Malayalam cinema, which scaled heights of glory ahead of
its South Indian cousins, has been down in the dumps for some time,
leading to animated discussions on ways to overcome the crisis that has
gripped it. Against this background, the appearance of C.S.
Venkiteswaran's writings, which appeared in various periodicals in the
recent past, in book form, is timely.
Malayalam
films made an early impact with realistic handling of social issues and
popular resistance. Venkiteswaran, a perspective observer and critic,
attributes the change in the character of cinema, which began in the
1970s, to factors such as breakup of the joint family and introduction
of land reforms. The problems of the individual, especially conflicts
within, now came to the fore. Commercial aspects of the cinema also
gained prominence at this stage.
Later television
arrived and cinema retreated to sex and comedy. Now, he says, instead of
facing the challenge squarely and moving to a new phase, it is seeking
shelter behind fading stars and trotting out excuses like lack of good
scripts.
He warns the industry that if it does not
address the problem of lack of professionalism, it will be relegated to a
ghetto in this age of globalisation.
Besides
informative articles on subjects like parallel cinema, Third World
cinema, the film society movement and the state of film criticism, the
volume includes assessments of noted film makers John Abraham and P. N.
Menon and landmark films ‘Neelakkuyil' and ‘Nirmalyam.'
The book is profusely illustrated but the pictures are poorly reproduced.
MALAYALA CINEMA PADANANGAL: By C. S. Venkiteswaran, DC Books, Kottayam 686001, Rs. 125.
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