Directors who revolutionised Malayalam Cinema

Malayalam cinema was always known for its close to reality, bold and out of the box themes beautifully given life by some extraordinarily gifted performers. While other industries cashed on on the commercial elements in movies with all the glamour and glitz, Malayalam cinema was poles apart from there. But there was a period of crisis for our industry when in the name of commercial entertainers brainless mass masala potboilers found their way to theatres every Friday. And to say the least the scenario was quite pathetic.

But when set of youngsters with real passion for filmmaking entered the scene it was for good. Malayali audience were opened to new age filmmaking techniques and non linear storytelling and other facets of the process. Youngsters with the limited budget made use of the available techniques to enhance the quality of the movies. Unlike earlier times, more focus was given on the technical side and their moves boasted of some beautiful frames, pitch-perfect sound design, color grading. Some yesteryear classic filmmakers who could not change or move with the trend could not recreate their magic and they were all at sea.

Here we have a list of directors in no particular order who are responsible for the change or say the resurgence in Malayalam Cinema.

Anwar Rasheed

The man with the midas touch. Anwar Rasheed kick-started his career back in 2005 with the Mammootty starrer Rajamanikyam, a blockbuster in the box office. The character Bellari Raja enjoys a cult status even today. His other movies were the commercial blockbusters Chotta Mumbai and Annan Thambi. Soon Anwar Rasheed was the hot favourite in the industry. But with his next few works he showed that he was more than a commercial director. His short film Bridge in Kerala Cafe had a soul stirring theme that illustrates loss and desolation. Similarly his work Isha in 5 Sundarikal also showed a different kind of storytelling.

His next Ustad Hotel written by Anjali Menon was again a blockbuster and won the National award in the Most Popular film category. Anwar Rasheed soon forayed into production. Both his films Bangalore Days and Premam are among the all-time blockbusters in Malayalam cinema history. Anwar Rasheed is very choosy but all his works have a minimum guarantee. Cine lovers are waiting for his next projects eagerly.

Jeethu Joseph

Director of the biggest blockbuster in Malayalam cinema history, Jeethu Joseph is a brilliant filmmaker who has this brilliant ability to balance family emotions and thrillers equally. Jeethu Joseph started his career with Detective, an underrated investigative thriller. Followed it with Mummy and Me, a family drama then My Boss another family entertainer. But it was his next movie Memories that made people notice this genius filmmaker. A well balanced thriller with family emotions laced around subtly. It was one of the best thrillers to come out in Malayalam cinema history.

Jeethu Joseph’s next was Drishyam, an all time blockbuster which is again a family drama thriller. Drishyam was remade into multiple languages with Jeethu Joseph himself directing the Tamil version with Kamal Hassan as the lead. His latest release Life of Josutty received lukewarm response at the box office. Unlike other directors Jeethu Joseph’s strength is in his writing. The way he handles emotions and drama is praiseworthy. There are very few in Mollywood currently, who have enjoyed huge success both critically and commercially.

Abrid Shine

Abrid Shine is only 2 films old but it is more than enough to prove his calibre and his range of filmmaking. His first film 1983, a family drama that revolved around cricket and nostalgia. 1983 was a very big success both critically and commercially. The film gained him the Kerala State Film Award in the best debut director category. Also Gopi Sunder won the national award for best background score for this movie. Abrid Shine’s next was again with Nivin Pauly, this time a police movie. Action Hero Biju was a far cry from the usual police flicks where the officer is on a mission to protect the society from evil.

In Action Hero Biju, it was the day to day encounters of a police officer that was shown convincingly. After initial negative rsponse Action Hero Biju soon gained pace and had a theatrical run of 100 days. Abrid Shine should be appreciated for his brave attempt to try out something new and still coming out successful. Abrid Shine’s next is a campus movie and it is very clear that he does not want to stick onto one particular format and enjoy that success. We have someone who is willing to go out of the box.

Alphonse Puthren

It is not always that we see a Malayalam movie enjoying a theatrical run of 250 days in other states. Alphonse Puthren another 2 film old director enjoyed such a big success with his second film, Premam. The editor-writer-director grabbed the eyeballs when he first made a musical album Yuvvh with Nivin Pauly and Nazriya Nazim. His first film Neram, a bilingual in Tamil and Malayalam, again had the same pair in the lead roles. Alphose Puthren is one of the very filmmakers who have sound technical knowledge.

Premam apart from the plot and performance it was widely praised for its cinematography, free flowing editing, colour grading and the sound design. Master filmmaker praised Premam and called it the movie with the best screenplay and sound design in recent times. Alphonse Puthren’s strength lies in the technical side of the process. He makes very good use of techniques to elevate his movies to the next level. His stints as an editor and a short filmmaker surely has helped him learning and understanding the craft better.

Aashiq Abu

Aashiq Abu, another new age director known for his stylish and classy filmmaking is one of the frontrunners who strive to break the stereotypes in the industry. Aashiq Abu apart from a successful director is a distributor as well as a producer. He has a penchant for trying out movies with relatively smaller stars and still emerge successful. Even though he started with Daddy Cool starting Mammootty, Salt n Pepper was the film that and people notice him. He was the first director to use social media for marketing.

All his works are like chalk and cheese. Idukki Gold had a group of veterans playing the roles. Da Thadiya dealt with the society’s outlook and insecurities associated with obesity. His best work till date is 22 Female Kottayam, a woman-centric movie and a never before seen kind of revenge thriller. It was later remade into other languages. Aashiq Abu recently distributed Ozhivu Diavasathe Kali, a movie which won many awards in film festivals across the country. Maheshinte Prathikaram his recent production was a blockbuster in the box office.

Dileesh Pothen

Dileesh Pothen directed just one movie, Maheshinte Prathikarikaram. He was a long time associate of Aashiq Abu and has also acted in many films. Maheshinte Prathikarikaram was a critically and commercially acclaimed movie. The realistic portrayal of the central characters and the freshness in the plot was appreciated by pundits. No unwanted gimmicks were added to commercialize the product and that tells a lot about the kind of filmmaker Dileesh Pothen is. Also the way he handled humour and emotions were praiseworthy. Dileesh Pothen’s new works are eagerly awaited.

Vineeth Sreenivasan

If there is one director in Malayalam cinema who understand the pulse of the youth, its Vineeth Sreenivasan. He has a team of technicians with who is very comfortable and always brings out the best in them. Vineeth Sreenivasan’s only offbeat movie was Thira starring Shobhana but even that was appreciated by the critics for its slick filmmaking. His Association with Nivin Pauly in Malarvadi Arts Club, Thattathin Marayathu, Oru Vadsakan Selfie and the recent Jacobinte Swargarajyam were all commercial successes. Most of his films boast of good music and rich visuals. Vineeth Sreenivasan is also a multi-talented individual a writer, director, actor, producer, singer and a lyricist.

Martin Prakkat

The fashion photographer turnes writer-director recently won the Kerala state award for best direction for his last movie Charlie. Martin Prakkat debuted with the Mega Star Mammootty starrer Best Actor. Best actor was a very good commercial entertainer that had a interesting story line. Martin Prakkat ‘s strong suit is his talent in stylish making worth a mention is the transformation scene in Best Actor that had Mammootty in his stylish best. His next was ABCD with Dulquer Salmaan shot in US and Kerala. This movie also had some beautiful rich visuals, peppy music and Dulquer as stylish as ever. But it was his 3rd movie Charlie that earned him all the praise.

Charlie was a feel-good tale about Charlie, a bohemian style wanderer, and Tessa, a free-spirited girl who sets out in search of him, the film was backed by fine performances, beautiful visuals and fresh frames. Martin Prakkat ‘s work was hugely appreciated and Charlie won about 8 awards in the State Awards this year.

Rajeev Ravi

The cinematographer-director is a genius filmmaker who does no compromise for the sake of commercializing a product. His rooted to realism movies are widely appreciated by critics. Annayum Rasoolum, Njan Steve Lopez and Kammatipadam are his 3 works as a director. He is also a national award winning cinematographer primarily working in Bollywood. Rajeev Ravi frames are so real that we don’t get to see the gloss or other gimmicks. A master filmmaker who brings out the best out of his actors, Rajeev Ravi is one director any actor would love to work with.

Salim Ahamed

Salim Ahamed is an entirely different filmmaker from this list. He is well known for his national award winning works Adaminte Makan Abu, Mammootty starrers Kunjananthante Kada and Pathemari. Adaminte Makan Abu won Salim Kumar the national award for best actor. Pathemari won the national award for the best feature film in Malayalam. His works have earned him numerous awards in film festivals all over the world. Salim Ahmed is a brilliant director who believes in staying true to the art of cinema and comes out with quality films that Malayalis should always be proud of.

Anjali Menon

Anjali Menon is the only successful woman filmmaker in Malayalam Cinema. She started her career with the critically acclaimed Manjadikkuru, a brilliant movie about family relationships. Sadly Manjadikkuru did not enjoy a good success at the box office. But once the DVDs were released Anjali Menon was widely appreciated by everyone for her honest attempt. Manjadikkuru won several awards in many international film festivals. Her next work was Ustad Hotel, for which she wrote the story, screenplay and dialogues. It was a commercial blockbuster and earned the National Award for the most popular film of that year.

Anjali Menon also won the National award for the best dialogues for Ustad Hotel. Ustad Hotel is a beautiful movie on the relationships between a young man and his grandfather. Food and its nuances were used as a central character in the film, and acts as a catalyst of personal transformation. Anjali Menon then directed the multistarrer Bangalore Days. It was again a very blockbuster in the box office. Bangalore Days enjoyed a good run in theaters outside the state as well. Anjali Menon also won several awards for this movie. Her writing is the major asset of all her movies and all her characters are sketched and brought onto the screen.

Amal Neerad

Amal Neerad a film institute pass out is also a cinematographer who worked primarily in Bollywood. Amal Neerad is synonymous with the term stylish filmmaking. His first work Big B with Mammootty was just a testament to his calibre. He went on to make films with Mohanlal in Sagar Alias Jacky, Prithviraj in Anwar and the multi starrer Bachelor Party. His films are always known to be technically top notch and his style of filmmaking was the first of its kind in Malayalam Cinema. Though all his movies were praised for the technical brilliance commercial success eluded him for some time.

His last movie Iyobinte Pusthakam, starring Lal, Fahad Fazil and many others was an action drama set in the pre-independence period. The movie upon release was both critically and commercially acclaimed. Amal Neerad was praised for the frames and covering Munnar in a different mood that was unseen before. Amal Neerad won the Kerala State film award for the cinematography for his work in Iyobinte Pusthakam. His latest project with Dulquer Salman is one of the most awaited projects of the year.

Sameer Thahir

Sameer Thahir is another cinematographer turned filmmaker. His work as an independent cameraman was Big B. Big B is widely claimed as the most stylish movie ever made in Malayalam Cinema. Sameer Thahir ‘s work behind the camera was noticed and appreciated. He later directed Chappa Kurishu, a movie shot entirely with a Canon 7D DSLR camera. Sameer Thahir was praised for his realistic portrayal of the lives of all the lead characters. The climax stunt sequence was applauded particularly.

Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi, his next movie was a road movie, the first of its kind in Malayalam cinema. Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi was shot widely across the locations from Kerala to Nagaland. Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi soon turned to be a rage among youngsters and many of them were inspired to hit the road. His work as a cinematographer again in Bangalore Days was splendid to say the least. He lifted the movie to the next level with his glossy, rich visuals adding to the aesthetic value of the whole movie. Kali his recent movie dealt with the events happening in the life of an angry young man in the midst of a journey. Again Sameer Thahir was praised for his strikingly real and genuine filmmaking without stuffing in too many commercial gimmicks.

– Vignesh Madhu