Malayalam Films1593986

The Cinema of Kerala (also known as Malayalam cinema, the Malayalam film industry) is a part of Indian cinema, where motion pictures are produced in the Indian state of Kerala in the Malayalam language. Malayalam cinema is known for its realistic portrayal of relevant subjects in films with less commercial elements. Malayalam cinema has pioneered various technical, thematic and production techniques among films in India. The industry is the fourth largest film industry in India. It is also one of the largest producers of parallel cinema in India.

At first (beginning in the 1920s), the Malayalam film industry was based in Trivandrum. Although the film industry started to develop and flourish only by the late-1940s. Later, the industry shifted to Chennai (formerly Madras), which then was the capital of the South Indian film industry. In the 2000s, the Malayalam film industry returned and established itself in Kochi with a major chunk of locations, studios and production facilities.

Guru and Adaminte Makan Abu were the only Malayalam films to be sent by India as its official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards in 1997 and 2011 respectively. The first 3-D film produced in India, My Dear Kuttichathan (1984), was made in Malayalam.[1] The first CinemaScope film produced in South India was the Malayalam film Thacholi Ambu (1978).[2] The world's first film with just one actor in the star cast was the Malayalam film The Guard

A lead actor is called as a superstar when that person has become a driving force at the box office. Just like other Indian film industries, there are no clear-cut guidelines for decorating an actor as superstar, and this designation is almost always bestowed by the media after an actor proves to be a champion at the box office.[citation needed]

Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair was the first person in the Malayalam film history to be called a superstar,[12] following the tremendous success of his second film Jeevithanauka (1951), which is touted as the first superhit of Malayalam cinema. Later Prem Nazir, Sathyan, Madhu, Jayan, M. G. Soman, and Sukumaran came to be called superstars. Prem Nazir and Sathyan formed a bipolar industry in which a considerable number of films made in Malayalam in the later 1960s and almost the whole of 1970s starred one of them, until the rise of Jayan. Curiously, the trend was continued in the next era as well, with Mammootty & Mohanlal being established as superstars in the 1980s. Suresh Gopi emerged as a superstar by mid 1990s, following a series of successful movies having police/political themes, most notably Commissioner, directed by Shaji Kailas .[citation needed]

As with most of the other Indian film industries, the Malayalam film industry is driven by male actors. None of the female actors who have been part of the industry have come to be known as superstars, though there have been immensely popular stars like Miss Kumari, Sharada, Sheela, Jayabharathi, Vidhubala, Srividya, Shobhana, Revathi, Urvashi, Manju Warrier, Samyuktha Varma and Kavya Madhavan.[citation needed]

Many actors have brought laurels to Malayalam films with their performances. As of 2011, Malayalam film actors have won 13 out of the 47 National Film Awards for Best Actor ever given away, including two occasions of double awardees. 13 is the second highest number of award wins by a film industry trailed only by Hindi (19 awards). The Malayalam film actors who have won the award are P. J. Antony (1974), Gopi (1978), Balan K. Nair (1981), Premji (1988), Mammootty  (1989, 1993, 1999), Mohanlal (1991, 2000), Suresh Gopi (1998), Balachandra Menon (1998), Murali (2002) and Salim Kumar (2011). Additionally, Malayalam film actors have won several Special Jury Awards as well: Mohanlal (1990), Kalabhavan Mani (2000), Nedumudi Venu (2004), Thilakan (2007).

Malayalam female actors are not far behind. As of 2007, they have won the National Film Award for Best Actress 5 times. The winners are Sharada (1969, 1973, 1979), Monisha (1987), Shobana (1994, 2002), Meera Jasmine (2004) and Priyamani (2007). The actresses to win the Special Jury Award are Jomol (1998), Manju Warrier (1999) and Jyothirmayi (2003). Sharada did win another award in 1979 for the Telugu film Nimajjan; so did Shobana in 2002 for the Indian made English language film Mitr, My Friend.[citation needed] Notable Current Super lead actors include Mammootty, Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi, Jayaram, Dileep, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Kunchacko Boban, Indrajith, Jayasurya, Asif Ali, Fahad Fazil, Dulquer Salmaan, Narain, Anoop Menon, Nivin Pauly and Unni Mukundan