Directors, producers, writers, actors, production team and technicians altogether constitute a film industry. Indian film is the largest film sector in the world. We sell more tickets, produce more films than hollywood. India has more than ten film industries and malayalam film industry or mollywood is the fourth largest film industry in India. But mollywood has something special features that other Indian film industries don't have. Malayalam is a small industry and has limits but being big doesn't mean the best.
Here I share the six unique features of malayalam film industry which I could understand.
1. CONTENT ORIENTED FILMS
Instead of being star oriented, malayalam films are content oriented. Even in a super star's film you can find a contented story and characters. When other industries abridge the story values to show their marvellous skills in CGI, dance, songs and non-humanistic heroism, mollywood fiefdom is presided with a skill of content oriented commercial films. Other industries have famine in these skills and when somebody in malayalam transgress this skills, it won't entertain by the industry and audience. What mollywood conveys is quantity is nothing before quality.
2. BUDGET FRIENDLY
As I mentioned above malayalam has limits, limitations in budget too. But they can make universal films with a limited budget. The budget of the blockbuster malayalam film Thanneermathan dinangal would be around the amount spend for a typical, five minutes durable bollywood item dance. When other industries inordinately spend on films, today's mollywood producers are brilliant enough to make huge profit with small investments.
3. OPEN FOR DISCUSSIONS AND CRITICISMS
Every film industry has rumors and gossips. Beside gossips, when the nasty incidents like casting couches, work place harassments, sexual assaults and cyber bullying are latent in all film industries, mollywood always take revolutionary steps to clear the turmoils about them. They have an open mind to hear criticisms, conduct parleys, discuss the issues and correct themselves if they could find any faults on their side. They do this when similar issues in other industries expire within gossip columns.
4. OPEN FOR EXPERIMENTAL FILMS
Primarily, Cinema is an art thus exploring and finding various formats and narratives are essential to keep the aesthetic part alive. In order to happen films with universal themes there should be a space for the research and the implementation of novel ideas. We have films such as Maheshinte prathikaram, Thondimuthalum driksakshiyum, Sudani from Nigeria, Ee ma yau, Kumbalangi nights, Virus, Moothon, Jallikkattu and etc in recent years. These aren't fresh materials in world cinema. But in India, these are gems.
5. SOCIALLY COMMITTED
There is no film without audience and realisation of this simple fact is the one thing artists should have. Cinema is an art and art is a medium to communicate with people therefore an artist have a responsibility and commitment to the society. They should raise their voice whenever people have a problem and help them in whichever ways they can. We could see that when big floods had happened in 2018 and 2019, we could hear the collective voice from malayalam actors to veto CAA, and so many examples. They are attached to the people instead of being with selfish and privileged stardom. They make us feel that they are one among us.
6. GET UPDATED WITH CHANGES
Mollywood is updated with changes in the society. Our perspectives and ideologies are completely evolved to another level from the black and white era. Professionals from film industry itself have come forward to talk against the political incorrectness of their films. When other industries celebrate misogynistic films and characters, they make films like Kumbalangi nights, Thamasha, Mayanadi, Uyare, Ishq, Android Kunjappan and etc. They are aware about the broadness of social perspectives, the responsibility of a cinema as an audiovisual medium and the responsibility of an artist. This awareness is essential to get updated and adapted with the changes, both social and cognitive changes.
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