As the borderline lethargy set post-lunch at the Goa
Marriott Resort and Spa, several attendees, dignitaries and speakers ambled on
to a session that made up part of this year’s NFDC Film Bazaar’s Knowledge
Series. The session moderated by Vikramjit Roy, the General Manager of the
National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), tackled discourse on Cinemas of
India – Malayalam Cinema.
The members of the panel included industry bigwigs such as
Mukesh Ratilal Mehta, the Proprietor of Surya Cine Arts and e4entertainment, G
Suresh Kumar, the President of the Kerala Film Producers Association, A V
Anoop, the Managing Director of AVA Productions and Filmmaker Anil Radhakrishna
Menon; all of whom had gathered together with the objective of highlighting
just how far Malayalam cinema had come and its pitfalls.
“The biggest boost for Malayalam cinema is a lack of piracy.
I think that for this, a lot of recognition must go to the Film Producers
Association and also to the discerning viewers of these films. Even from a
viewer’s stand-point, market surveys suggest that even 100 days after films are
released, people purchase original copies of the films in question. This is
commendable and a testament to the integrity of the local industry,” says
Mukesh Ratilal Mehta.
The South-Indian industry has been perceived in the past as
cash rich, though a large part of this same perception stems from the fact that
it has, on the whole, won a fair number of National Awards over the years.
However, the last few years have seen a swing in the industry’s fortunes. Some
insiders believe that there has been a paradigm shift, with Kerala seemingly
being the only state that is consciously moving away from the multiplex boom.
With standalone theatres doing well for themselves and critically acclaimed
films doing well for themselves, the questions that need to be addressed are:
How did this sea of change come to pass? Is it caused by a new age in the
Malayalam film industry?
Dismissing the last question almost entirely, popular South
Indian Filmmaker Anil Radhakrishna Menon says, “This concept of the ‘new age’
of any cinematic area is something that I do not subscribe to, as cinema is a
beast of a constantly evolving nature. If anything, we can attribute the
sticking to of characteristic features of local cinema as something that draws
audiences.”
Addressing the major pitfall faced by local producers
however, is G Suresh Kumar, who believes that the industry as a whole is
hit-and-miss. “I have found in my experience that there is a ratio between
failure and success that may not always be even. For every successful producer,
there may be one that doesn’t even own a house. While one producer releases a
successful film, there may be several failures being shunted in the process.
This disparity, for me, has to even itself out before we can be considered
stable in terms of growth,” he says.
However, what is interesting to note is that in the drawing
of these audiences, the gate in Kerala has seen a tremendous upswing in terms
of revenue generated. “A large state like Maharashtra has seen 840 theatres
dedicated to Hindi cinema, while only 160 are retained for local cinema out of
a total of 1000 theatres. When it comes to a similar split of screens, West
Bengal has more even proportions, with 226 theatres being dedicated to Hindi
cinema and 224 for local cinema out of a total number of 450. However, Kerala
has a larger dedication to local film, with only 50 theatres being used for the
screening of Hindi films versus 300 for Malayalam out of 350 theatres in all,”
says A V Anoop.
As such, with the community helping each other from within,
one can clearly see that the dynamic, multi-layered industry is still growing,
and despite its shortcomings, has much promise for the future.
