(Reader Raphel Lazar left a comment on our Review Roundup on Classmates analyzing what is wrong in Malayalam Film Industry. The comment was long and he expressed many points worth thinking about that we are publishing it as an article)
Since this is the only forum to express the state of affairs of once great Malayalam film industry, I take this opportunity to highlight the worms in the industry as a simple lover of films. I am not writing on behalf of anybody or taken money, which is not required since I am working as a Senior Executive in Multinational Company earning very good salary.
I grew up watching the movies of Sathyan, Nazir and others who exchanged roles and acted together without ego. I was an active member of TVM Surya Film Society in the early eighties during my professional college days. Only Satyan could offer the difference in acting style, which he depicted with ease, the free acting style without struggling. Then came Sukumaran and Jayan who excelled in certain roles.
The dramatic change happened when Mammotty and Lal came. But I do not think anyone can watch the movies of both actors during their early days, though we could observe a better approach in their acting. The flashes here and there occurred when MT, Hariharan, KG George, Bharatan (who created the best campus film of all time Chamaram), Padmarajan, Mohan etc did the job for them. Then we had the blessings of good directors Sibi, Priyan (most of his movies were good copycats, but made differently), Satyan etc. Other directors excelled only when everything clicked. Good directors make good movies most of the time.
Now when, after the early struggle, the two M&Ms became super stars we had lots of movies, some of which were simply great. They started doing better in their late thirties only. Till then they never had any role worth remembering. The same yardstick applies to anybody. All the great actors in India or Hollywood struggled in their early times, which is the law of nature. Most of their good roles came from creative directors, not from the likes of Joshy, etc.
Now, when Prithvi came lots of things happened and mostly every actor tried to isolate him. May be everyone thought of him as a threat, which we failed understand. How come a guy of 21 years would be a threat for very senior and established ones? We as simple viewers were watching all these dramas. With very good support from most of the Film weeklies and other media they tried to do this. We could see a difference in his acting, if you are neutral, which is the reason why Fans associations became active in his tender age, including an active member in the name of the then Cochin Mayor. No other actor has created such an impact in the initial days.
Obviously the existing stars who want everyone to struggle tried everything possible to outcast him. We have as ordinary film goers seen all these dramas and these forces were successful in clubbing him among the poor hapless young actors, who failed to get any good movies. What happened to Naren (a.k.a Sunil ) after the success of Achuvinte Amma? I have seen a weekly pointing out the canned movies of young stars, including Seetha Kalyanam, everyone knows it is Jayaram movie, which was given as Indrajit’s movie. When Boban could dance superbly in one movie, the supporters of his co-Super star started booing simply due to jealousy.
The growth of any industry depends of blossoming of youngsters, along with experience. In Tamil, Vijay’s father makes movie with Naren. Kamal, Rajani, Vikram, Surya and Vijay attend functions of other young actor’s movies. Does it happen in Kerala? In Kerala, everyone thinks only his movie should win all other should fail. This is the basic problem our industry is facing. Also, lack of good directors and scriptwriters ramp up the problems further. Due to the availability of lots of options every director in other languages make their own time to make good scripts and selects good actors for that.
Now, everyone should think why Prithvi got very good movies in Tamil, not only for his looks but free acting, which many of my Tamil friends appreciated. Think why most of the talented actresses are crossing over to other languages. In Malayalam they will act, as sisters of the senior actors or in insignificant roles. The Industry became super star oriented which blocks making good movies which is the reasons why only active movie goers watch movies and why many of the theaters closing down. If this trend continues the end of Malayalam industry is very near, especially since Keralites are watching lesser movies.
In Chennai, any Telugu movie runs for weeks together when Malayalam Movies rarely run for two weeks, even though the Malayalee population is much higher compared to Telugu people. The main theater, which was showing only Malayalam closed down. What is the reason? People fed up with a repeat of ministers or cops with same pattern or rowdy, or sizzling with young girls who are half their ages.
Now, to remember the characters of Prithviraj, whatever he played at his young age in movies like Violence, Vargam, Satyam (only he was very good), Classmates, Vellithira, Ammakilikoodu, and Muthuvinte… etc. he enacts them with ease hence we do not notice them and he set a standard in acting, which is his own. The performance in Anandabhadram is not far from excellent. If you are comparing him with senior actors then it is insane. He is just 24 and the great actors are experienced more than that. No other actor has ever acted so brilliantly at this age.The other young actors like Naren, Jaysuria, Boban, Indrajit. etc are the torchbearers of the future. Keeping the respect to the senior actors we appeal to have better cooperation, shedding of ego, appreciation of others performance etc., will make the industry strong which is a big job market in Kerala like any language. Please do not destroy it due to short sightedness.
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September 27, 2006 at 5:24 am
Raphael – Good observations. However I dont agree with few of your comments
1) You are partly right in saying that the two M’s survived because, they had the backing of good directors. But if you put it the other way, does it mean that our young superstars are not thriving because they dont have the backing of good directors? Lets take a look at some of the movies done by Prithviraj and Kunchako Boban ( I dont count Jayasurya, Indrajith or others as they havent had ample opportunities). Prithviraj has done movies directed by Bhadran (Vellithira), Ranjith (Nandanam/Ammakilikkodu), Jayaraj (Daiva Namathil) , Kamal (Swapnakoodu). Kunchacko Boban has done movies by Fazil, Sibi Malayail and Kamal. Now these directors are masters in their own ways. Why is it that apart from Nandanam (largely due to Navya Nair) and Aniyathipravu, none of the other movies succeeded ? Can we blame it on the directors? No. Because between these 4 directors, they have made so many classics between them. So what could have been the reason ? Maybe the actors were simply not upto the mark – Therefore the argument that good directors make good actors is not entirely true.
Also if you look at the past, directors like Bharathan, Adoor, Fazil and Padmarajan have also made movies with youngsters like Vineeth, Rahman etc. Why is it that they never made it big in Malayalam ?
On another note, Blessy who is one of the best around has made his 2 movies with the two M’s and his next will be with Mammotty. Why is it that he chose a superstar over a youngster.?
2) “Now when, after the early struggle, the two M&Ms became super stars we had lots of movies, some of which were simply great. They started doing better in their late thirties only.” –
Wrong!!. Mohan Lal’s best movies came when he was in his middle-late twenties. Movies like Chitram, Kilukkam, Devasuram, Nadodikattu, Amritham Gamaya, Bharatham, Kireedom came when he was in his late twentys and the early thirties.
3) “Now, when Prithvi came lots of things happened and mostly every actor tried to isolate him. May be everyone thought of him as a threat, which we failed understand. How come a guy of 21 years would be a threat for very senior and established ones?” –
Prithvi did not make any friends with his shooting from the hip remarks on the current superstars. If you look at it, Mammotty and Mohan Lal shared a very professional relationship in their 30 years in Malayalam
cinema. They did not turn to their respective fans to hoot at their rival’s films. I doubt if we can see any adverse comment from Mammotty on Lal or vice versa. That is PROFESSIONALISM – something which stars like Prithviraj lack.
He is not a threat to anybody. Period!
4) ‘The growth of any industry depends of blossoming of youngsters, along with experience. In Tamil, Vijay’s father makes movie with Naren. Kamal, Rajani, Vikram, Surya and Vijay attend functions of other young actor’s movies. Does it happen in Kerala? In Kerala, everyone thinks only his movie should win all other should fail.”
The Kollywood scenario is totally different from that of Malluwood. The former has producers willing to shell out crores of money. Also
they have a far bigger audience than for our Malayalam films, where producers itself are rare. Incidentally, almost all movies produced by Vijay’s father with him as the hero have bombed badly at the BO. The last being “Aadhi”. To recover the money, he has roped in Sunil oops Naren, the upcoming actor.
Now about your comments on superstars attending youngster’s preview shows etc – Do not mistake it for their affection towards the youngsters. The competition there is worse than what we have in malayalm. Its only because of the obligation towards the producers, distributors that the superstars do this.
5) “Now, everyone should think why Prithvi got very good movies in Tamil, not only for his looks but free acting, which many of my Tamil friends appreciated. ”
So how many movies has Prithvi acted in Tamil? 5, 10 ? Just one – Parijatham and he was appreciated for that. True. He’s had his share of the female audience going ooh aah. But it ends there. He is not exactly hot in Tamil compared to say Bharat/Arya/Simbu for that matter. He has a long long way to go.
6) “In Chennai, any Telugu movie runs for weeks together when Malayalam Movies rarely run for two weeks, even though the Malayalee population is much higher compared to Telugu people. The main theater, which was showing only Malayalam closed down. What is the reason? People fed up with a repeat of ministers or cops with same pattern or rowdy, or sizzling with young girls who are half their ages.”
I belive the Telugu-Malayali population is almost at par. Telugu movies get a bigger opening than malayalm movies also. But thats because superstars like Chiranjeevi have a bigger audience than a Lal or a Mammotty. Also
our producers cannot afford to pay 10 crores to an actor and flood the market with 300 prints. Also they have theis share of item numbers and songs shot in Bangkok, Zurich or Toronto.
Anand theatre – the theatre you mentioned – closed down not because people were fed up with the same pattern of movies. It was not the movies to complain , but their profitability. Anand is located just a stone’s throw from Mount Road and because of its excelelnt location, the owners could make big money if they made a shopping complex in that place.
Since you mentioned about the movies having “sizzling with young girls who are half their ages” – look at Rajni/Kamal/Chiranjeevi who are acting with Nayantara, Asin, Trisha – who are in their early 20′s.
Did Rasathantram click because Meera Jamsine sizzled with Mohan Lal?
I just have one other point to make. The path for stardom for our superstars was no bed of roses. They had their share of struggles (and an element of luck). 30 years is a fairly long period for any actor to survive in the minds of 4 generations of people. They have succeeded because they had the talent coupled with loads of hard work.
Prithviraj is just 24. He has time on his side. Let him prove himeself before he bad mouths superstars.
September 27, 2006 at 6:30 am
Capsules of Success:
Dileep = Love and Luck of Manju + hard work
Kunchakko Boban = Herditary connections + Fazil’s effort
Prithviraj = Smartness + memmories of Sukumaran
Sunil = Basic talent than anyone else, to prove soon
Jayasoorya = Comic, possible to be villianious future
Someone else, a young chap is hidden somewhere. Let him show up soon.
September 27, 2006 at 7:14 am
The author might have had Mammootty in mind when he mentioned about late thirties
Of course prithviraj got to act in the movies of Bhadran, Kamal etc – but I firmly believe that the superstars get access to the best script, by the virtue of their position.
I would say it’s ostrich like mentality to say that everything is hunky-dory and Mohanlal and Mammootty can act for ever.
September 27, 2006 at 8:11 am
Raphel, I totally agree with you. Now a days I don’t watch any MM movies as I am bored with them. Most of the new movies don’t exploit their talent like the old directors. Stories of films like Rasathanthram and Naran are old wine in new bottle and movies like Bharaga Charitram and Tiger are just boring. Only die hard fans can tolerate that.
Among the new crowd, Sunil has shown real talent, but it is doubtful if he will ever get even to Prithviraj’s level.
Your basic premise is true: We need youngsters in the field.
September 27, 2006 at 8:51 am
Unni, a couple of contradictions… Prithviraj has acted in 2 tamil movies… The first one was Kanaa Kanden.. His role in that movie was that of a sophisticated villain as he played a corporate loan shark in that movie… Though the movie didnot set the box office on fire, it was noted for Prithvi.. He had played that role very well that he was appreciated by the critics as well as the normal audiences..
Then his another malayalam movie which everyone here has left out, Vargam, he was the life and soul of that movie… Though this did not also become a big hit, he was excellent in that movie… He was the lifeline of that movie and he just proved that he is of the star material when he did that movie.. I admit, I like Prithviraj much more than other young malayalam heroes.. And I beleive that he has the potential to become the next superstar…
If we see in the league of action stars (if we can call them so) in Malayalam, we had Jayan first and then Mammooty and to an extent Suresh Gopi.. After them, there has not been a star who can carry a rough and tough role with elan… We had seen the rising of Biju Menon and others, but all of them were more of aping Mammooty.. But Prithvi has a different style and he is likely to succeed more… If we check out among the younger crop of heroes, he is having more number of movies than any of them and that can only be because of his talent and not because of any Godfather in the industry.. He came into the film industry after the untimely death of his father!!
Unnikrishnan G Nair
September 27, 2006 at 9:59 am
Unnikrishnan – I stand corrected. Kana kandein as you said was Prithvi’s first movie in Tamil.
He’s definitely a good actor (in the making) and has the talent. But whether he translates the potential to performance time will tell. He of course has the best attributes for a hero amongst our younger stars.
IS it a problem with US that we are obsessed with M&M movies ONLY or is it that Prithvi and the others are simply not living upto the expectations of the people.
Speaking about godfathers – the two M’s also didnt have anyone. Prithvi at least was the son of a Malayalm hero.
September 27, 2006 at 10:05 pm
@Unni,
A lot being talked about the directors the actors worked with stars during their starting ages. Unni says, while Mohanlal got to work with Fazil, Padmarajan, Bharathan and Lohi Pritviraj got to work with Renjith, Bhadran, Jayaraj and Kamal. How can you compare these grade of directors? (Again, Ammakkilikoodu was not directed by Renjith, but by a relatively newcomer Padmakumar). And Swapnakoodu which was most underrated film, was much liked by the youth. I still wonder why this is considered as a flop. Pritvi was a revelation in the movie. After the AMMA incedent, the pressence of cocus was so strong in malayalam cinema, that it spolied careers of many. He got to act only in couple of Vinayan films which was the biggest blunder of his career. Of course he has done to do it for salvaging his career. Even Thilakan, one of the finest actors of our times was also isolated by the superstars. Now he is not selected by the leading superstars(who?) and is this PROFESSIONALISM? Now dont say that superstars have no role in deciding the support cast.
It is a fact that superstars gets access to the best directors, script writers and other resources in the industry. It is also the fact that these frontline directors make stories seeing superstars in mind. Why Blessy, one of the most talented upcoming directors works only with Superstars? He is forced to find topics that suit our aged stars. This is a general trend. Raphael has said correctly, why our teenage heroines are concentrating on Tamil?
This is not to say that Pritviraj is better than M’s. He need at least another 20 years of hardwork and luck to reach that standard. He has got enough time before him.
Regarding professionalism, I have another question to ask. Better I will ask in next post.
September 28, 2006 at 2:49 am
Pritviraj in his early 20s might not get a chance to prove like MM did in rasathandram or rajamanikkam.those roles r made for them only.Prithvi is a flexible actor compared to other new generation ones.he has to comup with experience.again comapred to other south indian movies, malayalam movies flops more because malayalees expect more from a film,or they are not fools to accept any masala which a director makes.they are very particular and that is the reason producers are not ready to spend crores in movies..afterall there is good time n bad time for everything same is applicable to malayalam industry also
September 28, 2006 at 5:02 am
Maymon –
1) “Unni says, while Mohanlal got to work with Fazil, Padmarajan, Bharathan and Lohi Pritviraj got to work with Renjith, Bhadran, Jayaraj and Kamal. How can you compare these grade of directors? (Again, Ammakkilikoodu was not directed by Renjith, but by a relatively newcomer Padmakumar).’
Prithviraj was the hero of Lohithadas’ much touted Chakram. Now Lohithadas is easily the best script writers around and that too for about a good 15-20 years. He also has come up with classics like Kireedom (which won special Jury award at the National Awards).
Interestingly Chakram also was a similar revenge story. But it bombed. Why? Initially it was Mohan Lal who had shot a few scenes for the movie. The reason why it bombed was that the casting was not upto the mark. To put in plain Malayalam “Thumbiye kondu Kallu eduppikkukka”. That was it. Prithvi was made to do a role that Lal was supposed to do. The people who envisioned Lal in the role simply coulndt digest Prithvi in that role.
Prithviraj got to work with Bhadran for “Vellithira”. Bhadran who had made the classic Sphadikam. Can you say that he was not a director of calibre? Again “Vellthira” was supposed to have been made on Mohan Lal as “Swarnam”. Lal and Bhadran had their differences. So Bhadran went ahead and cast Prithivi? The fate of the movie? Flop.
Ammakilikkodu was scripted by Ranjith, a close friend of the director Padmakumar. Rumor had it that he had “ghost-directed” the movie. Ranjith is a director who has given us some good action movies like Devasuram, Aram Thampuran etc. This is not to compare him with Bharathan/Padmarajan but hes defintely one of the top brackets in Malayalam today.
Jayaraj is another director who has won so many National awards. Now he is one director who can be mercurial on one day (Ex: Deshadanam) and come up with utter tripe the next (Ex: Aswaroodan). Prithvi’s Daiva Namathil with jayaraj was not a hit, even though the director was of a high calibre.
As regards Swapnakoodu, Kamal and the producer himself have said in interviews that the movie was not a hit.
Why I brought up this point was to prove that Prithvi ALSO had a chance to work with some good directors/script-writers. But he has been unable to captilise on those lucky oppurtunities.
The early to late 1990′s marked the end of the , Bharathan/Padmarajan era. It has been almost 15
years since then. During this period, the two M’s got to work with the “not-so-good” directors of today. But they survived. Why?
You can never say that Prithvi is unlucky because there are no good directors/script-writers today. Its a bit like saying Shane Warne woulndt have got so many wickets as he never has to bowl to the world-class Australian batsmen. We cannot specualte on hypothetical scenarios.
2) “Why Blessy, one of the most talented upcoming directors works only with Superstars? He is forced to find topics that suit our aged stars.” – Blessy is arguably amongst the top director in malayalam today. Did Kazcha or Thanmathra have that superstar aura about it? No. On the contrary why those movies are close to our heart are because of the touching portrayals and the de ja vu we experienced while watching the film. Do you think Prithvi would have done justice to both of these movies? Answer is an emphatic NO. Both the M’s delivered excellent performances in these movies.
3) “After the AMMA incedent, the pressence of cocus was so strong in malayalam cinema, that it spolied careers of many. ” – It did indeed. It however was NOT because of the two M’s. As I said they are far too secure, far too professional to indulge in such mud-slinging. Of course there are a few upcoming meteors and looking to become shooting stars who played their parts. Its they who played dirty by paying money to local goons to throng the theatres and hoot at Prithvis movies. Its a well-known secret who that is.
3) ‘Raphael has said correctly, why our teenage heroines are concentrating on Tamil?” – So are Bhavana/Nayantara/Asin/Samvaratha migrating to Tamil because they dont want to be paired with the two M’s? The reason is a small matter of the extra money they can get when they are there. The classic case is Nayantara, who is the darling of the Tamil/Telugu audiences. The money she gets in Malayalam is peanuts compared to what she gets in the other languages (reprotedly 70 lakhs in Telugu). It was not because she had to act with superstars in Malayalam.
4)” He has got enough time before him.” – True. Let him prove his skills. So far in his 3 year career he has not done much. He’s the best amongst the current crop. But thats because his competition is that bad.
5) “Regarding professionalism, I have another question to ask. Better I will ask in next post. ” – You are most welcome.
September 28, 2006 at 6:51 am
It’s ridiculuos to compare scripts of Chakram and Kireedom, even though it’s written by same person. To use cricket analogy, scriptwriter was out of form. Maybe it was the ‘strength’ of the script the reason for Mohanlal’s pullout.
Similarly Vellithira, Iam sure if Mohanlal had acted in that movie it would have had similar fate, Bhadran was never able to regain his form after Spadikam. Just think about Udayon with Mohanlal in it.
I don’t want to compare the scripts of Ammakkilikoodu and Devasuram.
It’s just not enough to have a good director or script writer, they need to deliver as well.
September 28, 2006 at 7:33 am
The early to late 1990’s marked the end of the , Bharathan/Padmarajan era. It has been almost 15 years since then. During this period, the two M’s got to work with the “not-so-good†directors of today. But they survived. Why?
Unni, We are conveniently forgetting one thing.. The M&Ms had come into the film industry during the late 70s and attained prominence after the untimely demise of Jayan and after Prem Nazir was becoming too old to do the movies at that time.. One more thing that we need to consider is the time factor, In the early 80s the only major entertainment was Movies and the others being stage dramas/circus/chaya kada politics et al… So every movie that was released during that time did have its fair share of time with the audience.. If you had seen the Padayottam of Prem Nazir, we had both the Ms in the movie, Mammooty as a villain and Mohan Lal as his son.. Both were equally bad and their expressions were pathetic… You would never have predicted back then that these are the ones who will be the stalwarts of the Malayalam film industry later on.. So M&M grew up slowly to become what they are now.. If I am correct DD Kerala started somewhere around 1988 or so and the programs in the same were an old Malayalam movie every Sunday, with a better Hindi movie in the Saturday evenings and an occasional Malayalam movie on Sunday afternoons, which were mostly the art movies.. So people used to go to film theatres to see the movies and slowly the fame of M&M grew.. By the mid 90s we had the first Malayalam channel in Cable TV, Asianet… That was the time when the entertainment element started diversifying.. By this time M&Ms had become superstars and they had reached a position where they could carry a movie all by themselves..
There were other actors also who were the contemporaries of M&Ms like Sankar and others who never grew above a level. So if M&Ms had attained the stature then their talent also played a good part in that, no 2 opinions about that…
Now coming to the current era… There are a lot of entertainment options for an average man today.. So a film doesnot find audience like it used to earlier.. A film’s success is defined by the money it earns in box office.. Further an opening weekend decides a film… And an actor is defined by the “success” of his last film.. So the time a young actor like Prithvi is living in is very tough… He has a lot of pressure on him, internally and externally, to perform.. He doesnot have the ease or the chances that the M&Ms did have during their starting days.. I had seen the movie Vargam, it was not a hit, but Prithvi was too good in that.. So if his other films are failing then it is not only because of his so called faulty acting.. The scripts and the story and direction have their share of blames as well..
Then about your denial of the M&Ms rallying around to get the best scripts… Mohan Lal was never the first choice for Udayananu Tharam… The story how he got it is well known…
About the entry into Tamil and other film industry by the youngsters as you said, the main reason is the Money.. Thats true in the case of actresses, but actors and heroes it is much difficult for them… The M&Ms tried their luck as well in Tamil filmdom with limited success… Infact Mammooty had more success than MohanLal in that case.. But both the Ms, had entered the Tamil film industry with the tag Superstar of Malayalam film industry.. But even then they failed… In the case of Prithvi, he was literally a no one when he made his debut in Kana Kandein.. He was noted and his second movie Parijatham has had a decent run… His prospects are growing.. But that cant be considered when comparing the talents of M&M with him..
So our basic premise of comparing Prithvi to the M&Ms is wrong… Indeed we can compare today’s Prithvi to the M&Ms of say 1981 or 1982.. In that case I will say that he will be in par with them if not better…
Unnikrishnan G Nair.
September 28, 2006 at 9:53 am
Unnikrishnan – Will try to answer your points one by one.
a) What you said abt the early 80′s is absolutely correct. No cable TV. No nadakams etc. I have seen Padayattom. It was a classic at the point of time, even though, if we were to watch it now, we would scoff at Lal/Mammotty and say “Hey what are these guys doing?”. Ditto was the case with old movies being telecast now. I could give an example: Sathyan and his heroine (dont remeber who) singing that lullaby ” Kannum pootti Uranguka Nee En”. If you watch his actions now (almost like nursery children’s action songs), you’d laugh really. But again it was “good” at the point of time. Its again like the bell-bottoms of jayan/Nazeer. We laugh at them and scoff at the “Oru perumbambine kittyirunnegilllll” types of dialogues. Ironically, 3 generations back, people really enjoyed these films and dialogues not as comedies – which is why old movies like Padayottam/Murkhan/Shara Panjaram were hits.
Their taste were different
Who knows after 20 years, me may laugh at Mamotty/Mohan Lal’s antics on screen. They are able to keep us happy.
What i wanted to point out here is that, every movie is taken catering to the tastes of a specific generation. Mohan Lal and Mammotty in their 20′s appealed to the generation of THAT time, which is why their movies became hits and they became superstars. We have moved on since then. The current generation “supposedly” loves Prithvi and we all say “isnt it time that those 50 year olds say goodbye”? We say this, but we still love Lal/Mammotty because they offer the best.
Take it this way, you go to a shop and buy a age-old branded good or would you go for a newer relatively unknown brand?
Also its not the M’s fault that so much changed in about 20 years. Today you have cable TV. Tomorrow they may have something else. Technology is improving. Production costs are spiralling. Its to their credit that despite all this, they still hold forte. That way, it may be difficult for a youngster like Prithvi to establish himself.
2) Related to the above point, why is it that younger guys at the time – Vineeth and Rahman did not go to become superstars? Werent they in the same kind of situation that Prithvi in that they also had to comepete with the M’s?
3) “So the time a young actor like Prithvi is living in is very tough… He has a lot of pressure on him, internally and externally, to perform.. He doesnot have the ease or the chances that the M&Ms did have during their starting days.. I had seen the movie Vargam, it was not a hit, but Prithvi was too good in that.. So if his other films are failing then it is not only because of his so called faulty acting.. The scripts and the story and direction have their share of blames as well..” – Partly true. Partly false. The two M’s have acted in some crap movies at the start of their careers, but have made it a hit only because of their acting prowesses. Prithvi is talented no doubt. But he needs to act better if he has to be in the league of the M’s in their early days.
4) “the M&Ms rallying around to get the best scripts… Mohan Lal was never the first choice for Udayananu Tharam… The story how he got it is well known… ” – From what i read, Roshhan offered the script to Jayaram who didnt do the movie. Ultimately Lal did it. It was not as if he snatched the role from jayaram.
Also keep in mind that Udayanaanu Thaaram mocked every one including Lal. So do you think if he were that high-handed , he would have acted in a movie which pokes fun at him ? Lal, in fact was the one who was made the most fun of – the reference to the Porottas export etc.
5) “The M&Ms tried their luck as well in Tamil filmdom with limited success… Infact Mammooty had more success than MohanLal in that case.. But both the Ms, had entered the Tamil film industry with the tag Superstar of Malayalam film industry.. But even then they failed”
Mammotty acted in a few Fazil movies. Except for 1-2, the rest were flops. Mohan Lal acted in a prestigious project in Iruvar and also the forgettable Pop-karn. Anyone who has seen Iruvar would say that no living actor in Tamil Industry could have enacted MGR better than Lal did. His acting and his diction were supreme. The movie was in the art genre. SO it bombed. Thats another matter.
Our superstars did not have to make a living in Tamil. It gave them the occasional break from Malayalam. They did not resort to Tamil because they didnt have any Malayalam movies in their kitty (unlike Prithvi). They were in their peaks in Malayalam when they moved to Tamil.
If what you said is correct, did it mean that Lal acted in Company and now in Sholay because he was out of business in Malayalam? No
6) “But both the Ms, had entered the Tamil film industry with the tag Superstar of Malayalam film industry..But even then they failed”
What is good for the goose may not be good for the gander. Will a RajniKanth or Vijay malayalam movie succed in Malayalam? The same logical answer applies to the above comment. Of course you have exceptions like Kamal Hassan.
7) “He was noted and his second movie Parijatham has had a decent run… His prospects are growing” – True. But he has stiffer competition from Bharat, Arya – both Mallus – and from Dhanush, Chimbu, Ravi Krishna, Sham etc. Tamil Industry is now riding a wave of youngster movies. Apart from the bigger stars, there’s room for youngsters also. Prithvi has to work real hard and get some godfathers (Oscar ravichandran, Shankar etc) to make it big in Tamil.
To summarize, I still believe that the M’s acceptance levels by the audience at the start of their careers, was much higher than Prithvi’s acceptance level by the current audience now. This proved by the fact that the two M’s had more hits at the start of their careers (early-late 80′s) rather than Prithvi now also who has been relatively new to the industry. Also the two M’s had competition in the form of Mohan, Shanavas, Venu Nagavally, Sukumaran, Soman during that period. But they fared above them all.
September 28, 2006 at 7:02 pm
I agree with Unnikrishnan, audience now are less patient, they don’t give benefit of doubt, shape up or ship out. Actors like Prithvi have to perform, deliver and plan their careers carefully. And moreover most of the directors and scritwriters are divided between Mammootty, Mohanlal and Dileep camps, so good opportunities are rare for upcoming actors.
September 28, 2006 at 10:06 pm
Everyone works hard. Just because you are young doesn’t mean that you have to go an extra mile. It is just something that happens. It’s true that Prithvi is talented, and it’s also true that Mallu industry, like others, is infested with politics. In this day and age, there need not be any superfluous act of professionalism on the outside while internally being at odds.
In any event, both M/M have to look for something different and try to graduate to doing roles that suit their age. If they still hanker for hero roles with teenage girls, it’s odd.
Coming to the technical side of the industry, yeah, it’s lacking good talent. Bad directors, or fazed out directors. Unimaginative, uncreative screenplay writers. Pretty bad trap for the audience.
September 29, 2006 at 3:46 am
All i can understand from Unni’s comments is that he is one of the BLIND fans of Lalettan.The exaample of “Chakram” & ” Vellithira” was so naive and trivial which led me to that conclusion. No neutral move goer can come up with such a comparison. “Vellithira” was the first Prithvi movie i saw. The movie was soooo bad ; but i just loved the way he did that role! Even in “Chakram” he did an excellent job! I wud never ever rate Bhadran as good director.. orikkal chakka veenu muyalu chatha director aanu ayaal! Lohi was good once upon a time; when he decided to direct the movies himself; he set his own trap!Not even one good film from him(barring “bhootha kannaadi”) I too love our 2 Ms , but i alwyas look from a neutral angle. Prithviraj is extremely talented and is the only hope to replace our existing superstars. No doubt abt it! Moreover dont tell me that there were attempts to sabotage prithvi’s movies.. I know personally how Mohan Lal fans assocications throw money to make his movies flop.. I pray that Lal is not directly involved; else i wud have to dump one of my fav heroes!
September 29, 2006 at 4:29 am
“All i can understand from Unni’s comments is that he is one of the BLIND fans of Lalettan.”
. A fan of the other M too.
Yes. It doesnt take rocket science to figure that out
Having said that, I am resigned to the fact that they have to act with younger heroines. Is there anybody who match their age ? Revathy/Shobhana/ Parvathy are either out/virtually out from the industry. So the heroes have to make good with what they have. However some attempts like roping in Katrina Kaif for Balram was taking it too far and rightly it met the fate it deserved.
Saying that a problem exists is good. But identifying a solution is better. Why do we have double standards ? If a Rajni/Kamal can be hero-worshipped why not our own superstars ? Or is it the hypocricy for we which we are so famous?
I am 100% sure, that the very people who praise Prithviraj to the hilt would be the very people who would throng the theatres when a movie featuring one of the two M’s is released.
“The exaample of “Chakram†& †Vellithira†was so naive and trivial which led me to that conclusion.” – Well I disagree with anybody who says Lohithadas’ best days are over. I honestly believe he has a lot more to offer.
Well whose fault is it if Prithvi didnt get to act with Adoor/Padmarajan. We can always speculate – *IF* he was born 20 years ago, he could have acted in their movies.
Vinayan recently remarked ” Sai Kumar has more talent than Mohan Lal. But he didnt get to work with the biggies like Bharathan/Padmarajan”. Whose fault is it?
“dont tell me that there were attempts to sabotage prithvi’s movies.. I know personally how Mohan Lal fans assocications throw money to make his movies flop.. ”
Any person who has the least knowledge of Malayalm movies would never opionate that Mohan Lal is insecure of Prithviraj. Cmon Gimme a break. We all know who is insecure of who. And there have been umpteen interviews given in magazines both by Prithvi and this actor (that they deny it is another matter).
I have always maintained that Prithvi has the calibre. But Talent alone would take him no where. He has to translate into performance.
His time also will come. Somewhere that elusive break is waiting for him. And then his career will take off.
September 30, 2006 at 5:17 am
I agree with what Unni mentioned here.
In my observation Prithviraj has never made any excellent performance to the date. Except for “good” performances in Akale and the latest one, Classmates. Sunil with his performance in Achivinte Amma, made a noteable, natural performance. Indrajith with his various roles as villain in Meesa Madhavan, Chaandupottu and now his humorous role in Classmates offer us something already. When they are not making any noise and keeping up professional relationship with the other actors in the industry, Prithviraj is just a pampered boy of Vinayan. Perhaps we are yet to see, but if an actor cannot show his skills even after as many films as Prithvi got, he is just a star of a time. Like Kunchako Boben. Just a smart kid, not a good actor.
Indrajith & Sunil deserves to be treated fair in the industry because of their skills. Prithvi – if he is not going to show any magic in the coming days – will be another Kunchako Boben after a while.
Also just like I feel odd watching Mammootty dances with Nayanthara, or Mohanlal with Meera Jasmine, I felt odd Prithvi’s role in Chakram.
September 30, 2006 at 7:16 am
It is a well said article. I agree with the sentiments of the author and what unnikrishnan has to say.
I accept that Mohanlal and Mammootty are actors par excellence. And we also have even better actors like Nedumudi. All of them have had a very tough start to their career and it has taken some time before they established themselves with their perfomance in some excellent roles.
All actors have their bad days also. Films become hits only when the film is totally good. Bad scripts/bad direction even with superstars will not give a hit. Take this times onam films as an example.
Prithviraj has done a very good perfomance in most of his roles till now. I am not comaparing him with any other actor here. He has shown potential. We need to appreciate the talent in him.
We are fundamentally wrong in comparing the current times to the early 80′s of malayalam cinema.
In fact , if comparing to the times when M&M’s debuted( our current acting standards ) , Prithviraj has shown a far better acting and greater potential. His perfomance in some films are really commendable.
The bottom line is His talent needs to be appreciated. The sentiments of the article in question is that youngsters should be appreciated. Only then will our industry grow. Else it will just become older.
September 30, 2006 at 10:05 am
Very good article! and an equally interesting debate going on here…i just couldnt stay away from leaving a comment.
I am a hardcore Prithviraj fan. Even his movies that flopped, i watch, to gauge his performance and i think he has one important quality like the 2 M’s…that is the ability to rise above the poor script and characterization he is offfered. Any one who has seen his movies like Police, Satyam, Vargam and Swapnakoode will agree with me.
After watching Classmates I have the feeling nobody can stop him now. The movies he is doing right now like Vasthavam, Pakal, Anantham and Oruvan have very good storylines and his characters look real solid. Moreover have you all noticed it is hard to categorize Prithviraj yet…mammooty, mohanlal, dileep and suresh gopi have a stylization which we cant attribute to Prithvi yet. No mimicry artist can mimic him…i think he can felxibly fit into any character without reminding us of another movie. Give him time…he is going to make us all proud.
Its unfair to blame only the 2 M’s. If burntout directors abd scriptwriters like Shaji Kailas, Joshi, IV Sasi, Renjith, K.Madhu, Sreenivasan, etc, etc still prefer MM’s for their films doesnt it show that the old guard is closing ranks and trying to maintain their monopoly. In the last few years you will notice that it is fresh directors like Lal Jose, Blessy, and new scriptwriters like James Albert, Babu Janardhanan, etc who are making trendsetting, different films while the old guard are increasingly stale and repetitive.
Again Malayalis these days are increasingly resistant to change and progressive ideas than in the older days. It is going to be really tough for young talents to break into our shrinking malayalam film industry. Nowadays with fewer people venturing out to watch movies at theaters it is goin to be a tough lot for daring storywriters to follow the path blazed by Padmarajan.
The bottomline is with whichever actor your loyalties lie…remember its the youth who are the future…it is they who dare to be different, bring in fresh ideas and are more idealistic…as Malayalis who want our film industry to flourish, this young actor and all young talents behind and in front of the camera need our support. The 2 M’s have had their glory and we have given them and still give them their due respect…if the success of Classmates is anything to go by…i think better days are surely in store.
September 30, 2006 at 10:39 pm
@Unni
If you are comparing directors like Padmarajan and Bharathan to Bhandran and Lohi, I would say its a sin. Apart from a box office hit like Sphadikam(mostly due to Mohanlal’s image) what can Bhadran boast of? A director’s strength can be measured in his not-so-hit or offbeat movies. Take Padmarajan’s Peruvazhiyambalam or Nombarathipoovu and take Vellithira or Udayon or Yuvathurki. You will get to know which grade both these belong.
Lohi’s case is different, I accept that he is one of the best script writer available today. But he is not a great director. And I think Chakram was his directorial debut. So whom has to be blamed for selecting a 22 year old to play a character refused by Mohanlal.
October 1, 2006 at 8:09 am
@Maymon,
Chakram wasn’t Lohi’s debut. It was Bhoothakannadi which is a very good film.
And I agree with what you said. We can never compare directors like Bhadran with the great ones like Padmarajan and Bharathan.
October 2, 2006 at 4:08 am
Dear Sh Unni,
Some of your comments are wrong to the core. It was Dileep and Mammotty fans, who were booing the films of Pritvi and Dileep still does it. He is afraid of young actors, especially Pritvi only because he knows very well that to sustain you have to make people belive that one can do any role. But his size does restrict him. The result is DON, Chess etc. Runway was never an action movies though attempts were made to project so.
There was a deliberate attempt to outcast Prithvi and club him with the likes of Boban etc. His initials for Vellithira, Swpanakkod etc was superb, which we have seen. Swpnakood, was a big hit for the distributer, though the producer lost a few lakhs. It ran for 75 plus days in many centers. If that is a flop then, Thuruppugulan, which made to ran with 200 people on most of the days the second week in Ernakulam Saritha was never be a hit.
Good roles from Lal and Mammo came after they reached thirties, which is not wrong. Lal is 47 and Mammo is 55. You can calculate. They had the blessings of good scripts and directors.
About action scenes, I do not know how Suresh Gopi is badly projected as an action hero. He got a totaly rigid body.Mammotty used dupes even in his thirties since he was not flexible with his body, his actions were smatrly covered his weakness. Only Mohan Lal, by sheer hard work looked like an action hero in Malayalam, due to a good flexible body. But, just look at Prithvi’s actions. It is amazing in Mallu standards. He is going to set standards. If we are watching with closed eyes, then it is OK.
Prithvi go 4 more tamil movies, Oscar Ravi;s Satham podathey, Prakash Raj’s Mozhi and then the stunning remake of Udayananu Tharam, with Trish in which he takes the role of Mohana Lal.He is not hot there but may be in future. He got potential, that is for sure. Whatelse you need from a young guy. We set the standrad of Malayalam movies verylow mainly due to poor Directors like Joshy, the guy who made Thurupugulan, Jomon etc. One should understand their limitations. I think as of today in acting Lal is better than anyone, except in Police roles. But he should stop doing movies like Mahasamudram and concentrate more on the likes of Thanmatra, etc. When you look beyong these two veterans, Pritvi is going to be a complete actor sooner or later that is for sure.
October 2, 2006 at 4:34 am
Guys, I see people saying that Prithvi has not shown talent, doesnot have enough skills and has been unable to transform his talent into performance on screen.. I just have one thing to ask, Can you please put in words, what is that you find missing in Prithvi… How have you people been able to accept that he has talent.. I think it is because of his make beleive portrayal of characters on screen.. So what more are you expecting out of him.. Is it to rise above a dead as a dog script and make the movie worth while spending our money for… Thats too much of asking and even our great stars M&M have had tough time doing so. As a matter of fact they have been able to do so (eg Raavanaprabhu of Mohan Lal and ThuruppuGhulan of Mammooty, any other actor in the lead roles in these movies, the distributors and theater owners would not even dare to touch the movies with 10 foot barge pole). But they had lost more than succeeded while doing so..
If we are asking that out of Prithvi then it is a wanting deep inside us to see him as the successor of M&Ms.. And with that thought we are criticising him.. I dont think that is fair enough..
Got to accept with one point of Jo about Indrajith and Sunil.. Wonder why they are not getting more opportunities…
Then about Prakash’s comments about Unni being a fan of Mohan Lal, I got to say only one thing… U can ignore it or accept it, but U can never deny the fact that every Malayalee is a fan of either Mammooty or Mohan Lal, if not both of them… These guys had earned that respect in the minds of people over years with their acting skills and their choosing roles with vareity!!
Unnikrishnan G Nair
October 2, 2006 at 10:35 am
Raphael – It is Dileep whom I had in mind when i mentioned that certain actors were out to shun Prithvi out of the industry.
There have been interviews published on both actors – Prithvi denying that he’s a victim ( if he says hes a victim, hes had it) and Dileep also refuting allegations that hes not involved in all these antics. One thing for sure, the two M’s have moved way beyond that position of insecurity. They have cemented their place firmly.
As regards Dileep, I dont even consider him a superstar and so I havent mentioned his name anywhere. He’s trying his best to do action movies with his battery of confidantes – Ashokan and Salim Kumar. But he has failed miserably to fit into the billing of an action hero – with his stunted body. Prithvi is defintely cut out for action oriented roles with his physique. Dileep meanwhile is good for that next-door-boy roles like Sallapam, Meeshamadhavan etc.
Also, on your comments on Prithvi not using dupes ( I presume you were referring to Sathyam and Vargam), it is immaterial. Sure its a sign of his dedication. But the fact that both these movies were not hits, are testament to the fact that his best was simply not good enough.
However I am not wiling to accept Prithvi in the role of Udayan in the Tamil version. Mohan Lal was tood good in that role and probbaly a seasoned actor (Ex: Surya, Vikram) is need in the Tamil version as well.
Prithvi’s coming of age will need more than acting – he needs loads of luck and producers willing to shell out their money for his movies and mostly decent script-writers.
Unnikrishnan – Prithvi has shown talent. Since you asked for his negative points, I will try to mention a few. These are strictly my opinions:
a) Hamming – Prithvi hams a lot. I saw Parijatham. He was reasoanbly good. But in lot of the scenes, he hammed a lot. Besides, in some comedy scenes (the one in the hospital), he even looked to me as imitating some of Jagathy’s mannerisms.
b) I feel he is too loud and brash on screen
c) Timing for Comedy – Looked to be more of feigned comedy, as opposed to the natural comedy of say a Jayaram. This is one aspect where even in the future, he may not become an “all-rounder” (pun unitended) like Mohan Lal.
d) Off screen, he needs to put a tight leash on what he says in interviews. Obviously, hes not doing himself no good by shooting from the hip comments on the superstars and questioning the fact that they dance with girls half their age. He should be knowing that the system works that way. Even his dad for that matter, acted with a few young lasses.
About Indrajith I feel, hes probably only half as talented as Prithvi. I have watched Meeshamadahavan (where his only notable dialogue was Pillechooooooo) and Vesham (where he looked worse than a robot)
Sunil may have the potential. I would say he’s probbaly hotter than Prithvi in Tamil.
PS: Ravanprabhu, IMHO, had a super screen-play. The dialogues were very sharp. I would say it was more than an average movie.
October 3, 2006 at 2:15 am
I think we are for the first time, doing a clinical surgery on a young actor, which itself is a positive sign to accept his role in the Industry. He one of the best young talents and in the process making a very rich mould another la Mammotty, additionally elevated to do some extra roles like a superb action one, romantic etc. In my opinion he will develop in to one of the finest actors around in the time to come. It is good to see that people are doing a clinical analysis on him, which itself is an indirect acceptance of his talents. No other actor ever faced such a situation in his early life. Others came, stayed vanished or survived for acceptance.
If only success is the measure of performance, what happened to films like ‘Sadayam’, which is one of the best from Lal and quite a few failed ones from Mammoo’s best.. Hence it is imperative to get a bit of luck factor, and media support. But in the case of media, instead of supporting Younger generation each Film weekly’s outsmarted each other to brand Prithvi as nothing more than another Rahman. They vehemently supported each Super star movie and given wide publicity, giving passive comments to other actors. It was a real pity to read one article in Rashtradeepika Cinema, which branded Vargam as an art movie, which doesn’t carry any commercial value hiding the fact that it is one of the best Police roles done by any actor. Before it got wide publicity the movie moved out of Theaters, which I remember one TV channel commented saying people has lost a chance to see a fine movie.
It is known to everyone that Thommanum Makkalaum was snatched from Prithvi and Jaysurya. There are lots of such things happened, which ordinary people like us are not aware, the process of forcing public to accept the ineffectiveness of the young actor, which was the main intention of the forces behind it. Every one should think that Malayalam film Industry needs lots of young actors to sustain, which is the need of the time. We just cannot live with the whims and fancies of senior actors who never want to open up the Industry for Younger generation, which spoiled in getting good movies. The way Mammo made us think of his motive in doing such stupid roles like Gulan, Bhargavan etc are really nothing short of making fool of each one of the Keralites.
Good cooperation, accepting the performance of everyone, sharing dais with others for launches (Unni defended Tamil’s such shows saying, it is for getting noted, which I agree and at least it should happen here). Now, what happened to Onam Bonanza is quite an eye opener. Mahasamudram, where Lal went for some festival mood could carry only an opening, Bhargavan was a wash out along with Pathaka (which is quite expected like any of Suresh Movies except that of Shaji Kailas ). Classmates proved to be the best and going to be the biggest grosser of all time surpassing Rajamanikyam and Rasathandram. It is being dubbed in Tamil and Telugu. The performance of everyone in the movie is not far from excellent, and Prithvi who is under our Clinical Surgery given another outstanding performance, as simple as that. These chaps like Naren, Prithvi, Indrajit etc. are there to stay and enlighten our Industry. Just read the Interview with Prithvi in the new Vanitha, which I was impressed. He is a hard worker who become the first one to take care of the body, avoiding us to see the bulky appearance of our heros.
Tail:- The statement of Naren is doing better in Tamil is just due to jealous. Prithvi is having 4 movies , Remake of Arbudatheev, Satham Podathey (Padmapriya-Oscar films), Mozhi (Jyothika-Prakash Raj) and Kattuporathe (Udayananu Tharam-Trisha and Prakash Raj). Naren is having only one. In Telugu, Prithvi’s new movie already launched and Sivapuram, the Anadrabadram Dubbed one was a hit.
Raphel Lazar
October 3, 2006 at 4:34 am
Unni, Let me try replying to your points.. I understand that they are your opinions and I make it clear outright that I am not trying either to change your opinions or comment on your opinions.. I am just trying to make my stand clear on your opinions..
a) Hamming – Prithvi hams a lot. I saw Parijatham. He was reasoanbly good. But in lot of the scenes, he hammed a lot. Besides, in some comedy scenes (the one in the hospital), he even looked to me as imitating some of Jagathy’s mannerisms.
I from my end, never felt that he hams.. But the roles he get are different but are basically of the same mould. So his actions might seem repetetive but till date he is one of the young actors who have not been typecast.. Then about Parijatham, it was Prithvi’s second movie in tamil and this movie was directed by Bhagyaraj.. Bhagyaraj is known for enforcing his style of acting to the actors who act in his movies.. So more of the comedy scenes of Prithvi, it was as if Bhagyaraj did the same and Prithvi just copying them frame to frame, expression to expression.. And I accept one thing, he doesnot know to act in comedy scenes..
b) I feel he is too loud and brash on screen
Again, it is his roles that make him look so.. In a movie like Vargam, his acting was very much subdued.. But take the case of Police, Meerayude dukhavum Muthuvinte swampnavum, Sathyam etc.. More than his acting, the script and the dialogues let him down badly making him shout dialogues on a stretch…
c) Timing for Comedy – Looked to be more of feigned comedy, as opposed to the natural comedy of say a Jayaram. This is one aspect where even in the future, he may not become an “all-rounder” (pun unitended) like Mohan Lal.
As I said earlier, his comedy timing is terrible.. It is just on our wish lists.. So I am expecting him to improve on that.. But lets see whats there in store in future for him… But on a second thought, even our Mega star was very bad when it came for comedy roles.. Baring an odd movie like Kottayam Kunjatchan, we all were of the idea that Comedy was not Mammooty’s cup of tea.. Even now, if we see Mammooty’s type of comedies are that he will be keeping straight face where as established comedians play jokes around him..
d) Off screen, he needs to put a tight leash on what he says in interviews. Obviously, hes not doing himself no good by shooting from the hip comments on the superstars and questioning the fact that they dance with girls half their age. He should be knowing that the system works that way. Even his dad for that matter, acted with a few young lasses.
That is something very much personal… He just needs to know what he talks about.. But do we need take that in consideration of him becoming an actor of the calibre similar to M&Ms??
Unnikrishnan G Nair.
October 3, 2006 at 4:57 am
Unnikrishnan – Thanks for a fair assessment. My comments on those
a) You are right about Bhagyaraj. At least to a malayali spectator, he looks to be projecting some kind of contrived comedy
b) Even in Chakram, Prithvi was loud and brash.
But I woulndt blame the script alone.
Just to make a comparison. When Mohan Lal debuted in “Manjil Virinja Pookkal”, he was just 21. He played the villian role to perfection. That was only partly because of fazil. But it was because, his cool/menacing tones in the movie showed that he had class. His very introduction “IM Narendaran and shes my wife – Prabha Narendran” makes you hate the character.
Why i took this example was that, it was just a villian role, not much scope etc, but he made it immemorable.
c) Comedy is not Mammotty’s forte but he has improved a lot. Movies like Sreedharante Onnam Thirimuravu, Kottayam Kunjachan, Azahakiya Ravanan (a bit like Sreenivasan mocking himeself in the process), Rajamanikkyam (Loud comedy), Kalikkalam etc are examples where he has been good. However I wont count joker-roles like Thuruppugulan.
d) I disagree with you here. What he says in interviews matter a lot to his career. It refelcts his attitude – a dont care nonchalance and wanting to take on the world – He still has to respect his seniors even if they act with young girls.
Unni
October 3, 2006 at 5:10 am
Why should Prithvi or any actor be politically correct in their statements – what does that got to do with their acting abilities? I don’t understand why there should be a class hierarchy or senior-junir difference. It should be meritocracy.
If we can have the patience to see Mohanlal enact Sanjeev Kumar’s Sholay role, why not Prithvi as Udayan? I will make a judgement on Prithviraj’s performance as Udayan after seeing the Tamil remake.
October 3, 2006 at 11:10 pm
I have seen the movie ‘Manjil virija pookal’ recently. Mohanlal’s role very good in that. I always felt that, Mohanlal can play a role with villainousness touch with perfection. Devasuram is just another example. Is some real life mannerisms contribute to this factor?
I feel Pritvi also can play villain roles easily. If the character has bit of arrogance and sarcasm I think it will just suit Pritvi. His father was also known for his sarcastic dialogues. The role of satan, in ‘Stop Violence’ was brilliantly played by him. The role in Swapnakkoodu was had bit of sarcasm and arrogance, and Pritvi was too good in that.
By seeing his interviews I think that this arrogance and sarcasm is his real life mannerism. He need to conrol there.
October 5, 2006 at 5:34 am
hi friends,
in my opinion pritviraj is the next super star.why is he isolated in the industry…
he can do all the roles in natural(not as dileep).i personally have experince that dileep fans are arranging people to do…. in the theatres.why M&M ARE SUPPORTING THIS…WHY THEY ARE NOT SPEAK ANY THING ABOUT THE TALENT OF PRITVI IN INTERVIEWS…both M&M got chance to act along with premnazir and satyan..
October 5, 2006 at 5:39 am
OK.. I visted this place after a long time now..
I agree that every mallu will be a fan of the two Ms.. what i said was that Unni seems to be a BLIND fan; which i assume is not good in recogonising/analysing other talents!
October 6, 2006 at 11:01 am
My thoughts !
Sooner or later this whole M&M bandwagon will come to end. The old will be replaced by new ones. And actors like Prithvi, Sunil, Indrajit, Boban and many to come will find their niche audience. Whether we like it or not,Mammotty’s and Mohanlal’s limitation are becoming obvious.
On a second note….malayalam movie makers should stop thinking that M&M are the only ways to make a movie. If not we will see movies like ‘Bus Conductor’ and ‘Maha Samudram’.
I wonder how this industry will survive after 10yrs from now. Unless we are all ready to watch ‘Rajamanikyam’ again.
Cheers
Taffy
PS: I love good cinema…
October 6, 2006 at 11:32 pm
Dear all,
Thanks all for making their comments in this column. I think apart from hardcore fans everybody like good movies, whether they are having so called super stars or not. Now, the much anticipated change in the Industry has come, where we have clinically assessed the abilities of Prithviraj, who in many minds will remain as good as any actor when we look back in 20 years from now. He is a fantstic actor, no doubt. But every cator is having their weakness and everyone is not Sachin Tendulkar or Roger Federer. Mohan Lal is one such type who do not have much weakness, but Mammotty is having huges weaknesses, though he survived because of his glamour in a glamourless Industry of Kerala. He is very poor in fights, whose movements even at the age of 30 was poor. His songs are the worst and comedy and dancing are the worst one can see. But inspite of all this he become a huge star due to other positive facts.
It is time for the Keralites to think something beyond the two MMs. Prithvi is one among the new hope along with Narain, Indrajit, Jaysurya in this order and many more to come. We are blessed with good young actors. It is irony that the movies by Young Heros becoming the Highest Grosser of all times in Kerala.
It is a welcome change and the much awaited Raj Era begins here (ref Sify.com)
October 7, 2006 at 8:40 am
I live in Delhi. For non-resident malayalees like us, movies are the best way to keep in touch with the malayalam. I blessed myself by watching Classmates during my onam vacation. Since then its memories are there with me. I havent watched such a thrilling and sweet cinema in couple of years. Now I browse the TV channels for its songs and clippings like a mad person. Literally I fell in love with this movie. The nostalgia touch is simply superb. It is so close to my heart. It brings a the much awaited freshness which malayalee was looking for. Thank you Laljose and crew for giving such a wonderful onam gift.
This is the time for change. bye bye superstars! welcome Raj and others..
October 11, 2006 at 3:00 am
Hi,
I was reading through all the comments posted earlier.
One thing I would like to mentions here is Prithvi has improved a lot from his previous movies (May be the credit goes to Laljose) and he will sure a promise to Malluwood.
I’m staying at Bangalore and I’ve seen the movie “Classmate” two times. The success of the movie is not only depend on the actors. it is the script, direction and all other facts like beautiful songs made it a wonderfull stuff.
It has the story every young man, who just passed out from the campus would say.
I also like movies of both Ms (excluding Bhargavacharithm..I ‘ll blame only Sreenivasan for that film). I would like to bring your attention to Prithvi’s latest interview where he is comparing Malluwood to Australlian team. It is true to cent percent. We need someone to lead the Malluwood in future. We can’t expect Ms doing bachelor roles always. I think all those acted in Classmates have that potential. We don’t want a new Mohanlal , Mammootty or jagathi. They are uncomparable. We need new talent pool. I think Prithvi and team will sure include in that.
All the best for them.
October 25, 2006 at 12:50 am
@Raphael,
That was a good summary.
@Unni,
I absolutely love your posts and reviews, which you pepper so lavishly with humorous asides.
Regarding the whole Prithvi vs. M & Ms, I totally believe that any person in any field has to undergo a lot of obstacles which makes their success all the more sweeter. I suppose Prithvi’s brashness and ‘arrogance’ all attribute to the fact that he was an instant hit with ‘Nandanam’. Besides, as everyone points out, he is only 24, and youth and hot-headedness can make one shoot one’s mouth off. I sincerely hope he reads this blog, if only to learn from his mistakes, rather than do a Suresh Gopi and be ousted from the industry for years.
Regarding whether young actors are given a fair deal, wasn’t that the case in the 80s and 90s with young musicians when Yesudas ruled the scene? When Mohanlal came onto the scene, he was a nobody compared to Shankar(the reigning hero) and only got villainous roles. So, people just have to hold on and wait for that big break and for the older actors to realise their limitations in certain areas (action movies, campus stories, young love etc) and make way.
Lakshmi
October 26, 2006 at 3:22 am
oh my god it requires a lot of time to read all these..
BUT, PRITHVI is really talented he IS/SHOULD BE the next superstar (super actor i mean..).
according to unni talent of acting is measured by success of films. hahaha…then y there are other technicians.!!
film is sucess ,if script&direction are good , but onething is sure prithvi always gave 100% what is required .
PS:Dileep as super* is the biggest comedy of malayalam film industry
March 9, 2007 at 8:06 pm
Just note some points:
1. Prithviraj is the only Malyalam actor who could act in 35+ films in two languages in the first 5 years of his career with an exceptional record of being in the lead role as hero in more than 90% of them.
2. Mohanlal has been a supporting actor for long—doing apparently insignificant marginal roles even in the fourth year of his career (i.e., to be fair to him, leaving out his 1978 Thiranottam). Like Prithvi in Kanakanden, Mohanlal was parised for his performance as Vilain in Manjil Virinja Pookal ( his legitimate first film) but miserably failed to translate it into an instant success to garb equally interesting roles.
3. Moammotty’s case has not been different. In fact in a host of movies in the early 80s these two actors have acted together in various films as second or third line supporting actors. They have acted in supporting roles for Gopi, Jayan, Prem Nazir, Mukesh, Shankar and others.
4. MMs had to struggle their way up since it took a long time for them to convince the directors, audiences and film critics that they are hero materials. Prithviraj on the other hand always had a beeline of directors to sign him up in lead roles ever since he entered. Some directors even abandoned their projects during the AMMA- Chambers showdown when they realized that the powers that be are against casting Prithvi. Even when some of the films were just moderate successes they never stopped to praise his worth and dared to sign him up for a second or third time in their films.
5. I am yet to read a single negative review of Prithviraj’s performance in any of the films he acted. Bhagyraj has put it on record that it was the raving and unanimous praise by the Tamil media of his enormous performance as Villain in Kanakanden that made him notice Prithviraj and urge him to sign him up for Parijatham. Every director in Malayalam now wants to sign up Prithvi. Shafi is one of the latest examples expressing a strong desire to work with Prithvi. He openly admitted this in an interview in Asianet recently while talking about his successful Mammotty film Mayavi.
6. Prithviraj is the only Malyalam actor with a fan following and growing number of admirers both in Tamil and Malayalam. Only Kamalahasan had achieved this distinction before.
7. It was in the mid/late 80s when Lal was nearing 30s and Mammooty was in his mid thirties that they were cast in lead roles and began to share glory of successes of films with directors. Even then, every year, except one or two films by leading directors supported by strong scripts their films used to achieve only moderate success and in most cases they tasted downright failures.
8. Prithvi’s marvelous career and early success in two languages can be attributed only to one factor: his relatively early development as a matured actor compared to the MMs. It is neither the fault of the directors nor audiences that MMs took so long to establish where it came so easy and natural to Prithvi.
9. In fact MMs later success should be compared with Mukesh, Lalu Alex and a few similar co-stars who they edged out through hard work and talent. Prithvi’s prodigy and now proven endurance cannot be compared with the choppy careers of the MMs.
10. Prithvi’s success is unprecedented in the history of Malyalam film industry and that explains why people indulge in inaccurate comparisons. However, the way Prithvi is compared looks quite flattering for him since the comparison is with their successful middle career. He reached the heights they touched in their later career all too early that that critics forget to bring along suitable yardsticks for comparison.
But do keep criticizing him..Or else it means he is not doing well… and that nobody has expectations about him.
Ramesh
March 10, 2007 at 9:23 am
dear Ramesh,
i agrree with u.Plz dont compare with him MMs they are at the peak of their career.Prithvi has shown his talent well enough and he can go places
in the future.
March 12, 2007 at 1:42 am
Still the subject going strong is n indication how things are moving. Though, with reluctance AMMA has included Prithvi in their all star movie. Hios Joshy, Ranjith projects are shaping up. The new role of Police officer is on its way.
Mozhi is doing extremely well in Major ceneters. Chennai I tried three times but no tickets available, though it passed 18 days. It is one of the best cool roles from him. Growing fan following for this Mallu chunk from Tamilnadu. His comedy sense and timing, which was the critical point of his detractors is being appreciated by Media. Good going.
April 1, 2007 at 9:31 pm
Introduction: I am a tamilian and I mainly watch tamil movies. I must admit I am a fan of Prithvi eventhough I just started watching his movies.
Prithvi is natural, acts with ease, has his own style(compared to the intense style of M&M’s) and all this in really masala type movies.
To compare him with M&M’s is just absurd. For god’s sake he was not even born during the time they started acting.
What we should observe is what each actor brings to a movie? Not compare an extremely junior actor with a senior actor. The dsitinct body languages which Prithvi portrayed in swapnakoodu(required over the top youth) and Classmate(rustic very much relatable youth )- how can you not notice that? Mind you there was nothing extremely special about these movies. Inspsite of this if an actor is able to raise above the role, you have to give credit to him. His Kana kanden performance proved he has arrived.
I just have 3comments
1. In tamil, Senior actors always encourage the junior ones. There is ofcourse stiff competition between actors of the age(Level 1 Bharath, Arya
Level 2 Surya, Vijay, Vikram, Ajith LEvel 3 Kamal, Rajni). But a good performance by Surya is appreciated by Kamal. In extremely rare occasions, you even see Vikram being complemented by Vijay. Every actor knows his market.
So, it is strange that the M&M’s don’t perform the same gesture in malayalam industry. worse, I see rumours that they are trying to do other way around. I really hope it is not true as M&M’s are just stalwarts of Malayalam industry but indian industry. Prithvi is definitely much much better than Vijay and Ajith. In following your line of comparison, he is definitely zillion times better than Surya of 2 years ago! We don;t compare Surya and Kamal – do we – i,e criminal
2. You can be a fan of M&M(which I am) and still like Prithvi. Prithvi brings his own/ his era’s sensibilities into the movies.
My only reasoning can be that you are probably in your late thirties or something and grew up with M&M’s and are not able to accept change.
3. I might be way off the mark here as I don’t watch too many malayalam movies. But can the same be said about your industry as well. I mean how else do you explain a cliched (that too cliched from 80′s) movie like classmate. It was decent but did not deserve super hit. Either Keralites in their 20′s are not watching the movie or Kerala did not catch up with the globalizaion wave of the last decade. The latter is extremely hard to believe.
M&M’s with their age factor can only act certain roles and youth specifically like movies that they can relate to which M&M;s cannot act in( primarly due to their age). So any movie industry needs different segment of actors and Prithvi is definitely the best in the his league.
Having said all this, It is strange Prithvi acts in all image-oriented/masala type movies in Malayalam and acts in sensible cinema in tamil. I really hope Prithvi does more Malayalam cinema as that is where his sensibilities lie than the masala-stricked tamil indsutry.
Only people who act in masala movies sustain in tamil while it is otherwise in Kerala. Unfortunately Pritvhi is forced to adapt this strategy.
Also, one last question – prithvi has acted in around 35 movies in the past 3-4 years. If he is a dismal failure like you guys suggest how is it possible to get all these roles? Are producers in malayalam movies that rich to throw so much money a hero who has just had couple of hits in 35 movies?
April 3, 2007 at 8:10 am
I fully agree with the views expressed by Ramesh, Raphel Shruti and others.
Shruti says: “In Tamil, Senior actors always encourage the junior ones…So, it is strange that the M&M’s don’t perform the same gesture in Malayalam industry. Worse, I see rumours that they are trying to do other way around.”
Yes, such ridiculous things happen in Malayalam film industry. I was so ashamed of M & M behaviour when I read that Rajanikanth personally phoned Prithviraj to congratulate him for his excellent performance in Mozhi. Can we imagine this happening in Kerala?
In Kerala, when Prithvi got his well deserved best actor award, the senior M kept on cribbing for days. God! Forbid! He did not faint like Kalabhavan Mony!!!!
Suman
April 3, 2007 at 3:40 pm
SUMAN: Only Mammootty expected an award, he always talks about it and tries to censor two to three artistic movies in a same year to collect awards. As you know none of his artistic movies ever collected its production costs but he keeps on making them for only one reason which is to GET STATE and NATIONAL awards.
Mohan Lal on other hand makes movies for its artistic and collection values, most of his artistic movies made profits for his producers. Recently Thanmathra and Vadakkum Nathan were super hits even though these were off beat films.
Also you said you were ashamed to see the M&M’s didn’t bother to call any of these young actors to congratulate their efforts. Can you name one single movie where these youngsters were excellent to be congratulated? There were so many interviews where MOHAN LAL appreciated the success of Class mates; he appreciated the makers of the film because of the money it collected. I saw nothing special in Class mates and I was bored after the first 20 mins as I figured out the climax but I was very impressed with Lal creations for their Marketing and making the movie a huge success. The story was adapted from a book and the actors weren’t anything astonishing. It is true Rajani Kanth appreciates good performance from youngsters but what kind of actor is Rajani kanth?? I like to watch his movies for its entertainment value but I don’t consider him a good actor at all. Actually I believe he is one of the worst actors in Indian film history, so Rajani appreciating a good performance means nothing to me.
April 4, 2007 at 5:21 pm
Vince: Tastes do differ. I have no problem with that. It is not just a question whether one Vince believes Rajani is a good actor or not.
A person of his stature with his long track record of enormously successful career thought he should phone up and congratulate a young actor for his amazing performance. That shows character.
If M & M feel that there is no brilliance in young actors that they need to encourage, it is up to them. They can feed on their narcissism and keep congratulating themselves and keep cribbing when they loose.
Prithvi is an actor who is receiving growing admiration and recognition from film viewers, media, noted new and old Directors,screen playwrights and others in two languages(Tamil and Malayalam)in the very early years of his fascinating career. There is no parallel for his achievement in South Indian film history.
He could prevail in the industry despite the rumoured fiat/fatwa against him during the Chamber-Amma stand off because of one reason: his undisputable acting prowess. If M & M are not impressed…well…we know them enough any way!
Suman
April 4, 2007 at 8:21 pm
Shruthi, there is a correction…prithvi’s malayalam films in the last one year were not masala by any standard…he played a crusading journalist who investigates the farmer suicides in wayanad in the movie pakal, he played a bureaucrat who comes up by hook-or-crook in the wonderful film Vasthavam, he played a software engineer who leaves b’lore and returns to his village in Anantham(yet-to-be-released)…classmates, vargam, achanurangatha veedu and oruvan where movies in which his roles were heavily character oriented. the other film avan chandiyude makan was made 2 years back…and was the only masala film.
but most of these movies didnt work at the box office and all his malayalam films coming up this year are what you can call masala films!
April 29, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Vince,
Kamal Hassan does appreciate young actors as well from time to time. I hope you don’t suspect his acting credentials.
Regarding Rajnikanth, I am no fan of his. But he is the highest paid actor in south asia – period. He started off very well but later choose the masala movies due to the hysterical market he saw.
All these apart, I still think Prithvi is not that bad an actor that M&M cannot even take the phone and appreciate him. Initially, his performances seems to be more dependent on the director. But his performance in classmates was too good. And I am surprised Sunil/ Indrajith walk away with all the accolades instead of Prithvi. Coz people apparently love the character that sunil played!
But, still nobody explained how he managed 5 films per year if he is such a failure!
April 30, 2007 at 10:27 pm
People who cry that Mammotty never appreciated Prithviraj when he got award, please read Mammotty interview on sets of Big B ,in April issue of Nana film magazine. A question has been put to him specifically, whether he called up Prithviraj after winning award, Mammotty says he called up Prithviraj and congratulated him, but did not see Vasthavam.
Kindly do not insult a star just because he is award crazy. He may crazy, but he is not jealous of any star. Thanks
May 1, 2007 at 9:54 am
for crying out loud-pls do not repeat in the name of GOD, the comparison between some stars we unfortunately have. Either it is mammoo, lal or pritvy. we have burnt enough oil over their issues like friendship, rivalry between them.A word further would be nauseating . All of them act in movies without substance making their wallets heavier. They all know they are fooling us. No more comments would be the perfect retaliation.
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November 12, 2007 at 8:18 pm
I think Mammootty was very impressed by Vaasthavam.
Infact, he has called up Padmakumar to make a new film w/ him.