Recently when Salim Kumar won the National Award for the best actor, the so-called “Janapriya Nayakan” Dileep made the comment that Salim Kumar won the award because there were no Malayalis in the jury. He was referring to the fact that Malayalis are like crabs in a box, always trying to prevent the other crab from winning.
So the VC research team went to find the truth. Here is what we found.
| Year/National Award Edition | Best Actor Winner | Movie(s) | Malayalee Jury Member(s) |
| 1973 – 21st | PJ Antony | Nirmalyam | TS Pillai,KRK Menon, OV Vijayan |
| 1978-25th | Gopi | Kodiyettam | Thakazhi |
| 1981-28th | Balan K Nair | Oppol | Ravindranathan Nair |
| 1988 – 35th | Premji | Piravi | C.Radhakrishnan, Dr.V.RajaKrishnan |
| 1990 – 37th | Mammootty | Mathilukal, Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha | Our research incomplete for this year |
| 1992-39th | Mohanlal | Bharatham | Adoor Gopalakrishnan, PRS Pillay |
| 1994-41st | Mammootty | Vidheyan, Ponthan Mada | Hariharan |
| 1998-45th | Suresh Gopi, Balachandra Menon | Kaliyattam,Samantharangal | P.Madhavan, KR Mohanan |
| 1999-46th | Mammootty | Dr.Ambedkar | Balachandra Menon |
| 2000-47th | Mohanlal | Vanaprastham | Ravindranathan Nair |
| 2002-49th | Murali | Neythukaran | KS Sethumadhavan,Rajeev Nath |
(Ranjit Nair blogs at Occupied Space)
- “Pranchiyettan and the Saint” is, I believe, director Ranjit giving the finger to those who had labeled him a “Hinduvta” director after a series of movies such as Devasuram, Ravanaprabhu, Nandanam, Prajapathy etc.
- There have been several movies based on the Kottayam Christian milieu; however movies set in Thrissur are rare. Other than Padmarajan’s Thoovanathumbikal, I can remember no other movie that has used the town and its slang as an important facet in the movie.
- It is refreshing that the movie has no “villains”. Siddhique is portrayed as Pranchi’s main rival, but Ranjit has resisted the temptation of having either the hero or villain import a dozen ruffians from several different places, and indulge in an outlandish fight sequence.
- The whole bit about hints around the hypocritical lives lead by Siddhique and Khushboo was uncalled for – a cheap shot, really. Could Pranchi not find his happiness even as his childhood sweetheart and her husband lived happily too?
- The whole speech sequence was awesome. It reminded me a bit of the iconic “balatkaar” sequence from “3 Idiots”; but the one in “Pranchiyettan…” was more about the fear of public speaking.
- The whole concept of “Padmashree-chasing” was a riot. Ranjit clearly has a ball here, with digs at all and sundry.
- Jagathy could have been avoided. He added absolutely nothing to the movie, and did nothing new (other than demonstrate a few Yoga poses) either.
- Finally, what does one say of Mammootty? This amazing performance is most un-Mammootty-like; in fact it is almost Mohanlal-esque, except for the spotless Thrissur slang (which I think Mohanlal could not have quite managed). We all know that Mammootty excels in statuesque roles, but to see him excel as the self-deprecating Pranchi reminds us that the veteran still has unexplored depths. More innovative scripts please!
Piracy has been crippling Malayalam Film Industry as of late. Almost all the recent Malayalam Movies are readily available in the Internet either as torrents , direct downloads or in the form of ’emdedded’ videos( the last ones being the most dangerous -these are the ‘youtube’ types, no one claims responsibility for it yet everyone can access it free of cost) . It won’t be an overstatement if I say that piracy has become some sort of a global phenomenon afflicting not just ‘mallu’ or ‘hindi’ movies but even their Konkani and Marathi counterparts and it can never be stopped or prevented completely (yes,let’s accept the fact) .But can’t we do something about it before it destroys our industry entirely? As far as Malayalam cinema is concerned I think all is not lost yet. If the industry insiders wake up tothe situation and act sensibly, we can effectively control this growing menace to a certain extent . This post tries to look at 10 steps that can possibly protect our good old Malayalam cinema from the clutches of these ruthless ‘pirates’.
- Revamping the existing cinema halls with better facilities and establishing more number of Multiplexes: Most of our present day theatresare in a pathetic state. Even in a metro like Ernakulam, the situation is no different. Most of them are extremely dirty with seats torn and rats crawling under the seats. The existing theatres should undergo a facelift and provide the movie buffs with better sound and projection facilities. Starting more number of multiplexes in major cities will also help. The success of the Ernakulam multiplexes being a testimony to the fact that there is a potential multiplex audience even in a small state like Kerala. Providing tax concessions by the Government to the well equipped theatres would also be a sensible decision.
- Increasing the number of release centres(Wide Release Strategy): What isthe point in limiting the release of a new movie to just about 60-70 theatres(95-100 for the big M movies) when there are atleast 700 movie halls across the state? The second run theatres are no longer a viable option and by the time the movie reaches them ,the pirated versions must made inroads to even the remotest village in the state either via unauthorized dvds or through the ‘local cable tv’ channels which air them illegally .The only way to increase the number of footfalls in the small centres is to allow them to have a simultaneous release of the brand new movies. I guessthe higher amount of ‘advance’ that they can garner from the ‘A list’theatres is what lure the producers to go for a ‘limited’ release.
- Reducing the time interval between theatrical and home video release: The dvd release of a successful movie should be done anywhere between 110-125 days of it’s release where as for a flop movie a time gap of 35-60days would be reasonable. With Kanakanmani , Kandahar, Best of Luck paving the way,I wish more movies follow this healthy trend.
- Uniformity in the ticket rates: Too high pricing of tickets willcertainly act as a deterrent for the moviegoers. There should be some sort of uniformity in the ticket rates of theatres within the same town/city. For cities like Ernakulam,Tvm and Calicut a ticket fare of 70-75 Rs. and for smaller towns something between 50-55 would be reasonable. Our neighboring state,Tamil Nadu, had successfully implanted this practice (of standardizing and controlling ticket fares)a couple of years back,so I think it’spossible to do so in our state also.
- Competent Advance Booking system: Tele-booking system,internet booking et al will certainly attract more family audience to the theaters. The advance reservation system in our theatres are still in the primitive state. For instance In a big city like Ernakulam though most of the theaters shave all the afore said (booking)facilities, they are highly incompetent (except for the multiplexes which have highly efficient advance booking plans)to say the least.The internet booking system for the single screens rarely works while the tele-booking numbers rarely respond!
- Authorized Internet release on Pay per view basis: This is somethingthat can be a double edged sword if not handled tactically. May not be practical in today’s scheme of things but again we have a predecessor in the form of ‘Chandan Arora’s ‘Striker’.
- Implimenting more stringent Antipiracy laws: Those who violate the copyright laws should be thrust upon with with heavy penalty. Similarly, stringent action must be madefor preventing movies illegally getting uploaded in ‘youtube’ and other video sharing sites. Recently Mrs Mallika Sukumaran and the ‘Youth icon’ Prithviraj Sukumaran made a big hue and cry over somebody called John Kodiyan and his illegal site ashmagic.com, butfrankly speaking I don’t think they will be able to book him since what the accused did was providing an ‘embedded video’ link in his controversial website. As I said before, an embedded video may not necessarily been hostedby the afore said website and this itself makes Mallika-Raju’s case a bit weak.
- Ensuring the security of the digital prints: Gone are the days of camcoder rips and low quality pirated VHS prints.The pirated versions of most of the recent releases are of very high quality (DVD SCR/PDVD-Rips) andit’s pretty evident that at least some of these prints are the stolen ‘stuff’ from lab/digital cinema servers. Remember the What’s your Rasheefiasco? Unless Proper security of the digital prints is ensured things like this are bound to happen again.
- Make good movies : No one is going to watch a bad movie at a good theatre. Imagine watching movies like Raghuvinte Swantham Rasiya at a movie hall? On the contrary, if the movie is good, people will still flock to theaters no matter how good or bad the available pirated prints are! Remember the case of Enthiran?
- Realistic Budgets: Proper planning and completion of movies within realistic budgets would certainly help the producers and distributors to attain ‘break even’ status even before the bootleg DVDs hit the retail markets.
We hope our Industry big wigs take care of at least a couple of these things. Wishing Malayalam Cinema all the best.
Cross Posted at nikhimenon.blogspot.com
Tags: malayalam cinema piracy, piracy
To tell you the truth, we are not big fans of Salim Kumar the comedian. Before the arrival of Suraj Venjaramoodu, we thought he was simply irritating. After watching amazing comedians like Jagathi Sreekumar and Innocent, Salim Kumar was a let down. In fact we will be snobbish and say that there is not a single Salim Kumar comedy we liked.
But there is a different Salim Kumar who has acted brilliantly in two movies we have seen. One is Achanurantha Veedu and the other is Kerala Cafe. Both movies are heart wrenching and Salim Kumar simply ceases to be Salim Kumar and becomes the character. You see a side of him you have never seen before. He is involved and is able to trigger various emotions inside the viewer. The 10 minute role in Kerala Cafe is particularly hard to see as he toggles helplessness, sadness and cruelty all together. Any lesser actor would have botched it up.
We have not seen Adaminte Makan Abu. Apart from the jury members, we don’t know who has. But from the trailer it looks like a deeply sad movie. When even Suraj Venjaramoodu is serious, you know it is not an ordinary movie. Here is the story in a nutshell from Wikipedia.
The film is about Abu (Salim Kumar), who has been dreaming of performing the holy pilgrimage to Mecca , despite severe financial constraints. Abu is an old vendor selling Yunani medicines and Athar, roaming around the streets of Malabar. The film chronicles the difficulties that the old poor couples of Malabar encounter to go for a much hoped Hajj pilgrimage.
Now if you look at the three movies, Achanurangatha Veedu, Kerala Cafe and Adaminte Makan Abu, Salim Kumar portrays a single emotion. He is helpless and sad. Is that the range emotions he can portray? Is that narrow range of emotions sufficient to win the national award or the state award? It looks like if you portray sadness, your performance is considered better than those who have not. For example, look at the state awards for Kavya Madhavan and Mamta Mohandas. Both depict unhappy people. Note that while Salim Kumar has won the national award, an actor with infinite range like Nedumudi Venu has never won it. And that is exactly what ticks us off.
That said, we completely disagree with these lines which was reported today:
Salim Kumar has lashed out against Ranjith’s comments and said it is just sour grapes. Meanwhile there is a feeling among certain section of the industry that those who do comedy roles should not be equated with Mammootty and Mohanlal. This has led to a division in the industry.
There is nothing called Comedy Actor. In Malayalam, all comedy actors do character roles as well and that is their strength. Going by this logic, even Mammotty and Mohanlal should not be considered for awards because they do comedy movies like Pokkiri Raja and China Town.
Tags: Adaminte Makan Abu, National Award Salim Kumar, Salim Kumar
With Kerala state awards results coming after the announcement of National Film awards, the jury didn’t end up with egg on their face. They validated most of the National award results. Just to demonstrate independence they didn’t give the photography awards to Madhu Ambat. We think, had the the state awards been announced earlier than National awards, the results would have been different.
Like after any other awards, the aftermath is ugly. We have loser on winner violence, public on jury violence, South India vs Bollywood violence etc. This time there is Renjith on Salim Kumar violence and Renjith on JP Dutta violence. Worst, Renjith equated National Award Jury chairman to JP Dutta to Khandahar’s director.
Though we don’t like the Govt getting involved in awards, we are thankful for them for providing sufficient material for a few articles.
Below is the full list of awards:
- Best Actor: Salim Kumar(Adaminte Makan Abu)
- Best Actress: Kavya Madhavan(Gadhama)
- Best Movie: Adaminte Makan Abu
- Best Director: Shyama Prasad(Electra)
- Best Script writer: Salim Ahmed(Adaminte Makan Abu)
- Second best movie: Makara Manju(Director: Lenin Rajendran)
- Second Best Actor: Biju Menon (TD Dasan Standard VI B)
- Second Best Actor: Mamta Mohandas (Katha Thudarunnu)
- Special award: ThalaiVasal Vijay (Yuga Purushan), Vipin Vijay(Chitra Soothram), Premlal(Athma Katha)
- Popular Movie: Pranchiyettan and the Saint(Director: Renjith)
- Best Singer(Male): Hariharan(Pattinte Palazhi)
- Best Singer(Female): Rajalakshmi (Janakan)
- Best Classical Singer: Balamularikrishna ( Gramam)
- Music Director: M.Jayachandran(Karayilekkoru Kadal Dooram)
- Lyricist: Rafeeq Ahmed(Sadgamaya) (Rafeeq got last year’s award too for Sufi Paranja Katha)
- Best Background score: Isacc Thomas Kottakapally ( Adaminte Makan Abu , Veetilikulla Vazhi )
- Cinematography: MJ Radhakrishan ( Veetilekulla Vazhy ) , Shahnad Jalal (Chitra sutham )
- Best Comedian: Suraj Venjaramoodu(Oru Naal Varum)(This is the second consecutive time he is winning, though the right category for him should be Most Irritating Artiste)
- Best Debut in Direction: Mohan Raghavan(TD Dasan Standard VI B)
- Best Editor: Sobin K Soman ( Pakarnattam )
- Best Child artist: Krishna Padmakumar ( Janaki ))
- Best Makeup: Pattanam Rasheed (Yugupurushan)
- Best Dance Director: Madhu Gopinath ( Makaramanju)
- Best Dubbing Artist: Praveena ( Electra) , Rizabava ( Karamyogi )
- Best Lab: Prasad Color Lab
- Best Cinema related Essay: Sujith Kumar (Nostalgia Nirmikunnathu), Dr.Biju (Kollaruthu Samvidayakare )
Do these awards reflect true feelings of the viewer? What are the notable omissions? We’d love to hear you opinion on this.
The Best Actor award evoked varying degrees of shock and surprise. We were pleasantly surprised and happy for exacting revenge on Saif Ali Khans and Amitabh Bachans and Ajay Devgans. Dabangg won award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, meaning that other movies were only providing partial stimulation to the brains. Dabangg had everything!
- Best Film – Adaminte Makan Abu (Malayalam)
- Best Direction – Vetrimaran for Aadukalam (Tamil)
- Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment – Dabangg (Hindi)
- Best Children’s Film – Hejjegalu (Kannada)
- Best Actor – Dhanush (Aadukalam), Salim Kumar (Adamante Makan Abu)
- Best Actress – Mitalee Jagtap Varadkar for Baboo Band Baaja (Marathi) and Saranya Ponvannan for Thenmerkku Paruvakkatru (Tamil)
- Best Supporting Actress – Sukumari for Namma Gramam (Tamil)
- Best Supporting Actor –J. Thambi Ramaiah for Mynaa(Tamil)
- Best Cinematographer: Madhu Ambat for Adaminte Makan Abu (Malayalam)
- Best Story and Screenplay: Vetrimaran for Aadukalam (Tamil) and Anant Mahadevan & Sanjay Pawar for Mee Sindhutai Sapkal (Marathi)
- Best Costumes: Indrans Jayan for Namma Gramam (Tamil)
- Best Music – Vishal Bhardwaj for Ishqiya (Hindi)
- Best Lyrics – Vairamuthu for Thenmerkku Paruvakkatru (Tamil)
- Best Background Score: Issak Thomas Kottakapally for Adaminte Makan Abu(Malayalam)
- Best Playback singer (male) – Suresh Wadkar for Mee Sindhutai Sapkal (Marathi)
- Best Playback singer (female) – Rekha Bhardwaj for Ishqiya (Hindi)
- Best Audiography award : Location Sound Recordist Kaamod Kharade Ishqiya (Hindi), Sound Designer : Subhadeep Sengupta for Chitrasutram (Malayalam), Re-recordist of the final mixed track : Debajit Changmai for Ishqiya (Hindi)
- Best Feature Film(Malayalam)-Veettilekkulla Vazhi
- Best Feature Film (Marathi) – Mala Aai Vhhaychay
- Best Feature Film (Hindi) – Do Dooni Char
- Best Feature Film (Bengali) – Ami Aadu
- Best Feature Film (Tamil) – Thenmerkku Paruvakkatru
- Best Special Effects – V. Srinivas M Mohan for Enthiran (Tamil)
- Best Makeup Artist : Vikram Gaikwad for Moner Manush(Bengali)
- Best Editing : T.E. Kishore for Aadukalam(Tamil)
- Best Production Design: Sabu Cyril for Enthiran(Tamil)
- Best Choreography: Dinesh Kumar for Aadukalam (Tamil)
- Best film with social message – Understanding Trafficking (Bengali, Hindi & English)
- Best Child actor: Harsh Mayar for I am Kalam (Hindi), Shantanu Ranganekar & Machindra Gadkar for Champions (Marathi,) Vivek Chabukswar for Baboo Band Baaja (Marathi)
- Best Writing on Cinema: From Rajahs and Yogis to Gandhi and Beyond: Images of India in International Films of the Twentieth Century (English) by Vijaya Mulay
Tags: 58th National Film Awards, Adaminte Makan Abu, Dabangg National Award, National Award Salim Kumar, National Awards, Salim Kumar, Veettilekkulla Vazhi
The behind the scenes activities of Tamil cinema are really scary. That is because in Tamil Nadu, politics and cinema combine to make a deadly thairu saadam. Every actor and actress has to prove their “Tamil” credentials before the politicians. This rule applies not just to minor actors, but even the superstars. If you are a film producer or theater owner, you need to replace your spine with an elongated rubber tube if you want to survive.
When you read the following excerpt from Tehelka, you should be glad that we don’t have such Dravidian clowns in Kerala film industry, but only “representative” organizations like AMMA, FEFKA etc which behave in a democratic fashion. One thing they have in common is that they too try to adopt restrictive practices which hurts cinema in long run.
Ajith had touched a raw nerve. Every film-related organisation— and there are several in Tamil Nadu — is run by people close to the DMK. They hold events in which actors have to participate for free, failing which, as Ajith put it, their Tamil integrity comes into question. After his appeal, Ajith was reportedly hounded but he has refused to talk about this to the media ever since.
Kollywood dominates popular imagination in Tamil Nadu to a degree that perhaps far exceeds the influence of Bollywood. Yet, the industry is gripped by a fear so intense, every single actor, director, producer or film journalist approached for this story begged anonymity. “The atrocities should come out, people should know we’re virtually under mafia rule here,” says a prominent young actor who burnt his fingers recently. “But if my name comes out, my career is over.”
An event such as the Parattu Vizha would be unheard of in any other state, but in Tamil Nadu, it’s par for the course. The film industry has always been a coveted fiefdom, but in the last five years, there’s been an almost absolute takeover by the family. Today, if there is a Tamil film you’ve heard of, nine out of 10 times, it would have been produced by Kalanidhi Maran’s Sun Pictures, Stalin’s Red Giant Entertainment or Azhagiri’s Cloud Nine Pictures. By and large, the triumvirate controls Tamil cinema today. And they do it by controlling its consumption — via marketing, theatres and media rights.
Theatre-owners are terrorised to fall in with the family’s business interests. A record 145 Tamil films were released last year, but around 45 films, complete with clearances and censor certificates, could not find a single theatre willing to run them because they did not have the blessing of the family. New-generation star Vijay, who has expressed an interest in joining AIADMK, is among a minority willing to speak up. In an interview to a Tamil magazine, he criticised the DMK for stalling the release of his film last year. “They prevented the release of Kaavalan to facilitate the success of films produced by their men,” he said.
Only producers registered with the Tamil Nadu Producers Council are allowed to make Tamil movies. The council’s president Ramanarayanan of Sri Thenandal Movies, who was elected in a violent polling last year, is known to be close to the family. He explains the eligibility criteria: “You need to be an Indian citizen, pay Rs. 1 lakh and be recommended by an existing member.” This last requirement — the recommendation — is the most potent tool of political patronage. Through this, the council has not only kept away international production houses like Sony, Columbia Pictures and 21st Century Fox, but also producers from the Hindi or Telugu film industries. Under the pretext of protecting local producers, it has secured disproportionate space for Giant, Cloud and Sun[K Klutch Klan]
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