At the dawn of the silent movies
in world cinema, the first silent movie in Malayalam ‘Vikathakumaran’ was
made with the made in 1928 by J C Daniel . But unfortunately
this film ruined him in financially .
After Daniel , his relative Sunderraj took initiative
to produce another film ‘MarthandaVarma’ based
on Sri C.V. Ramanpilla's famous novel . But this film
got involved in legal problems with the copy right,
and turned out to be another financial disaster.
'Balan' the first Malayalam "talkies" with
sound track, was made in 1938 . T.R Sundaram produced
this film for modern theatres, Salem, with S. Nottani
was the director. Main actors and actresses were K.
K. Aroor, Alleppy Vincent, Smt. M. K. Kamalam etc.
Muthukulam Raghavan Pillai wrote the screen play. The
theme of this film which was based on a step-mother,
has influenced Malayalam cinema stories for a long
time. The picture was, of course a superhit.
Inspired from this success , it’s distributors
'Shymala Pictures' produced the fourth Malayalam movie ‘Jnanambika’ .
In other Indian languages all the early films were
mythologicals, whereas in Malayalam only the fifth
one 'Prahalda' (1941) was a mythological.
After 'Prahalada' the Malayalam film industry remains
inactive for a long while.
Then, in 1948, another film 'Nirmala' produced by P.J.Charian
and directed by P.V.Krishna Iyer. was released This
film was a revolution in the field of film technology
. the ‘play -back’ system was introduced
for the first time in the film . Until then, artists
had to act and sing simultaneously . The famous ‘Udaya
Studio’ was built in 1949 at Alleppy, and in
1952 ‘Merryland studio’ was set-up in Trivandrum.
Both played important roles in the history of Malayalam
cinema.
'Jeevitha Nowka' which was made in 1951 broke all the
previous box -office records . It was screened continuously
for 284 days in Trivandrum city. K. Vembu was the director
of this film which was produced by Koshi and Kunchcko
under the banner of K & K Productions. Eminent
actor 'Thikkurissy' become famous through this film.
In 1952 , Sathyan through 'Athma Sakhi' and Premnazeer
through 'Marumakal' came into the lime light.
The fifties witnessed tremendous changes in the field
of Indian cinema. The trend of making films based on
famous novels, began in 1954 with the film 'Neelakkuyil'
by Chandrathara Productions, taken from ‘Uroobe’s
famous novel.
'Neelakkuyil' witnessed the rising up of a new group
of creative youngsters in this field , including the
directors P Bhaskaran and Ramu Karyattu.
The first realistic Malayalam movie 'News Paper Boy'
was released 1955. This 'down to earth' film by P.Ramdas,
was conspicuous by its simplicity.
In the sixties, the influence of Malayalam literature
on cinema was strengthened more. So many films were
made upon famous novels and even poems like ‘Karuna’ and ‘Ramanan’ provided
themes for films.
P. Bhaskaran went a long way by directing the film
'Rarichan Enna Powran'. His most famous film was 'Iruttinte
Aathmavu'.
Sethumadhavan , who came to the field by directing
'Jnanasundary' In 1961, always maintained his identity
by choosing themes with social relevance, and presenting
them in a simple manner. Most of his films including
'Odayil Ninnu', 'Aranazhika Neram', 'Anubhavangal Palichakal'
where based on famous novels . The most celebrated
actor Satyan proved his talent through Sethu Madhavan’s
films.
It was also the golden era for Malayalam film songs.
The Vayalar - Devarajan team have given us numerous
unforgettable melodies . Baburaj , Dakshinamurthy ,
K. Rakhavan etc.. composed enchanting tunes for the
lyrics by P. Bhaskaran , Yusaf Ali Kechery, Sreekumaran
Thambi etc.
Ever famous Yesudas , S.Janaki , P.Leela, P.Susheela,
Jayachandran, Kamukara Purushothaman, A.M.Raja etc...
are the gifts of that era.
Mr. Ramu Kariattu brought us the first national level
recognition. Rural Kerala were the locations for all
his films. He introduced Madhu to Malayalam cinema
through his film 'Moodupadam'. His most famous film
'Chemmeen' was honoured by President's gold medal.
The film was based on Thakazhi Shivasankara Pillai’s
famous novel . Sathyan , Kottarakkara, Sheela, Madhu,
S.P. Pillai etc.. presented their remarkable performances
in the film.
After 'Chemmeen' Malayalam Cinema has never had to
look back . One after another we could make outstanding
movies like 'Kanchana Seetha', 'Thambu', 'Elippathayam',
'Vasthuhara', 'Mathilukal', 'Piravi', 'Swam', etc.
and could prove our strong presence in Indian Cinema
Industry. Our prestigious directors, like Aravindan,
Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Shaji etc.. have claimed national
and international awards for many of their films.
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