2009 has been a wonderful year for Malayalam Film Industry.
Here is a report about Malayalam cinema in 2009. Christmas releases and latest releases are not included.
Blockbuster
Pazhassi Raja
Superhits
To Harihar Nagar
Bhagyadevatha
Puthiya Mukham
Passenger
Hits
Makante Achan
Ivar Vivahitharaayal
Daddy Cool
Loud Speaker
Paleri Manikyam – May turn out to be a Hit because of strong mouth publicity
Average Hits
Bhramaram
Robinhood
Kerala Cafe
Neelathamara
Pattanathil Bhootham
This is a fantastic record for Malayalam cinema for the past few years.
Lets see how our favourite actors performed in 2009
Mammootty
This must be one of the best years for Mammootty. He had only one flop in 2009 – Love in Singapore which was released in January. Then came Ee Pattanathil Bootham which was an Average Hit, though it may not have recovered its huge production cost. Next was Daddy Cool directed by the debutant Ashiq Abu. The film was a hit and had a fresh look. Next came Jayaraj’s Loud Speaker which was very well appreciated by the audience as well as the critics.
The next movie, Pazhassi Raja broke all records and was declared a blockbuster even before completing 25 days. It got the highest hype ever in Malayalam film history. Pazhassiraja must be the biggest hit of Mammootty in his 30 year career.
Paleri Manikyam – Oru Pathira Kolapathakathinte Katha directed by Renjith is Mammootty’s second last release in 2009. The movie is getting rave reviews from all corners. And the big Christmas release of Mammootty is Chattambi Nadu directed by Shafi and scripted by Benny P Nayarambalam.
All in all a fantastic year for Mammootty.
Mohanlal
2009 has been a horrible year for Mohanlal. His first release was Red Chillies which was meant to be only for die hard Lal fans. But even they could not save the movie from becoming a flop. Then came the most hyped movie of Mohanlal in his career – Sagar Alias Jacky Reloaded which was directed by Big B fame Amal Neerad. The film was a flop and is considered as one of the worst ever defeats for Mohanlal. Then came the experimental movie Bhagavan which was shot in 24 hours. The theaters which screened the movie were empty from day 2 onwards.
Bramaram directed by Blessy came next. It was an excellent movie with an exceptional performance by Lal. But it was only an average hit at the box office. May be because of the serious theme.
Angel John which came just after Pazhassiraja was a flop.
Christmas release of Mohanlal is James Albert scripted Roshan Andrews directed family movie Ividam Swargam Anu
Prithviraj
Prithviraj had 4 releases – Nammal Thammil, Calender, Puthiya Mukham, Robin Hood
Nammal Thammil bombed. Calender directed by actor Mahesh did not do well. Then came PuthiyaMukham directed by a debutant Deephan. The film was a super hit and is considered as a big step to Superstardom for Prithviraj. His last release was the big budgeted Robin Hood directed by veteran Joshy. The movie was only an average hit and did not recover its huge production costs.
Dileep
A bad year for Dileep. Colors and Moz n Cat were flops. But Passenger which also had Sreenivasan doing a more important role was a surprise super hit. Swa Le, which got mixed reviews did not do well at the box office.
Jayaram
Out of all releases of Jayaram, only Bhagyadevatha directed by Sathyan Anthikad became a super hit. Kanakanmani directed by Veruthe Oru Barya fame Akku Akbar and distributed by Playhouse didn’t do well at the box office. The movie was a remake of same director’s Hindi flop Gouri.
Suresh Gopi
Suresh Gopi didn’t get a good hit in 2009. IG was an average grosser at box office. All others were flops.
Jayasoorya had a hit in 2009 – Ivar Vivahitharaayal.
———————————————————————————-
To Harihar Nagar which was the sequel to In Harihar Nagar was a super hit. Director Lal has already started shooting for the 3rd part of the movie.
And Renjith’s experimental movie Kerala Cafe was an average hit.
Lal Jose’s Neelathamara which was the first official remake in Malayalam was only a semi hit.
Rithu, directed by Shyama Prasad was a good movie, but didn’t do well at the box office.
Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Oru Pennum Randanum got released in a few centers in Kerala. The movie gathered some good reviews.
———————————————————————————-
New Faces
Most notable among new actors and actresses debuted in 2009 are Archana (Neelathamara), Kailesh(Neelathamara), Rima (Rithu and Neelathamara) and Nishan(Rithu). Archana, who has already got lots of offers after Neelathamara, is going to make it big in Malayalam film industry.
Theater artists who debuted in Palerimanikyam and Asif Ali who debuted in Rithu are also promising.
And Mammootty has introduced 4 new faces through Mammootty, The Best Actor Award reality show. Lets hope his promise of casting them in his own Playhouse’s movies will be kept.
Debutant Directors
We have 2 new young promising directors
Ranjith Sankar who directed Passenger
Aashiq Abu who directed the super cool Daddy Cool
Comebacks
Music director Deepak Dev has made a grant comeback with Puthiya Mukham. 3 songs of Puthiya Mukham topped the charts.
Director Jayaraj got a good hit(Loudpspeaker) after 4 The People, which was released in 2004.
Hariharan got one of the best hits in his career through Pazhassiraja.
Kaniha returned to Malayalam after the flop Ennittum with two superhits – Bagyadevatha and Pazhassiraja.
Deepan who had earlier directed the flop Leader had made a strong comeback with the superhit Puthiya Mukham
Rare Stuff
Veteran writer MT Vasudevan Nair penned scripts for two movies in 2009 – Pazhassiraja and Neelathamara
Different Attempts
Kerala Cafe directed by 10 directors and Paleri Manikyam were different and bold attempts . And they worked also. Kudos to Renjith for that.
Major Events
Mohanlal honoured with Lieutenant Colonel rank in the Territorial Army
Resul Pookkutty won the Oscar Award for Sound Mixing
Malayalam Movie Technicians sweeps National Film Awards, 2007
Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Mammootty got honorary doctorates from Kerala University
Release of Pazhassiraja – മലയാള സിനിമയിലെ താരാരാധന എത്രത്തോളം എത്തിയെന്ന് പഴശ്ശിരാജയിലൂടെ നമ്മുക്ക് കാണാന് സാധിച്ചു.
Sad Demises
Malayalam cinema lost these irreplaceable film personalities in 2009
Rajan P Dev
Murali
Lohithadas
Adoor Bavani
Conclusion
Mohanlal (Bramaram) and Mammootty(Loudspeaker and PaleriManikyam) are strong contenders for National Awards for Best Actor in 2009
This year had too many hits. This is not a common thing considering the past few years.
എല്ലാം കൊണ്ടും ഒരു സംഭവബഹുലമായ വര്ഷം ആയിരുന്നു രണ്ടായിരത്തി ഒമ്പത്. മലയാള സിനിമ ശക്തമായ ഒരു തിരിച്ചുവരവാണ് നടത്തിയിരിക്കുന്നത്. കുറേ വര്ഷങ്ങള്ക്കു ശേഷം ആണ് മലയാളം സിനിമയ്ക്കു ഇത്രയധികം ഹിറ്റുകള് ഒരു വര്ഷം കിട്ടുന്നത്.
All in all 2009 was a fantastic year for Malayalam Cinema. Is this the beginning of the next Golden Era in Malayalam movie history?
References
My own research and reviews
Inputs from my friends
Sify Movies
Indiaglitz
NowRunning
Cinebuzz
Rediff Movies
Metromatinee
ZonKerala
IMDB and Wiki
And various movie sites and forums.
http://www.arunthomaskb.com/tweets/723/2009-a-fantastic-year-for-malayalam-cinema/
No comments:
Post a Comment