Multi-starrers,new trend in Malayalam cinema

Joshis Christian Brothers,Santhosh Sivans historical thriller Urumi,Rafi Mecartins blockbuster China Town and Shafis Makeup Man,which had Jayaram in a lead role and Jayasurya and Prithviraj in special appearances,are some of the films that drew in the audience.

While,Christian Brothers had a huge star cast ranging from superstars like Mohanlal,Suresh Gopi and Dileep to Tamil hero Sarath Kumar,Urumi,touted as the first global film from Kerala,has given the audience a chance to see a host of top actors from different languages together.

Rising superstar Prithviraj essayed the protagonist in the historical saga dealing with the arrival of Europeans to the Indian sub-continent,while Tamil actors Prabhu Deva and Arya and Bollywood actresses Genelia DSouza,Tabu and Vidya Balan,did significant roles.

China Town,which has the combination of Mohanlal,Dileep and Jayaram,is running to packed houses now. Many film personalities feel the new trend will help Mollywood regain its past glory.

It is of course a new trend in Malayalam and the result is positive so far. The audience always like to see their favourite actors together in films. Most superstars were not interested in combination movies before, said Mecartin. That may be the reason for the absence of such films in the last decade. But,the situation has changed and everyone is now willing to appear together if there is a good script and story line, he said,referring to his multi-starrer China Town.

Mecartin dismissed as baseless the popular conception that superstars are prone to ego clashes and reluctant to appear with fellow-artistes with the same ranking.

While shooting for China Town,Mohanlal,Jayaram and Dileep enjoyed the team work and helped each other to make the scenes perfect. Even after the shoot,they had fun together and hosted parties. This pointed to the deep friendship and fraternal feelings among Malayalam artistes, Mecartin said.

Malayalam-Tamil actor Jayaram,who was part of several multi-star hits,said such films are the specialty of Malayalam industry alone.

Multi-starrers are common in Malayalam cinema. I am quite sure this does not happen so easily in other languages. The only reason is,the artistes in Malayalam industry have no ego clashes or hold grudges against their co-artistes. They are not jealous about others achievements and everyone shares a healthy rapport, Jayaram said.

He rejected the criticism that multi-starrers are created just to attract fans and they lack a good storyline. I do not think people will accept films which have no proper story. In multi-starrers,we all have equal responsibility and so we will only choose movies that have a good story and script, he said.

Though popular stars acting together were common during the 1970s and 80s,the trend changed since the late 90s. Movies,in which Malayalam superstars appeared together,were very rare during that period except a few films like Fazils 1998 Harikrishnans which featured Mammootty and Mohanlal,Sibi Malayils Summer in Bethlehem 1998 and Shaji Kailass Narasimham 2000. The blockbuster Twenty Twenty 2008,a movie in which almost all Malayalam actors including superstars,heroines,character artistes,comedians and villains appeared,was the path-breaking film that brought back the multi-starrer trend in Mollywood.

This trail-blazer,produced by actor Dileep on behalf of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes,was a unique attempt in Indian cinema which surprised directors and artistes in other languages as well. Moulding characters with equal importance and the enormous production cost are major hurdles faced by filmmakers who are planning such movies.

Meanwhile,producers opine that multistarrers do well at the box-office and it is not difficult to recover the cost.

If directors and script writers pay little more attention to the script,then they can easily ensure that actors have strong roles, Mecartin said.