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Gaganachari, Minnal Murali: Malayalam Cinema's Rare Genre Experiments

Ahead of the release of Saiju Sreedharan’s <em>Footage</em> this year, <strong>Neelima Menon</strong> looks at some off-beat Malayalam films that explored diverse cinematic genres — from mockumentary to superhero flicks.

Neelima+Menon

Aug 09, 2024

The promo poster for Saiju Sreedharan's Footage

THE FIRST-FOUND footage film The Connection (1961), directed by Shirley Clarke revolved around a bunch of junkie jazz musicians cramped in a shady apartment, waiting for their heroin supply. A groundbreaking depiction of drug addiction, it was considered one of the most influential works of the American independent film movement. As a cinematic technique, it is an immersive style that gives the impression that the events on screen are real and “accidentally” captured. It gives the audience a sense of authenticity and immediacy, blurring the line between fiction and reality. Found footage is mostly associated with horror but LSD: Love, Sex Aur Dhokha the first Indian film in the genre was about three stories entwined, dealing with honour killing, sting deals, and MMS scandal. Though the first Malayalam film in found footage is credited to Vazhiye, directed by Nirmal Baby Varghese, which pivots around two Vloggers who document a mystery land and the perils they encounter in that journey, it didn’t get a theatre release (now available on Amazon Prime). So one can safely say that Saiju Sreedharan’s Footage is the first theatre release in this genre. Headlining Manju, the film chronicles the life of a young couple who shoots intriguing occurrences in their apartment building during the pandemic. We took this opportunity to dig up such rarely explored genres in Malayalam cinema.

Gaganachari (Dystopian universe):

Arun Chandu’s film is set in an ecologically wrecked Kerala of the 2040s. Petrol prices have hit the roof, the ecosystem is in shambles, aliens are on the streets and beef has been banned. Three men come equipped with idiosyncrasies at the core—one is a petrolhead-turned-national hero (Ganesh Kumar), who gets his routine programmed by a local Alexa, Alan (Gokul Suresh), a voice artist obsessed with cult Malayalam films and is unhappy about remaining single and Vaibhav (Aju Varghese), ex-social media influencer who lost his job owing to internet shutdown. A female alien’s (Anarkali Marakkar) entry to their home further perks up the narrative. The writing is cheeky, defiantly mocking society, gender dynamics, norms, socialism, politics of food, religion, digitalization, and relationships. The setting also accedes to the dystopian world, including the vibrant hues, props, sartorial sense, and imaginative cinematography. Performances of course amplify the writing. It’s a satirical glimpse into a universe that seems highly probable.

Kili Poyi (Stoner):

They are subgenres of comedy, lacing their themes with marijuana, which often drives the plot forward. Two young men tired of their abusive boss decide to go to Goa, only to find themselves in hilarious mess-ups. It’s dazed, fun, irreverent, and casually captures male bonding. The characters never stay beyond the cheeky undertones of humour, and the comedy of errors really ties the movie together. The women are either objectified or scorned, as they mostly fit into stereotypes. Asif Ali and Aju Varghese are the perfect peas-in-a-pod here, being equal parts annoying and woozy. The film, directed by Vinay Govind and released in 2013, didn’t tickle their targeted audience - the youth. But do they crack you in repeating watches? Not really.

Double Barrel (Gangster parody):

A wild goose chase for a set of precious stones by a slew of gangsters leads to a ridiculous stream of events, that has silly, loud characters that defy logic, unfolding in quick succession. The wafer-thin plotting (the only script written by Lijo) is so convoluted and clueless that despite the spectacular staging, outlandish makeovers, terrain, and music we seem to have lost our way very early on in the film. The jokes don’t land, the quirky, mindless action stunts start to get tiring after a point and despite being packed with a host of popular actors, Lijo Jose Pellisery’s Double Barrel doesn’t quite crack the entertainment factor.

Aavasavyuham (Mockumentary, ecological fantasy):

The Arbit Documentation of an Amphibian Hunt explores the surreal cohabitation of humans and animals in an ecosystem that is gradually corroding. Directed by Krishand, at the core you have a pure and compassionate young man who shares a cosmic bond with the amphibians and sea creatures. Joy’s unusual relationship with the ecology system is permeated with tongue-in-cheek footage where characters behave as subjects of a performative documentary and narrate their experience with him. The writing is packed with satire and takes dry digs at the media, religion, social media, police, and society.

Mukundan Unni Associates (Film noir):

Editor-director Abhinav Sunder Nayak in his debut puts a ruthless young aspiring lawyer at the core to unleash a tale in which the evil triumphs. Mukundan Unni (Vineeth Sreenivasan), with his deceptively calm exterior, takes time to unravel before you, as he calmly gets down to the business of routing every single threat that stands in his goals. Nayak uses Vineeth’s soft voiceover as a narrative tool to calibrate his inner savageness. And though the morally dodgy closure can be flustering, Nayak is merely using an existential idea to drive his narrative forward, debunking the romanticized good-versus-evil debate, putting across the reality that a lot of evil people do live happily ever after. The humour is on point and yet the protagonist never fails to make us uneasy.

Thazhvaram (Spaghetti Western):

Set in the backdrop of a remote village, the film designed as a spaghetti Western starts to untie with the entry of Balan (Mohanlal) who is in pursuit of his nemesis, his old friend who murdered his wife for money. He reaches a home frequented by Raju (Salim Ghouse) and slowly builds their trust, patiently waiting for his bait to arrive. A narrative bubbling with vengeance, confrontation, corruption, violence, and betrayal, the barren, dusty terrain catalyzes the men, rugged and bruised, to bear their fangs and fight to stay alive. The slow, tense background score builds up the heat, and the colour tone is evocative of impending doom. A terrific slow burner by Bharathan, written by the legendary MT Vasudevan Nair.

Chirakodinja Kinavukal (Spoof):

Director Santosh Viswanath picks up a comical thread from a Sreenivasan-scripted film, Azhakiya Raavanan to create Malayalam cinema’s first-ever spoof film. The ludicrous story that Sreenivasan’s Ambujakshan narrates to Sankar Das (Mammootty) gets a hilarious spin. The romance between Sumathi (Rima Kallingal cutely over-the-top) and the tailor (Kunchacko Boban in hilarious triple roles) is embellished with melodrama and humour, mercilessly pokes fun at popular films and characters as well as mega serials. The gags are relentless, with never a dull moment. And not for a moment are you buying any of them. Meanwhile, Sreenivasan reappears as Ambujakshan to add just the right amount of levity to the narrative.

CU Soon (Screenlife movie):

Director Mahesh Narayan uses a genre that reflects our growing dependence on digital technology and our short attention span, to narrate a dense human trafficking tale. Written and edited by Mahesh, the film takes place entirely on a computer screen and begins as a casual Tinder romance between Abu Dhabi-based Jimmy and Dubai-settled Anumol. As the gadget-relied romance blossoms, the story takes an ugly turn when Anumol’s heartbreaking truth comes out. Enter techie Kevin (Fahadh Faasil) who practically lives in the virtual world, and he agrees to help Jimmy in sorting out the mess. Despite the virtual existence of all the characters, they wrench you with their complexities and vulnerabilities. Skillfully written screenplay and terrific performances ensured that this genre was on point.

Minnal Murali (Superhero):

At a time when Marvel and DC fans were fighting over their favourite heroes, came a local hero from a fictional Malayali village set in the 90s. Jason (Tovino Thomas), like Clark Kent, has a day job. He is a tailor who wishes to migrate to the US. He seems to be an unlikely candidate to wear the cape but then when a sudden attack of lightning renders him with superhero powers, Jason starts to gain credibility as an empathetic superhero. Basil Joseph smartly imbibes the superhero elements without diluting the authenticity of the character or milieu. And then he also creates an anti-hero that same night, a wastrel (Guru Somasundaram) who is struck by lightning and carries superhero powers. What follows is the triumph of good over evil, though it is more a realistic, fun narrative than a rousing superhero film. That Basil manages to make Minnal Murali so authentic despite the risk of duplicating such a popular genre makes it worth your time.