If you have noticed, most of our posts have become repetitive. We have been cribbing about the lack of alternatives among stars, complaining about pathetic movies that have become block busters and writing with nostalgia about the 80s and 90s.

Instead of whining constantly, we have decided to expand our vision. We will be writing mostly about Malayalam cinema, but we will also be covering other film industries as well. We want to look at the art of cinema and review great movies from around the world.

We want to write about writers, directors, musicians and cinematographers – the people behind the camera as they say. This is not going to happen instantly, but slowly over a period of time.

Hope you will like our new direction.

Posts which have been linked by others get more weight, so do posts which have a large number of comments and track backs. As various posts are viewed and comments are made, the popularity rating of the post also changes and the list gets updated. We hope this list will give you a glimpse into what is popular here at vc.

There are many action items in their plan. First they plan to invest Rs. 25 crore and lease theaters in Kerala. These theaters will be modernized and some of them will be converted into multiplexes for better film going experience which means that even if the movie is terrible, you will feel happy spending Rs. 100 for an uzhunnu vada. They also plan to introduce a card which will allow you to watch as many movies as possible for a fixed amount which means that some of us will permanently live in multiplexes.

Second they plan to improve film distribution by using digital technology to deliver prints over the network. Third, they also plan to produce or buy 10 films each year. For starters, they have bought Mohanlal’s Paradesi and the distribution rights to Ram Gopal Varma’s version of Sholay.

We think this is great news and the influx of capital from a publicly traded company which is looking for profits can possibly bring up the careers of few actors. Then it is also possible that MACTA, AMMA and other organizations will get together and ask the Chief Minister to ban the entry of such companies into Kerala citing that Pyramids are Egyptian inventions and we should not have such “foreign” technologies which will upset our economic paradise.

Post Script : We liked the idea of the movie cards and we see infinite possibilities. There can be actor specific cards, like cards for seeing a particular actors movies unlimited times. A blessing if you are a die hard fan. On the other hand Superstars can distribute such cards to fans associations so that human presence is ensured in movie theaters however bad the movie is.

Rum is the most popular Indian Made Foreign Liquor in Kerala and it accounted for 65% of the sales in 2001. Rum became the most popular drink by edging out brandy and whiskey. To celebrate the arrival of 2007, Malayalees drank a record Rs. 213 million rupees worth of liquor with Chalakkudy being the topper and Tirur in Malappuram occupying the second place. Kerala has the highest per capita alcohol consumption rate in the nation followed by Punjab.All this did not require Mohanlal. Recently the actor was criticized by the Mahatma Gandhi National Foundation after he was recently seen asking “What’s up this evening?”, the catch line for a liquor brand. We know many families who have been devastated by liquor drinking habits of men and admire the work being done by the Foundation. In this case though, the Foundation is barking up the wrong tree. 

We know there are many people who love Mohanlal more than their own parents and there are some who think they are clones of the actor and walk/talk like him. Even without Mohanlal’s cryptic line and influence, Kerala is the top drunk state. If Kerala State had extremely low numbers of drunkards and if Mohanlal’s statement caused a sudden surge in alcohol consumption, we would have agreed with the Foundation. In this case, even without Mohanlal’s intervention, the State walks on all fours and talks to lamp posts while going back home.

Instead the Foundation should ask why is the State Government in the business of selling liquor to public? The Kerala State Beverages Corporation was established to provide genuine liquor to consumers at reasonable prices. The reason cited is that if the Government does not sell liquor then spurious liquor will be sold and it will affect the health of the drunkards and as a moral obligation the Government is doing this yeoman service. The truth is that the sales of liquor is beneficial to the state as it is bankrupt and this is a major source of revenue. Criticize an actor and you get free publicity, but we wish some more attention be given to the root cause of the problem.

PS: Yes, this is still a blog about Malayalam Cinema and news which mentions anything related to Cinema.

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NOTEBOOK IS A GREAT FILM. ALL SHOULD SEE IT.

So what brings people to varnachitram? What is in the mind of all those people who read what we write? Here is a snap shot of the most used search words in the past month as provided by Google Analytics. Once again we are thankful to Mamta Mohandas who beats all the superstars hands down.

On our anniversary, we want to discuss a topic which has been a bone of contention in the comment box – What ails Malayalam Cinema. This very important topic was suggested by Unni and he has written a multi part series on this topic. We also got few other folks to write articles on the topic and will be publishing the series this week starting Monday (with some scheduled breaks for review roundups). You can participate in this discussion by a) writing an article of not less than 700 words or b) discussing the articles in the comment box. Either way we hope you will join us.