Breaking regional barriers the Mollywood way

Today, a reasonably bankable actor from Kerala has the potential to expand his market beyond just south India.

Prithviraj in a still from Jana Gana Mana.

In a press conference held in Chennai to promote his larger-than-life Malayalam film Kaduva, Prithviraj Sukumaran said the future of Indian cinema is one where borders will cease to exist. Prithviraj mentioned that actors from across industries should be seen in films made in other languages if the story demanded it. The actor-filmmaker also expressed his wish to see a Malayalam film release in other languages as well, saying this is the way forward for south cinema to reach the world. That the Malayalam film industry is content oriented and its films find takers across India is a well-established fact. But what is truly the giant leap for the Malayalam film industry is the additional territories it now enjoys worldwide. This became a reality first within India with Pulimurugan starring Mohanlal. Later, Malayalam films saw new regions like Australia being added to its overseas list, with Lucifer again frontlined by Mohanlal.

Over the years, actors from Malayalam film industry, including a newbie like Tovino Thomas (whose superhero film Minnal Murali, premiered on Netflix, creating as much of a fan following as any Marvel movie character), have struck gold by walking on a steady path that was first set not by Mohanlal or Mammootty but by Prem Nazir. In the black & white era, Prem Nazir acted in several Tamil films, and made himself a “known actor” beyond the Kerala border. This slowly paved the way for Malayalam actors to create a new market for their films.

Post Prem Nazir, in the 80s, both Mammootty and Mohanlal have had their Malayalam superhits release directly in key centres in Tamil Nadu. The two big Ms made further inroads when Mammootty worked with Rajinikanth in Thalapathy and Mohanlal played the lead role in the well-crafted Iruvar, both films directed by Mani Ratnam. In time, both Mammootty and Mohanlal grew in their careers and the Malayalam film industry grew along with them. Prithviraj walked on their path with direct Tamil and Hindi releases (Mozhi, Raavanan, Aiyyaa and Aurangzeb to name a few). Fahadh Faasil had a Super Deluxe (Tamil), Pushpa (Telugu) and now Vikram (Tamil), while Dulquer Salman, apart from becoming a heartthrob with Mani Ratnam’s OK Kanmani, also gave us the hit Tamil comedy Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal.

Today, a reasonably bankable actor from Kerala has the potential to expand his market beyond just south India. A recent example is Prithviraj’s production venture Jana Gana Mana (a pan-Indian film in content and not just language), which has opened wider avenues for his films in future. When an actor is also the film’s producer, it allows them room to experiment and get into accelerated promotions, which in turn result in market expansion and new distribution partnerships for the movie. This turns out to be beneficial not just for the individual producer but the industry as a whole.

Market expansion also gives a new confidence to the actor who can now take chances on newer stories which otherwise would not have been made due to financial and market constraints. An example of this trend is Mohanlal’s directorial debut Barroz, bankrolled by his home production company Aashirvad Cinemas, which will be a global release because of the fantasy nature of the project and his pre-existing market across regions. While the story is the primary factor in making all these decisions, the fact that the top five Malayalam actors also have production houses lends them extra movie muscle.

Mammootty’s newly launched production house Mammootty Kampany is bankrolling Lijo Jose Pellichery’s poetically titled Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam. Prithviraj Productions, which Prithviraj runs along with his wife Supriya Menon, is on an upswing with tie-ups with Dharma Productions and Hombale Films. His company has recently hit a purple patch with distributing films from other language films as well. Fahadh Faasil’s Fahadh Faasil & Friends Pvt Ltd and Bhavana Studios have already doled out superhit films like Kumbalangi Nights, CU Soon and Joji. Dulquer Salman’s Wayfarer Films made an offbeat debut with Anoop Sathyan’s feel good film Varane Aavashyamundu and bankrolled Kurup, which is inspired by the life of Kerala’s most wanted criminal Sukumara Kurup.

The world is now open to regional movies from India. And Malayalam film industry, with its actors on the driving seat, is paving the way.

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