2023: A Year Of Disappointments For The Malayalam Film Lover

2023 was (to put it mildly) a middling year for Malayalam cinema. Ironically this was also the year that churned a whopping number of films — roughly 250! The same OTT that helped Malayalam cinema get a pan-India audience had revived their plans. They were only buying films that had a good theatre run. That also resulted in a lot of surplus films eyeing the OTT space that unfortunately incurred major losses at the theatres. 

The Malayali theatre audience, which largely included those who belonged to the 20-30 age group, meanwhile revelled in the larger-than-life potboilers coming in from other film industries. 

That is not to say that 2023 wasn’t quite without its highs — there were surprising blockbusters, revolutionary themes, and an influx of a talented bunch of writers and directors. But mostly the year was writ large with disappointments as far as a Malayalam film lover is concerned.

King of Kotha: It was touted to be the film of the year, that promised to propel Dulquer Salmaan into heights of superstardom. Directed by veteran filmmaker Joshiy’s son Abhilash Joshiy, the film was seen as the second-generation reunion of a once iconic director-actor pair (Joshiy-Mammootty). With a budget of 50 crores, it had quite an ensemble of actors and was set in a '90s fictional town. 

Produced by Dulquer’s Wayfarer Films and Zee Studio, the film was simultaneously dubbed (Dulquer himself dubbed in all languages) and released in four languages. They had an extensive marketing plan charted out that included collaborating with social media influencers. The team appeared on reality shows, at malls and public events, and gave interviews to every possible digital and television platform. 

But then the film turned out to be a poorly written and staged extravaganza that was widely panned on social media. Even an in-form Dulquer Salmaan couldn’t save the film from collapsing at the box office. Its fate was even more merciless after its OTT release with the audience creating memes out of every scene in the film. In short Dulquer’s tryst with superstardom required a better film.

Out-of-form Manju Warrier: If 2022 year had been bleak for the actor, 2023 was no different. She had three releases, two in Malayalam (Aysha, Vellari Pattanam) and a blink-and-you-will-miss-me role in Ajith’s Thunivu. She was there in every frame in Ayisha, an autobiography on Nilambur Ayisha, but the banal making and writing takes its toll on the narrative. While Vellari Pattanam was a misfire from the word go — a lowbrow political satire with haphazard characters and hackneyed writing — Warrier and Soubin Shahir turned out to be the prime fatalities.  And Warrier never looked the part from the start with her fringe and made-up exterior. Even her comic timing was frightfully off. Going forward, here’s hoping that she makes judicious choices than insisting on being in every frame in a film.

Can the real Nivin Pauly please stand up? Nivin’s poor run at the box office continued with Rajeev Ravi’s Thuramukham and Haneef Adeni’s Ramachandra Boss & Co. Mattanchery Moidu in Thuramukham was an opportunistic cad who allies with his oppressors. He also has a roving eye for Umani, and the actor is especially superb during those grey turns. But the film (release delayed several times) unfortunately didn’t make any waves at the box office. The boss had a different set of issues altogether. Meaningless writing and shallow characters were a clear indication that Nivin hadn’t learned any lessons after the Micheal debacle. This coming close on the heels of a disaster like Saturday Night added to the actor’s weakening filmography.

Rajisha Vijayan: She had four releases this year. Even the only box office hit, Madhura Manohara Moham, was as middling as the rest. And Rajisha failed to add any fresh distinctions to her characters. Why I am picking Rajisha here is out of sheer disappointment, especially after the potential she showed in her debut film, Anuraga Karikkin Vellam. She followed it up in June, Finals and Stand up, but after Love, her graph as an actor, despite starring in a wide repertoire of films has been on the decline. Not only is her choice of films baffling but the actor is also unable to add anything to what she previously brought to the table.

Asif Ali:  This year the actor decided to systematically undo all the good things he did in 2022. There is no other plausible explanation for Asif’s dreadful lineup in 2023. Four (Maheshum Maruthiyum, Kasargold, Otta, A Ranjith Cinema) out of five were strong contenders for the Golden Raspberry Awards. Even in the lone 2018, his performance was the weakest as he persisted with his peevish expressions that are almost an Asif Ali staple of late.

When the old guard couldn’t (once again) rise to the occasion: If Shaji Kailas tried to salvage his flagging career with a Kaduva last year, this time he wrecked it all over again with Alone, headlining Mohanlal. A film made in the backdrop of the pandemic featuring only one principal actor, it was depleted by superficial dialogues and Mohanlal’s hamming. Neither the theatre nor the OTT audiences spared the film. Last year Joshiy was out-of-depth while making sense of the scattered writing in Pappan but this year, with Antony he flounders to add originality to a hackneyed story. In Corona Papers, Priyadarshan attempted an action thriller with Shane Nigam and Shine Tom Chacko that struggled to keep us engaged, along with a set of cliched representations.

Chaver, Neelavelicham, Padmini: Helmed by directors who have a reputation that precedes them, unfortunately, all three fell flat. If Tinu Pappachan’s Chaver was a stunningly shot, superficially written narrative, Aashiq Abu’s Neelavelicham despite its technical proficiency stumbled when it came to the execution and casting, thereby producing a poor copy of Bhargavi Nilayam. After the superb social satire Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam it was disheartening to watch a half-baked, messy offering from Senna Hedge. It was neither equipped with Hegde’s distinct humour nor had anything original to offer by way of characters.