'. the movie also won the nargis dutt award for best film on national integration. the movie was directed by k.s. sethumadhavan and had tunes set by g. devarajan.

1974 - 'nirmaalyam' won the national award for best film. it was the debut directorial for m.t. vasudevan nair. for the same movie, p.j. anthony became the first malayali actor to win the national award for best actor (bharath) for his brilliant potrayal of an oracle.

1974 - kattassery joseph yesudas won the national award for best male playback singer for the second time for 'padmatheerthame unaroo' from the movie 'gaayathri'. the movie was directed by p.n. menon, had lyrics by vayalar ramavarma and music by g. devarajan.

1975 - 'prayaanam' is considered to be the starting point for the middle-stream cinema, a mix of serious themes and mass appeal. the movie was the debut venture of director bharathan and scriptwriter p. padmarajan.

1977 - p.s. nivas won the national award for best cinematography in b/w category for 'mohiniattam'.

1978 - south india's first cinemascope film 'thacholi ambu' directed by appachan and starring prem nazir and jayan. it was produced by navodaya prodcutions.

1978 - govindan aravindan won the national award for best director for 'kanchana sita'.

1978 - v. gopinathan nair (bharath gopi) won the national award for best actor (bharath) for 'kodiyettam'. the movie was directed by adoor gopalakrishnan. gopi portrayed the transformation of a carefree individual to a mature responsible person. the movie also won the national award for best feature film in malayalam.

1979 - govindan aravindan won the national award for best director for the second time for 'thamp' for the same movie, shaji n. karun won the national award for best cinematography in the b/w category.

1981 - adoor gopalakrishnan's 'elippathaayam' won the british film institute award.

1981 - sivan won the national award for best cinematography in the b/w category for 'yaagam'.

1981 - balan k. nair won the national award for best actor (bharath) for 'oppol' for his potrayal of a reformed military officer. the movie was directed by k.s. sethumadhavan and scripted by m.t. vasudevan nair. for the same movie, aravind won the national award for best child artist. s. janaki won the national award for best female playback singer for 'ettumanoor ambalathil, with lyrics by p. bhaskaran and music by m.b. srinivas. the movie also won the national award for best second film.

1982 - the first 70mm indian movie 'padayottam' directed by jijo punnoose and starring prem nazir, madhu, mammootty, mohanlal and lakshmi. it was produced by navodaya productions.

1982 - p. devdas won the national award for best audiography for 'elippathaayam' directed by adoor gopalakrishnan. the movie also won the national award for the best feature film in malayalam.

1982 - 'pokkuveyil' directed by govindan aravindan won the national award for best second film.

1983 - vimal won the national award for the best child artist for 'aaroodam' directed by i.v. sasi on the script of m.t. vasudevan nair. the movie won the nargis dutt award for best feature film on national integration.

1984 - the first 3d film in india, 'my dear kuttichathan' directed by jijo punnoose and starring kottarakkara sreedharan nair and child artists arvind and sonia. it was produced by navodaya productions. for the same movie, aravind, suresh, mukesh and sonia won the national award for best child artist in 1985.

1984 - 'nokkukuthi' won the special jury/special mention national award for director mankada ravi varma.

1984 - suresh won the national award for best child artist for 'malamukkalile daivam'.

1985 - adoor gopalakrishnan won the national award for best director for the second time for 'mukhamukham'. for the same movie, adoor gopalakrishnan won the national award for best script. p. devdas won the national award for best audiography for the second time.

1986 - john abraham's 'amma ariyaan' is perhaps the only film made in india with money collected from the public by 'odessa collective' which was founded by the director. the fund was raised by screening charlie chaplin's 'the kid'.

1986 - 'chidambaram' won the national award for best film. it was directed by govindan aravindan.

1986 - p. jayachandran won the national award for best male playback singer for 'sivasankara sarva' from the movie 'sri narayana guru', directed by p.a. backer. the movie also won the nargis dutt award for best feature film on national integration. the movie had traditional lyrics by kumaranasan and sri narayana guru; and other lyrics by kollam jaffer and s. rameshan nair and music by g. devarajan.

1987 - govindan aravindan won the national award for best director for the third time for 'oridathu'.

1987 - monisha unni won the national award for best actress (urvashi) for her debut movie 'nakashathangal' directed by hariharan and scripted by m.t. vasudevan nair where she plays a maid caught between her love for a teenager and her devotion to the family that is supporting her. at the age of 15, monisha became the youngest recipient of the award. for the same movie, k.s. chitra won the national award for best female playback singer for the second time for 'manjal prasaadavum'. the movie had lyrics by o.n.v. kurup and music by bombay ravi.

1987 - venu won the national award for best cinematography for 'namukku paarkaan munthirithoppukal' directed by p. padmarajan.

1987 - 'amma ariyaan' won the special jury/special mention national award for director john abraham.

1988 - adoor gopalakrishnan won the national award for best director for the third time for 'anantharam'. for the same movie, adoor gopalakrishnan won the national award for best script. p. devdas won the national award for best audiography for the third time. he shared it along-with t. krishnanunni and n. harikumar.

1988 - kattassery joseph yesudas won the national award for best male playback singer for the fifth time for the title track of 'unnikale oru kadha parayaam', directed by kamal with lyrics bichu thirumala by and music by ousseppachan.

1988 - thilakan won the national award for best supporting actor for 'rithubedham'

1988 - 'chitram' directed by priyadarshan becomes the first movie to have a theatrical run of over 300 days. it starred mohanlal, ranjini, nedumudi venu and sreenivasan.

1989 - cinematographer shaji n. karun's debut directorial 'piravi' wins the camaera d'or-mention at the cannes film festival. for this movie, shaji won the national award for best director and also the national award for best film. for the potrayal of an old man in search of his son during the emergency era, mullamangalath parameshwaran bhattathirippad (premji) won the national award for best actor (bharath). at the age of 81, he was the oldest recipient of the award. t. krishnanunni won the national award for best audiography for the second time.

1989 - o.n.v. kurup won the national award for best lyrics for 'vaishali' directed by bharathan on the script of m.t. vasudevan nair. for the same movie, k.s. chitra won the natonal award for best female playback singer for the third time for 'indraneelimayolum'. the music was composed by bombay ravi.

1989 - 'rukmini' directed by k.p.kumaran, won the national award for best feature film in malayalam.

1990 - adoor gopalakrishnan won the national award for best director for the fourth time for 'mathilukkal'. n. harikumar won the national award for best audiography for the second time. the movie also won the national award for best feature film in malayalam.

1990 - mammootty won the national award for best actor (bharath) for 'mathilukkal' and 'oru vadakkan veeragaadha'. in 'mathilukkal', directed by adoor gopalakrishnan, he enacted vaikom muhammed basheer during one of his jail terms. the movie was an adaptation of the novel by the same name. in 'oru vadakkan veeragadha', directed by hariharan and scripted by m.t. vasudevan nair, he portrayed the legendary chatiyan chandu.

1990 - m.t. vasudevan nair won the national award for best script for 'oru vadakkan veeragadha'. for the same movie, p. krishna murthy won the national award for best art direction.

1990 - mohanlal won the special jury/special mention national award for his performance in 'kireedam' directed by sibi malayil on the script of a. k. lohithadas.

1991 - nedumudi venu won the national award for best supporting actor for 'his highness abdhulla' directed by sibi malayil and scripted by a.k.lohithadas where he plays the classical music and chess-loving patriarch of a royal kingdom who is unaware that his relatives are hatching a plot to murder him. for the same movie, m.g. sreekumar won the national award for best male playback singer for 'naadaroopini'. the lyrics were by kaithapram damodaran namboothiri and music by raveendran.

1991 - maheswari amma (kpac lalitha) won the national award for best supporting actress for 'amaram' directed by her husband bharathan and scripted by a.k. lohithadas where she plays a prominent member of the fishing community who is selfish about the welfare of her good-for-nothing son.

1991 - 'perumthachan' won the indira gandhi award for best first film of a director for ajayan on the script of m. t. vasudevan nair. santosh sivan won the national award for best cinematography.

1991 - m.s. mony won the national award for best film editing for 'iyer the great' directed by bhadran on the script of malayatoor ramakrishnan.

1992 - mohanlal won the national award for best actor for 'bharatham' for his portrayal of a brother forced to conceal the death of his elder brother so that the marriage of their vocally disabled sister would take place. the movie was directed by sibi malayil and scripted by a.k. lohithadas. for the same movie, kattassery joseph yesudas won the national award for best male playback singer for the sixth time for 'raama kathaa gaanalayam'. ravindran won the special jury/special mention national award for composing the music which had lyrics by kaithapram damodaran namboothiri

1992 - m.t. vasudevan nair won the national award for best script for the second time for 'kadavu' a movie he directed.

1992 - santha devi won the national award for best supporting actress for 'yamanam'.

1992 - 'godfather' by the director duo of siddique-lal becomes the record-holding movie for having a theatrical run of over 400 days. it starred theatre doyen n.n. pillai, thilakan,mukesh, jagadish, kanaka and philomina.

1993 - india's first live-action/animation hybrid film 'o faby' directed by k. sreekuttan.

1993 - 'sargam' directed by hariharan was given the national award for the best popular film providing wholesome entertainment. for the same movie, m.s. mony won the national award for best film editing.

1993 - 'manichitrataazhu' directed by fazil and assisted by his students namely priyadarshan, sibi malayil, siddique and lal starred mohanlal, shobhana and suresh gopi. this movie had story by madhu muttom and was remade into kannada (apthamithra), bengali (rajmohol), tamil (chandramukhi) and hindi (bhool bhulaiya) which is a record.

1993 - m.t. vasudevan nair won the national award for the best script for the third time for 'sadyam' directed by sibi malayil.

1994 - shaji n. karun's second movie 'swaham' becomes the second movie to get entry into the cannes film festival and nominated for palme d'or.

1994 - t.v. chandran won the national award for best director for 'ponthen maada'. for the same movie, venu won the national award for best cinematography for the second time. johnson won the national award for best music direction for the background score and the only song 'chakkara maavin' that had lyrics by o.n.v. kurup.

1994 - mammootty won the national award for best actor for the second time for 'ponthen maada' and 'vidheyan'. in 'ponthen maada' directed by t.v. chandran, he portrays the low-caste title character who forms a beautiful relationship with his colonial landlord who was expelled to british india from england for supporting the irish republican army. in 'vidheyan' directed by adoor gopalakrishnan, he enacts an aggressive tyrannical womanising landlord.

1994 - sobhana chandrakumar won the national award for best actress for 'manichitrataazhu' directed by fazil and scripted by madhu muttom where she plays a multiple personality disorder victim in the backdrop of an ancestral house which has the past of a landlord having imprisoned a bharathnatyam dancer who pined for her lover.

1994 - kattassery joseph yesudas won the national award for best male playback singer for a record seventh time for all the songs from the movie 'sopanam', directed by jayaraj. the movie had 13 songs with traditional lyrics and additional by kaithapram damodaran namboothiri and music by s.p. venkatesh.

1994 - 'manichitrataazhu' directed by fazil won the national award for the best popular film providing wholesome entertainment.

1994 - 'vidheyan' directed by adoor gopalakrishnan won the national award for best feature film in malayalam.

1995 - m.t. vasudevan nair won the national award for the best script for the fourth time for 'parinayam' directed by hariharan.

1995 - sabu cyril won the national award for best art direction for 'thenmavin kombathu'. for the same movie, k.v. anand won the national award for best cinematography.

1995 - 'swaham' won the special jury/special mention national award for director shaji n. karun.

1995 - bombay ravi and johnson (2nd time) won the national award for best music direction for 'parinayam' and 'sukrutham'. parinayam was directed by hariharan with lyrics by yusufali kecheri. sukrutham was directed by harikumar with lyrics by o.n.v. kurup. both the movies were scripted by m.t. vasudevan nair.

1996 - 'kathapurushan' won the national award for best film. it was directed by adoor gopalakrishan. for the same movie, aranmula ponnamma won the national award for best supporting actress.

1996 - sabu cyril won the national award for best art direction for the second time for 'kaalapaani'. for the same movie, santosh sivan won the national award for best cinematography for the second time. deepan chatterji won the national award for best audiography. venky won the national award for best special effects.

1997 - kumar won the national award for best child artist in 'deshadanam' directed by jayaraj where he plays a young boy who is chosen as a deity and who has to renounce the wordly relations including that he has with his parents.

1997 - t. krishnanunni won the national award for best audiography for the third time for 'kulam' directed by lenin rajendran.

1997 - 'kanakkinaavu' won the nargis dutt award for best feature film on national integration, directed by sibi malayil on a script by t.a. razzaq.

1998 - jayaraj won the national award for best director for 'kalliyaattam'.

1998 - balachandra menon won the national award for best actor for 'samaantharangal' in which he portrays a station master in a railway station who finally lays down his life to save the tracks from the explosives placed by his revolutionary son. the movie was direced by menon.

1998 - suresh gopi won the national award for best actor for 'kaliyattam' where he portrayed othello in the backdrop of the kathakalli artists. the movie was directed by jayaraj.

1998 - 'bhoothakannadi' won the indira gandhi award for best first film of a director for a.k. lohithadas.

1998 - jomol won the special jury/special mention national award for her performance in 'ennu swantham janakikutty' directed by hariharan on the script of m.t. vasudevan nair.janakikutty sampath won the national award fo best audiography.

1999 - mammootty won the national award for best actor for the third time for 'dr. ambedkar', directed by jabbar patel, where he portrays dr. babasaheb ambedkar. with his third national award, mammootty is tied with kamal hassan with the recipient of the best actor for the highest number of times.

1999 - manju warrier won the special jury/special mention national award for her performance in 'kannezhuthi pottumthottu' directed by t.k. rajeev kumar.

1999 - rajivnath won the national award for best director for 'janani'.

1999 - 'daya' won the indira gandhi award for best first film of a director for cinematographer venu on the script of m.t. vasudevan nair. s.b. satheeshan won the national award for best costume design.

1999 - murali nair's 'marana simhaasanam' won the camera d'or at the cannes film festival.

2000 - mohanlal won the national award for best actor for the second time for 'vaanaprastham'. for the same movie, he won the national award for best film. directed by shaji n. karun, mohanlal potrayed the role of a kathakkali artist from a lower caste who is rejected by his upper-caste father and later, he is not allowed to meet his illegitimate son forcing him to portray demonic characters on the stage. a. sreekar prasad won the national award for best film editing.

2000 - madampu kunjikuttan won the national award for best script for 'karunam' directed by jayaraj.

2000 - m.g. sreekumar won the national award for best male playback singer for the second time for the song 'chaanthu pottum' from the movie 'vaasanthiyum lakshmiyum pinne njaanum'. the lyrics were by yusufalikecheri and music by mohan sithara. kalabhavan mani won the special jury/specal mention national award for his performance in the movie, which was directed by vinayan.

2000 - 'punaradhivasam' directed by v.k. prakash won the national award for best feature film in malayalam.

2000 - ashwin thampi won the national award for best child artist for 'jalamarmaram'.

2000 - the first movie to collect a gross amount of 20 crores, 'narasimham' directed by shaji kailas on the script of ranjith. it starred mohanlal, thilakan and aishwarya.

2001 - 'shantham' won the national award for best film. it was directed by jayaraj. for the same movie, maheswari amma (kpac lalitha) won the national award for best supporting actress, where she plays a mother whose son is killed in a political strife by his best friend, both of whom the mother had loved deeply.

2001 - 'saayahanam' won the indira gandhi award for best first film of a director for r. sharath.

2001 - yusufali kechery won the national award for best lyrics for the song 'geyam harinamadheyam' from the movie 'mazha' directed by lenin rajendran. the music was composed by raveendran.

2001 - 'sayaanam' directed by m.p. sukumaran and 'kochu kochu santoshangal' directed by sathyan anthikkadu shared the national award for the best feature film in malayalam.

2001 - saleem padiyath won the national award for best children's film for 'karaaksharangal'.

2001 - aiding to satellite digital television and film piracy crisis, a slew of soft porn movies headed by shakeela and reshma ruled the industry for nearly two years.

2002 - murali won the national award for best actor for 'neythukaaran' directed by priyanandan where he portrays a veteran communist who cannot come to terms with the death of e.m.s. namboothiripadu and compares the old days where they toiled hard for the communist party even risking their lives and the present generation comprising of his son-in-law who have discarded their ideologies for material gains.

2003 - jyothirmayi won the special jury/special mention national award for her performance in 'bhavam'.

2003 - 'nizhalkuthu' directed by adoor gopalakrishnan won the national award for best feature film in malayalam.

2004 - meera jasmine won the national award for best actress for 'paadam onnu: oru vilaapam' directed by t.v. chandran on the script of aaryadan shoukath where she played an innocent school-going muslim girl who is forced into marriage and then given talaaq; she is happy she can now go back to school but realises that she is on the verge of motherhood.

2004 - 'margam' won the indira gandhi award for best first film of a director for rajiv vijaya ragahvan. nedumudi venu won special jury/special mention national award for his performance.

2004 - kalidasan won the national award for best child artist for 'ente veedu appontem' directed by sibi malayil on the script of sanjay-bobby where he plays a child whois unable to cope with the affection that his parents shower to their new baby; a freak accident causes him to spend time at a juvenile home.

2004 - adoor gopalakrishnan won the dadasaheb phalke award for his lifelong contribution to indian cinema.

2005 - sheela won the national award for best supporting actress for 'akale' directed by shyamaprasad and based on the tenesse williams play 'the glass menagerie' where she plays an overbearing single mother who tries to live vicariously throught her children; her devotion to them has made her ignorant of their wants. the movie also won the national award for best feature film in malayalam.

2005 - 'oridam' won the special jury/special mention national award for director pradeep nair.

2005 - the highest grosiing movie, 'raajamaanikyam' directed by debutant anwar rasheed starring mammootty, rahman, manoj k. jayan and padmapriya.

2006 - kavitha (urvashi) won the national award for best supporting actress for 'achuvinte amma' directed by sathyan anthikkadu and scripted by ranjan pramod where she plays a mother who brings up a child that is not hers but still wishes the best for her, but the daughter fails to understand her intentions when the mother doesnt accept her romance with an orphan.

2006 - 'daivanaamathil' won the nargis dutt award for best feature film on national integration, directed by jayaraj.

2006 - 'thanmaathra' directed by blessy won the national award for best fetaure film in malayalam.

2006 - 'moonamathoraal' directed by v.k. prakash was the first movie to be shot and exhibited in digital format.

2007 - 'pulijanmam' won the national award for best film. it was directed by priyanandan.

2007 - thilakan won the special jury/special mention national award for his performance in 'ekantham'. the movie also won the indira gandhi award for best first film of a director for madhu kaithapram.

2008 - the first movie which saw all the actors in the industry, 'twenty 20' was produced by amma for raising funds. it was directed by joshiy on the script of sibi-uday.

hollywood, bollywood...mollywood??

hollywood is a district in los angeles, california. due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of american movies, the word 'hollywood' is used as a metonym of american cinema. in 1870, an agricultural community flourished in the area with thriving crops, mostly perennial shrubs among which toyon bushes were the most prominent. the toyon bush produced red-color berries which were collected in large amounts during the x'mas season; the toyon berries came to be widely-known as christmas berry and california holly. during his honeymoon in 1886, the nation's most succesfful land developer and banker, h.j. whitely, known as 'father of hollywood' coined the term 'hollywood' and transformed the village into a flourishing location. in 1900, film-making started in the greater los angeles area and the biograph company filmed the short film 'a daring hold-up in southern california'. in 1906. the biograph company sent director d.w. griffith and his troupe to explore new territories. griffith chanced upon the friendly village of hollywood and shot a one-reel melodrama called 'in old california' - the first film shot in hollywood. in 1911, an unused roadhouse was converted into nestor studio, the first movie studio in hollywood. in 1914, the first feature film made in this studio was the cecil b. demille directed 'the squaw man'. by 1915, majority of the american films were being produced in hollywood. since the 1920's, hollywood had been the largest producer of movies in the world. the name 'hollywood' became synonymous to the home of a film-making indutry.

during the british colonial rule, bombay was the financial capital of india; the reason why the lumiere brothers chose bombay to project their films in 1896. the first short films were directed by the bengali photographer, hiralal sen starting with 'the flower of persia' in 1898. in 1913, the first full-length motion picture 'raja harishchandra' was produced by dadasaheb phalke. the movie had female roles played by an all-male starcast, ran for 40 minutes and was a stupendous success. by 1919, jamshedji framji madan's elphinstone bioscope company (madan theatres) controlled 127 theatres across the country with its base in bombay. in 1931, ardeshir irani released the first indian talkie - 'alam ara' which also marked the beginning of filmi music having seven songs in a movie that had a running time 0f 124 minutes. the 'b' of bombay combined with the term 'hollywood', to define the word that descibed indian film industry - bollywood. by the 1970's bollywood went past hollywood by producing 1000 films annually, in which nearly 600 were in hindu and telugu languages.

when the locations for the flourishing movie industries gave the prefix for -wood in american and hindi movies, for malayalam movies, the language proved the deciding factor. the letter 'm' was used to coin the term 'mollywood'. in 1907, he first cinema hall was established by k.w. joseph in trichur. in 1913, jose kattukaran established the first electrically operated film projector in jose electrical bioscope in trichur. initially, english, hindi and tamil movies dominated the screens. the first malayalam movie was 'vigathakumaran' produced and directed by businessman j.c. daniel. in 1938, the first talkie 'balan' directed by s. nottani was released. it was the establishment of the udaya studio in allepey in 1947 by kunjakko, that took malayalam movies out of the cluthces of tamil producers. 1951 saw the release of the musical drama 'jeevithanouka' considered the first widely accepted malayalam movie.

i have always hated the word mollywood, even for that the matter, the word bollywood. there are lots of differences between bollywood and its american counterpart. since bombay has been recently rechristened to mumbai, even hindi film industry should have been renamed as mullywood, not to confuse with the malayalam industry.

bull runs into the art bazaar

'seven cities claimed homer dead,

while the living homer begged his bread'

tyeb mehta, the indian canvas artist considered the most prolific figurative artist the country has seen, lives in a small 4th floor apartment sans lift, in the crowded suburd of lokhandwala. his career has seen the changing fortunes of contemporary indian art over the last six decades, from the intelluctual outburst in 1947 to a lifetime of aesthetic and financial struggle, to the burst in the indian art market in the last decade of the 20th century. as the economy galloped forward, art galleries mushroomed, prices skyrocketed and art became a society tag - an affluence to the newly minted rich.

tyeb mehta was born in 1925 in rural gujarat. his family was into the movie business and he too worked as an editor for some struggling years. he left the trade and joined the sir j.j. institute of applied art to become an art director in movies. an insignificant argument with his family members made him walk out of the family with his wife sakina when he was 29. later, while he read and painted at home, sakina had to work outside. she was his greatest supporter in times of all emotions and angst.

it could be said that the partition of 1947 bought out the angst and sufferings of the artist in tyeb. he saw his neighbours bludgeoned to death and it left a permanent and prominent scar in him.the violence gave him a subject - a vision of a tied-up, mutilated bull trying to save itself from the butcher. the trials of post-independence india lead to the 'progressive artist's group' formed by fellow-artist f.n. souza. the group, which drew stylistic inspiration from western modernism, strongly influenced tyeb.


at 34, tyeb left for london, at 43, he was in the us on a rockfeller fellowship and at 59, he was back at shantiniketan as an artist in residence and finally he came back to where he started - mumbai.


many of the protagonists in tyeb’s work—the rickshaw puller, the trussed bull, kali—are rooted in autobiography: a vacation spent with his grandmother in calcutta gave birth to the rickshaw puller. later, he shot footage at a Bandra abbatoir for a tamil documentary 'koodal', the vision of a bull bound and broken on the floor tormented him. one of the most definitive leaps that tyeb made as an artist - diagonal series - the introduction of the diagonal in his paintings—was the result of an accident. in 1969, he thought he had hit a dead end, and in a flounce of frustration, he flung a black streak across his canvas. then, as the drama of the diagonal hit him, he knew he had made a breakthrough, for the slanting gash was the visual equivalent of the biblical verb ‘cleave’ that at once joins and divides. he used the modernist method in a wholly inventive and original manner, which expressed the conflicts in the environment, the political and social events, unhappiness with cultural chaos and conflict between communities. the figures that kept sprouting in his works are the falling human figure, the buffalo-demon of hindu lore, the rickshaw-puller and the goddess kali.



the turning point was in 2002 when a vibrant huge room-size 240 x 515cm triptych which was done during a phase of financial crunch in tyeb's life, but was aptly called 'celebration' sold at christie's for 1.5 crore - first time an indian painting had crossed the crore mark. when tyeb made the painting, he had to take it to a neighbour's house to view it in full. the small stature of his house prevented him from properly analysing the room-size painting.

in 2005, 'mahishasura' a 30 x 24cm acrylic on canvas made in 1997, in which durga grapples with the demon buffalo went for 1.5 million dollars, again the first indian painting to inaugrate the million-dollar mark. but the artist, seldom reaped the profits. when it went through different hands, the sum dwindled to smaller proportions.

poor health always took its toll on him. the sunset years of his life saw him losing his eye-sight to near-blindness, impaired hearing, and a weak heart which had forced him to use a walker. he had become barely audible in his last years. when his body or work started to reap in cash, he was no longer able to work. the tubes of colors in his studio beckoned to him in vain.

the artist who failed to reap in the moolah which was rightly his, the artist who let his work speak for him, the artist who preferred to stay away from the limelights and grandeur, the artist who emoted suddenly to stories of persecution, the padma bhushan recipient breathed his last yesterday, following a fourth heart attack.

most artists are known to produce their best work in their early years. tyeb used his early years as a stepping stone to craft his art, the fifties and sixties acknowledging his talent, the seventies when he would leave behind everything he had achieved so far to develop the firm brushstrokes to indicate the lament and anguish of the disenfranchised, the eighties and nineties resulting in a body of work that was not just his but also the country’s finest — the diagonal series, his rickshaw pullers, the kali and mahishasura series, and the 'celebration' and santiniketan triptychs.

tyeb mehta will be remembered most for the “suppressed energy” and violence of his works, the primordial engagement of negative and positive energies, between what some might consider the mythologies of good and evil, or perhaps two powerful forces.

tribute to the celestial lover

padmanabha padmarajan pillai

(23.05.1945 - 24.01.1991)

lived among us for 45 years

papettan, as he was famously known, was born in muthukkulam (in onattukara) in allepey district of kerala. onattukara was at times part of the kingdom of venad and today, comprises of the present day taluks of kayamkulam, mavelikkara, harippadu, karunagapalli, karthikapalli etc. historical evidence shows that, centuries ago, onattukara area was a flourishing centre of a buddhist culture and civilization that was destroyed and possibly consciously erased from history after the revival of hinduism post 8th century ad. names of towns and villages in the onattukara region carry the “palli” suffix, which was common usage in pali, the language of theravada buddhism.

the native land was phenomenal in shaping papettan's mind to be always fertile with ideas. the rivers, the temples, the rituals behind it, the toiling class, the backwaters, the love for theatre and dance....

while working as programme executive for all india radio, thrissur, he started writing stories. he won the kerala sahitya akademy award for his debut novel 'nakshatrangale kaaval'. he shifted to writing scripts for movies with 'prayaanam'. he started of a trend with the director, bharathan by weaving narratives that made the audience sit up and notice their efforts. he is considered to be one of the fore-runners of the so-called 'parallel cinema' - movies that were artistic and at the same time, minted money, a crucial combination of quality and quantity.

his stories dealt with romance, jealousy, murder, deceit, sexual urges.... till then the audience were content watching the usual, he pulled them out of the shell, the comfort-zone. his debut directorial venture was 'peruvazhiyambalam' in 1979.

he gave prominence to songs and background music in the movies he directed. even though his movies had an average of only 2 songs, they were apt and placed perfectly; not hindering the flow, instead taking the narrative forward. in the movies that he directed, the songs were never sung by the actor-on-screen; they played in the background and he provided stunning visuals which augmented the story. the only movie where his lead character did sing was in 'njan gandharvan' but then, gandharvans are supposed to be celestial characters who sang to praise the gods.
i am not going into a surgical dissection of his movies, though i would love to do so and will do it, one of the coming days...

a small synopsis' of his 18 directorials, just to show the wide canvas that he mastered over:

1979 - peruvazhiyambalam (wayside inn) - raman, a simple teenager lives with his sister in a village. prabhakaran pillai, the villainous rapist coverts his sister and persecutes raman, who alone stands up to the bully and unknowingly, kills him in a fight during a temple fair. a teashop owner and a prostitute help him to hide from the police. raman replaces the villain as the idol for hero worship, for his machoism. he is struck with remorse when faced by the children of the man he killed. the movie explores the world of fears and the loss of belongings.

1981 - oridathoru phayalvan (somewhere, there lived a wrestler) - patronised by a village tailor, a wrestler becomes a local hero when he overcomes all his opponents and claims the prettiest woman as his wife. however, his muscular prowess is offset by sexual impotency and he has to leave the village and the girl falls for the youngster who had been trying to woo her for a long time.

1981 - kallan pavithran (pavithran, the thief) - pavithran was a petty thief dealing in utensils. but luck helps him fall upon a lost treasure and, in a short span, he turns from 'kallan' (thief) to 'mothalalli' (boss). but, his womanising ways, despite having a pious wife at home, leads to troubles and he is caught red-handed by the police for a theft.

1982 - novemberinte nashdam (the loss of november) - the rejection from her boyfriend to marry her after a whirlwind love affair leads to the girl losing control of herself.

1983 - koodevide (whither the nest) - a teacher at a convent school in ooty reforms a neglected and unruly teenager into a prize student. her boy-friend, an army captain, feels intensely jealous of the attention that the teenager receives from her. in order to scare the boy, he does a stunt and before he could stop himslef, he kills the boy apparently by accident but later surrenders to the police, leaving the teacher frustrated in all aspects of her life, still searching for a nest to rest.

1984 - parannu parannu parannu (soaring soaring soaring) - the love story between a young man and a girl with a mysterious past, told in the backdrop of a beauty cafe.

1985 - thinkalaazhcha nalla divasam (monday, an auspicious day) - two sons and their families come together in their spacious ancestral house to celebrate their lonely mother's 60th birthday. the comparision of the financial and social status of the two brothers lead to jealousies and rivalries escalating to who will inherit the house. despite the two knowing the deep attachment that the mother is having to the house and her pet animals, they place her in an old age home where she dies the same day, leaving them guilty ridden. their children nevertheless appreciate living together in the big house.

1986 - nammukku paarkaan munthirithoppukal (vineyards for us to dwell in) - a tragic love story, in which, through the bibical book of solomon and the romantic allusions associated with a vine-yard in mysore, a vine-yard owner falls in love with the illegitimate daughter of a nurse now married to a railway mechanic who is an alcoholic.

1986 - kariyilakkattupole (like a zephyr of dry leaves) - the murder investigation into the death of a writer-turned film director who was infamous for his romantic affairs.

1986 - arapatta kettiya graamathil (a village that wears a warrior's belt) - three youngsters visit a brothel and one of them falls for a girl over there, leading the other two to stand by him to fight the oppositions.

1986 - deshadanakilli karayaarilla (the migratory bird never cries) - two girls run away during a school trip in order to punish their teacher and in the course of their journey, one of the girls begins a romantic relationship with a mysterious man and later, is shocked to find out that the man is their teacher's lover.

1987 - nombarathipoovu (the sorrowful flower) - a freak accident by her bike-and-speed loving husband, leading to the death of their only child forces a wife to separate from her husband and she starts to take care of an orphaned young girl leading to her husband's jealousy to the little girl.

1987 - thoovanathumbikal (butterflies of the spraying rain) - when a young man, leading a dual life, proposes to a girl and is rejected, destiny gets him to begin a relation with a girl wanting to enter into prostitution. later, his first love reciprocates her love for him and he is caught in his emotions. rain plays a catalyst character in his sexual relationship.

1988 - aparan (the imposter) - an innocuous good guy is mistaken to be a gangster who may well have been his twin brother. in the process, he loses his identity.

1988 - moonaam pakkam (on the third day) - a retired bureacrat is visited by his grandson and three friends, brightening up memories. but his happiness wanes off when the sea takes away his grandson and gives him back on the third day.

1989 - season - a busted drug deal in the beaches of kovalam forces a man to get himself into a prison and bring out the the man who betrayed him.

1990 - innale (yesterday) - a amnesiac patient, unable to remember her yesterday, is bought into a new life by a young man and they decide to get married but, another person comes up claiming to be her husband.

1991 - njan gandharvan (i, the celestial lover) - a school-going girl falls into a passion with a celestial lover, who keeps appearing from a wooden statue that she found on a beach but is invisible to others.

to this day, the loss of p. padmarajan cannot be forgotten or replaced.

the gandharvan can take the form of any living creature; so i believe papettan might be still amongst us, just like the butterflies in a spraying rain....

"bloggers are all geeks and egotists"

whoa...whoa!!!

don't come to any conclusion. let me clear the title.

the title is from an interview of an iminent personality by channel vh1, when he was asked 'why do people blog?'. this personality is, indeed computer-illiterate but is known for many other pioneering actvities. to each, his own!!!

why do i blog???

when i had created my blog, i had promosed myself that, if i completed 4 posts in a week, i would try to reason as to why i still blog?

notwithstanding the reason that i do get an hour of office time completely free-of-work with net connection, i think it is all a play of words. i used to write diary entries on and off. a diary entry is supposed to be a description of thoughts and some do to keep a tally of their daily events. if the latter is the sole reason, as of now, i will not have much to post. on the contrary, for the former reason, i do have some, to blog, though they might, in later years, might seem irrevelant or stupid to me.....

blogging is like giving an interview, at least for me. you raise up a question and you try to give a dignified reply. but, like a true interview, even uncomfortable questions should be raised and answered.

lots of people have taken to blogging. amitabh bachchan is one who makes time every day to jot down at least a 1000 words strictly about how he spend his day and so on... boring. aamir khan has used it to show off his superiority complex and to shower expletives on shahrukh khan... not the reason blogs were meant for.... stars want to show that they are available and answerable to the aam janta who have buckets of hope on their films, sometimes even more than the stars themselves.

what have i gained from blogging?
i like to think that i am part of a huge community sans any of the racist, religous zealism involved in other communities. i can approach people to think in new ways about what i do and about things that i am passionate about. i like being part of the ideas ecosystem. secondly, blogging causes me to think things through a lot more thoroughly. it makes me challenge my preconceptions and makes me think harder before i form opinions. thridly, i'm sure the discipline of blogging helps to hone one's writing skills and probably communication skills.

questions that i often think about:
will i ever write a blog which i might regret later?
what are the topics about which i might never write a blog about?

so, back to the title, are all bloggers geeks and egotists...

actually.... there is some truth in that. it's nice when people know you from the blog... and like your stuff and when you get known as being a blogger. people read your ideas before they meet you. i do like that, i can't deny it but after a while should get over any silly idea of being 'the' responsible citizen who is expected to blog daily and enlighten the people out there; and realise it's just helps people to get to know you and what you stand for.

Albicelestes

as a seven year old, i would have preferred to snug under the blanket rather than sit late at night and watch 22 fools run after a ball across a 100 yard green field, just for the sake of a trophy. thats what i had thought when papa asked me whether i wanted to watch the final of italia '90. anyways i sat along-with him in our house on salwa road, qatar, to watch the finale being held at stadio olimpico in rome between west germany and argentina. over the years, i had become a soccer fanatic who liked pace in the game, so it was ironical that i started off by watching the final of the 1990 world cup, a tournament which had produced the least number of goals in history. the tournament generated a record low goals-per-game average and a then-record of 16 red cards. most teams relied on defensive play and hard tackling and aggressive intimidation of the referee.

i saw players running all across the field. papa explained to me the rules of the game and how one has to get past the guardian of the fort and score a point. i was waiting and waiting.....

papa also pointed at a stocky player in blue and told me it was maradona and told me he was the greatest. i tried rubbing my eyes and other perky things not to fall asleep. towards the end rudi voller was felled down by the argentinian defender, the mexican referee awarded a penalty and my papa was like, 'how can he do that for a final, that too, with just 5 minutes remaining?' andreas brehme didnt miss it. the following celebration was the only bright spot in the whole game for me.

but, what touched my football-immature, pair of seven year old eyes were the tears of the stocky man in blue with a 10 on his back. that was how i got hooked to soccer, hooked to maradona, hooked to argentina, hooked to the albicelestes.....

coronados de gloria vivamos

'there is a psychological technique which makes it possible to interpret dreams, and that on the application of this technique, every dream will reveal itself as a psychological structure, full of significance, and one which may be assigned to a specific place in the psychic activities of the waking state'

- the interpretation of dreams (die traumdeutung) - 1899

- sigmund freud (1856 - 1939)

its been a long time since i saw dreams. a longer time since i saw nightmares. nice dreams do help me sleep better. yesterday i saw a beautiful dream.

i dreamt about the night of july 11, 2010, a saturday. a total solar eclipse had passed over the pacific ocean. i was in johannesburg, among the 95, 000 seated in the soccer city stadium, formerly known as the first national bank stadium (fnb stadium). from the outside, the fnb stadium looked like an african melting pot, the cladding on the outside is a mosaic of fire and earthen colours with a ring of lights running around the bottom of the structure, simulating fire underneath the pot.

the fifa world cup had previously travelled across five continents in its 80 year-old journey. a world cup in antarctica is seemingly impossible. so the only continent left is africa and fifa has done it this time. it has chosen the land of nelson mandela - the republic of south africa - one of the 17 countries in the word known to be megadiverse - meaning it is a host to 20,000 different plants or 10% of all the known species of plants. it is also the home of barbecue, vineyards and kwaito singers.

read somewhere recently, mahatma gandhi had tried and failed to be a delegate of the natal football association during his stint as a barrister in south africa. if he did make it, the world would never have known about non-violence and hey ram. but then, the independence struggle for india would have been through the extremist methods of bhagat singh and subash chandra bose, which, i would have preferred...anyday...

anyways, back to my dream.... so i was inside the stadium with blue and yellow all around me. shakira had just finished performing her snake-dance. akon had the crowd on their feet. reminiscent of the african spirit was the performance by safri duo. i was witnessing a historic moment. the finals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup between two-time champions argentina and the five-time winners brazil. maradona and dunga, two players who had lifted the trophy in 1986 and 1994 respectively, had come with their warriors to repeat the record of franz beckenbauer.

the teams came out to the field and stood facing the crowd. i felt like a roman emperor giving the thumbs-up for the gladiators to fight it out. the himno nacional argentino and hino nacional brasileiro had me on my feet with the due respects that should be given to the national anthems. the claps were thunderous. the teams took the sides. my heart stopped its beat and... then burst out along-with the kickoff. mexican waves and the samba filled the stadium.

i vividly remember the goals. kaka scored the opening for brazil in the first half. in the second half, juan riquelme hit a scorching free-kick which fooled the brazilian custodian and kissed the nylon. towards the end, sergio aguero passed the ball to messi some ten metres inside the blue half. messi started a 60-metre, 10-second dash towards the brazilian goal, passing four outfield players – dani alves, kaka, ronaldinho and robinho. messi finished the move by dribbling round julio cesar to make the score 2–1 and lift the silvio gazzaniga designed trophy for the third time ranking them along-with germany at second slot.

i was out of this world. from where i come, we have a saying that dreams seen at dawn do come true. i saw this dream during sunrise.... it should come true.

nice dreams do help me sleep better.
i hope this dream comes again and again.
well, i can make a compromise for the scoreline (the more the merrier).
eventually, diego armando maradona should lift the gold.

sean eternos los laureles; may the laurels be eternal
que supimos conseguir; the ones we managed to win
coronados de gloria vivamos; let us live crowned in glory
o juremos con gloria morir; or let us swear - with it to die.