The History Of Malayalam Cinema

an exhibition


A film festival is not just an occasion to view films, but also one to remember and bring to life the past of cinema. This is exactly what the retrospective and homage sections do in a film festival. As an attempt in a similar direction, as part of the IFFK 2008, the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC) and the Kerala State Chalachithra Accademy (KSCA) had jointly organized an exhibition of photographs on the history of Malayalam cinema. The exhibition was inaugurated on the 13th of December by the eminent Indian film director and jury member of IFFK, Dr. Jabbar Patel, at the Kanakakunnu Palace in Thiruvananthapuram.

The exhibition displayed memorable images of stars and celebrities, photo stills from landmark films, shooting stills, and the albums of events from the past IFFKs, providing us glimpses into the history of Malayalam cinema and IFFK. There were also exhibits describing the timeline that maps the long and colorful journey of Malayalam cinema. In addition, also on display were some of the earliest pieces of equipment used in filmmaking, like the old 10 KB lights that were used in studio floors, a 16mm camera, the once very popular Mitchell camera (the one that was used in the making of the Malayalam blockbuster of all times – Chemmeen), a slide projector, a Moviola editing device, and so on.

The arrangement of photographs took the viewer on a journey through history, one that begins from black-and-white images and progresses to the colorful images of the near present. It was a nostalgic trip through the various facets of Malayalam cinema that also captured those great narrative moments through the luminous expressions of great actors. For the admirers of Adoor Gopalakrishnan, there were some impressive working stills from his sets.

Undoubtedly, putting up such an exhibition was a very good way to familiarize cineastes with Malayalam film history, especially on the occasion of the film festival. But unfortunately, the way it was organized left much to be desired.
Though more than 50,000 pictures were on display, the majority were from the festival albums of previous years. One would have expected more and more varied images from different spheres of Malayalam cinema. Another shortcoming is the lack of bilingual captions. Even in cases where they were provided, the information given was sparse, typically just the year, the title of the film and its director. A few captions also mentioned the names of the actors. More detailed captions would have been of great benefit to film lovers and students of Malayalam cinema, and even for the general film viewer. Even the exhibits dealing with the various achievements of Malayalam cinema were written only in Malayalam.

Another drawback was the remoteness of the venue of exhibition from the theatres where the festival films were screened. This could have been one reason for the low turnout of visitors to the show.

Despite all these shortcomings, the exhibit was a significant attempt and something to be pursued and expanded in the coming years.

Rohini Kumar© FIPRESCI 2008