Angel John team is organizing a welcoming party to Honorary Lieutenant Colonel MohanLal tomorrow.
Venue. UDAYOGAMANDAL CLUB, Cochin, Kerala
Time: 9.30
NEW DELHI: Film actor Mohanlal on Thursday was formally inducted into the Territorial Army and granted the rank of Honorary Lieutenant Colonel. Chief of the Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor formally piped Mr. Mohanlal at a function at the Army headquarters.
Lt. Col. (Hony) Mohanlal, who has been in the film industry for over three decades, has won many accolades, including four national awards. He has also been awarded Padma Shri.
He will be affiliated with the Kerala based 122 Infantry battalion (Territorial Army) Madras (Kannur Terriers). He is the second recent high-profile personality after Kapil Dev to don the Territorial Army uniform, a Defence Ministry release said.
Lt. Col. Mohanlal said: “it is truly a proud moment for me to have been granted an honorary rank during the Diamond Jubilee year of the Territorial Army. I will try to serve the Territorial Army to the best of my ability in my newly assigned role. Like others in our country, I pride the armed forces and it is dream come true that I can now serve shoulder to shoulder with our Officers/ JCOs (Junior Commissioned Officers) and men.”
After winning the award Angel John is the first movie he is going to act. The whole team is arranging a welcoming party and the scene that he should be acting tomorrow will be an Honorary Lieutenant Colonel. By coincident both came at a same time. The whole team is so excited to welcome the great artist and Honorary Lieutenant Colonel Mohan Lal, We are so happy that we got a golden chance to welcome him, Director Jayasoorya Said to Cinemalayalam.
Pictures will be uploaded tomorrow.
Welcoming party to Honorary Lieutenant Colonel MohanLal tomorrow.
July 10, 2009, 10:31 amDubai pays tribute to V. Dakshinamoorthi
October 18, 2008, 6:31 am
Dubai, Oct 18 It was an evening of entertainment with a cause when expatriate Malayalis packed an auditorium here to pay tribute to the living legend of south Indian music, V. Dakshinamoorthi, who has created music for over 125 films.
'Hridayasarassile' (In the Heart), organised by Kalabhavan Dubai, saw some of the best singers of the Malayalam film industry performing in front of a 1,650-strong crowd in the Sheikh Rashid Auditorium here Friday night.
The event, organised as a charity to collect donations for the Cochin Cancer Society (CCS), had top artistes from the Malayalam music industry like P. Suseela, P. Jayachandran, Vijay Yesudas, Madhu Balakrishnan and Shwetha Mohan perform some of Dakshinamoorthi's best numbers.
The evening started with Dakshinamoorthi invoking god's blessings by saying that music is one form of worshipping god.
The 89-year-old doyen then sang the evening's title song "Hridayasarassile", with Vijay Yesudas, son of acclaimed singer K.J. Yesudas.
Dakshinamoorthi's works now span three generations of music lovers as he had composed music for Vijay Yesudas's father as well as grandfather K.J. Augustine.
Well-known Malayalam lyricist Sreekumaran Thampi, who was also present on the occasion, recounted his long association with Dakshinamoorthi.
As the evening progressed, Susheela, who described Dakshinamoorthi as her 'appa' (father), Jayachandran, Vijay, Balakrishnan and Shwetha sang some of the musician's evergreen numbers before an audience listening with rapt attention.
Vijay and Swetha, who had won a Kerala state award last year for their song "Kolakuzhal" in the film "Nivedayam", also sang a couple of duets.
Surjith Girish
Vaikom
'Hridayasarassile' (In the Heart), organised by Kalabhavan Dubai, saw some of the best singers of the Malayalam film industry performing in front of a 1,650-strong crowd in the Sheikh Rashid Auditorium here Friday night.
The event, organised as a charity to collect donations for the Cochin Cancer Society (CCS), had top artistes from the Malayalam music industry like P. Suseela, P. Jayachandran, Vijay Yesudas, Madhu Balakrishnan and Shwetha Mohan perform some of Dakshinamoorthi's best numbers.
The evening started with Dakshinamoorthi invoking god's blessings by saying that music is one form of worshipping god.
The 89-year-old doyen then sang the evening's title song "Hridayasarassile", with Vijay Yesudas, son of acclaimed singer K.J. Yesudas.
Dakshinamoorthi's works now span three generations of music lovers as he had composed music for Vijay Yesudas's father as well as grandfather K.J. Augustine.
Well-known Malayalam lyricist Sreekumaran Thampi, who was also present on the occasion, recounted his long association with Dakshinamoorthi.
As the evening progressed, Susheela, who described Dakshinamoorthi as her 'appa' (father), Jayachandran, Vijay, Balakrishnan and Shwetha sang some of the musician's evergreen numbers before an audience listening with rapt attention.
Vijay and Swetha, who had won a Kerala state award last year for their song "Kolakuzhal" in the film "Nivedayam", also sang a couple of duets.
Surjith Girish
Vaikom
Ilayaraja again in 'Manikantan'
August 4, 2008, 6:31 am
Music maestro Ilayaraja has been always exceptional when ever he took time to give music to Malayalam films.
His innumerable number of hits in Malayalam had been the favorites of many in the industry. After the recent success of ‘Innathe Chintha Vishayam', Ilayaraja will once again give music to another Mollywood flick 'Manikantan'.
An animation film based on the legend of Lord Ayyappa, the movie will be made simultaneously in Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu.
Ilayaraja will give tunes to six songs for each version. The recording of the songs for the film was held at Mumbai recently.
Surjith Girish :icon_question:
His innumerable number of hits in Malayalam had been the favorites of many in the industry. After the recent success of ‘Innathe Chintha Vishayam', Ilayaraja will once again give music to another Mollywood flick 'Manikantan'.
An animation film based on the legend of Lord Ayyappa, the movie will be made simultaneously in Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu.
Ilayaraja will give tunes to six songs for each version. The recording of the songs for the film was held at Mumbai recently.
Surjith Girish :icon_question:
The History of Malayalam Cinema
November 18, 2006, 7:57 pm
The history of Indian Cinema began at the early part of the twentieth century. Malayalam cinema had to wait a few more decades to get its first film. The first feature film in Malayalam ‘Vigathakumaran’ was released in 1928. Produced and directed by the Chennai returned business man J.C.Daniel, who himself handled the role of the protagonist, the film stood apart with a social theme while mythological films ruled the film arena all over India.
Kerala had to wait another five years to get its next film, but only to be shelved after a few exhibitions due to a legal entanglement. ‘Marthandavarma’ based on the famous novel by C.V. Raman Pillai was produced by Sunderraj, a historical silent film, would have had a great impact on the cinema of South India if it had not met with legal confrontation.
The first Malayalam cinema with a sound track was released in 1938. The film ‘Balan’ produced by R.Sundaram and directed by Notani was a melodrama with more Tamil influence than Malayalam. Following the commercial success of ‘Balan’, more films like ‘Jnambika’(1940) and ‘Prahlada’(1941) came out to the theatres. P.J.Cheriyan’s ‘Nirmala’ (1948) was the first film to explore the possibility of music and songs in cinema. The lyrics of the film penned by the legendary Malayalam poet G.Shankara Kurup became so popular that song-dance sequences became essential ingredients of Malayalam cinema.
‘Jeevithanouka’ (1951) a melodramatic musical could be considered as the first ‘super-hit’ film with the first Malayalam ‘super-star’, Thikkurishi Sukumaran Nair. The success formula of ‘Jeevithanouka’ was repeated for many films to come out after that till the path breaking film ‘Neelakuyil’ saw the light.
‘Neelakuyil’ (1954) broke away from the Tamil – Hindi influence of Malayalam cinema and had an authentic story penned by renowned writer Uroob. Directed by the duo of P.Bhaskaran and Ramu Karyat, the film dealt with the story of untouchables prevailed in the society. This also was the first Malayalam film shot outdoors and also the first film to be recognised in the National level.
The next year saw yet another novel venture in Malayalam cinema. A group of students, influenced by the wave of neo-realism in the West, ventured out to produce the film ‘Newspaper Boy’, directed by P.Ramadas. The film which came out even before Satyajit Ray’s ‘Pather Panchali’, dealt with the issue of poverty.
The first full-length colour film of Malayalam came out in 1960, ‘Kandam Bacha Coat’, which otherwise was a film of no much relevance.
‘Chemmeen’ (1965) directed by Ramu Karyat was the first South Indian film to bag the President's Golden Lotus Award for the best film. Based on the famous novel by renowned Malayalam writer Takazhi Shivashanakara Pillai, ‘Chemmeen’ pioneered the growth of Malayalam cinema in technical and artistic aspects. It brought together some of the best technical talents then available in India, Salil Chowdhari (music), Markes Burtly (cinematography) and Hrishikesh Mukhargee (editing). It also had a huge star cast.
Some of the films like P.N.Menon’s ‘Oolavum Theeravum’ (1969) announced the arrival of a great movement, which changed the face of Malayalam cinema during the early 1970s.
The early 1970s witnessed a radical change in the perspective towards cinema by filmmakers as well as film viewers of Kerala. The beginning of film society movement resulted in the exposure to world classics, which helped a group of young filmmakers realise the uniqueness of the language of this medium, which till then was in the clutches of the forms used for stage dramas. Influenced by the French and Italian New Wave, as elsewhere in India, the Malayalam New Wave was born. The arrival of young filmmakers from the newly constituted Film Institute in Pune acted as a catalyst for this radical change.
Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s ‘Swayamvaram’ (1972) unplugged a stream of extraordinary films, often termed as ‘Parallel Cinema’, by film institute trained and self-taught young directors, which surpassed the superficiality of mere story telling and made maximum use of the possibilities cinema as a medium. Through ‘Uttarayanam’ (1974) G.Aravindan joined this movement followed by directors like P.A.Backer with ‘Kabani Nadi Chuvannappol’ (1975), K.P.Kumaran with ‘Athithi’ (1975) and K.R.Mohanan with ‘Ashwathama’ (1978). Renowned writer M.T.Vasudevan Nair made his directorial debut with ‘Nirmalyam’ (1973), which won the Golden lotus award, during this period. Padmarajan and K.G.George who later became the proponents of the stream of cinema often termed ‘Middle Cinema’ too made their debuts in 1979 with their films ‘Swapnadanam’ and ‘Peruvazhiyambalam’ respectively.
Even though the Parallel Cinema movement had a slow down during 1980s, some of the best films of Malayalam cinema from directors like Adoor and Aravindan came out during this period. Shaji.N.Karun’s ‘Piravi’ (1988) created stir in the International Film Festival circuits and refreshed the Malayali film sensibility. The major development during this decade was the growth of another stream of Malayalam cinema, the ‘Middle Cinema’, which fused the artistic qualities of ‘Parallel Cinema’ and the popular form of the commercial Malayalam cinema. This resulted in the birth of a number of films with down to earth stories, but with most of them becoming commercial successes. K.G.George with his films ‘Kolangal’ (1980), ‘Yavanika’ (1982), ‘Lekhayude Maranam Oru Flashback’ (1983), ‘Adaminte Variyellu’ (1983) and ‘Irakal’ (1985), P.Padmarajan with his films like ‘Oridathoru Phayalwan’ (1981), Koodevide? (1983), ‘Namakku Parkan Munthiri Thoppukal’ (1986), ‘Moonnampakkam’ (1988) and ‘Aparan’ (1988), Bharathan with ‘Lorry’ (1980), ‘Marmaram’ (1982) and ‘Ormakkayi’ (1982), Mohan with ‘Vidaparayum Munpe’ (1981), Lenin Rajendran with ‘Chillu’ (1982) and ‘Meenamasathile Sooryan’ (1985), Pavithran with ‘Uppu’ (1986) and K.S.Sethumadhavan with ‘Oppol’ (1980) all were strong presence in Malayalam cinema during the 80s.
Barring films from Adoor, Aravindan and Shaji 1990s didn’t see much good films. Murali Nair’s film ‘Maranasimhasanam’ (1999) was an exception. T.V.Chandran who started with ‘Alicinte Anveshanam’ (1989) too continued with his films like ‘Ponthan Mada’ (1993) ‘Ormakalundayirikanam’ (1995) and ‘Mankamma’ (1997). The commercial cinema came out with films cut-off from the real Kerala society and larger than human chauvinist characters. Soft porno films too flooded the theatres, which won huge commercial gains.
The new millennium too didn’t had much to offer to Malayalam cinema, though some works like Sarath’s ‘Sayahnam’ (2000) and ‘Stithi’ (2002), Satish Menon’s ‘Bhavam’ (2002), Rajiv Vijayaraghavan’s ‘Margam’ (2003), T V Chandran’s ‘Susannah’ (2001), ‘Danny’ (2001), ‘Padam Onnu Oru Vilapam’ (2003) and ‘Kathavasheshan’ (2004), Adoor’s ‘Nizhalkkuthu’ (2004) and Pradip Nair’s ‘Oridam’ (2005) came out during this period.
Kerala had to wait another five years to get its next film, but only to be shelved after a few exhibitions due to a legal entanglement. ‘Marthandavarma’ based on the famous novel by C.V. Raman Pillai was produced by Sunderraj, a historical silent film, would have had a great impact on the cinema of South India if it had not met with legal confrontation.
The first Malayalam cinema with a sound track was released in 1938. The film ‘Balan’ produced by R.Sundaram and directed by Notani was a melodrama with more Tamil influence than Malayalam. Following the commercial success of ‘Balan’, more films like ‘Jnambika’(1940) and ‘Prahlada’(1941) came out to the theatres. P.J.Cheriyan’s ‘Nirmala’ (1948) was the first film to explore the possibility of music and songs in cinema. The lyrics of the film penned by the legendary Malayalam poet G.Shankara Kurup became so popular that song-dance sequences became essential ingredients of Malayalam cinema.
‘Jeevithanouka’ (1951) a melodramatic musical could be considered as the first ‘super-hit’ film with the first Malayalam ‘super-star’, Thikkurishi Sukumaran Nair. The success formula of ‘Jeevithanouka’ was repeated for many films to come out after that till the path breaking film ‘Neelakuyil’ saw the light.
‘Neelakuyil’ (1954) broke away from the Tamil – Hindi influence of Malayalam cinema and had an authentic story penned by renowned writer Uroob. Directed by the duo of P.Bhaskaran and Ramu Karyat, the film dealt with the story of untouchables prevailed in the society. This also was the first Malayalam film shot outdoors and also the first film to be recognised in the National level.
The next year saw yet another novel venture in Malayalam cinema. A group of students, influenced by the wave of neo-realism in the West, ventured out to produce the film ‘Newspaper Boy’, directed by P.Ramadas. The film which came out even before Satyajit Ray’s ‘Pather Panchali’, dealt with the issue of poverty.
The first full-length colour film of Malayalam came out in 1960, ‘Kandam Bacha Coat’, which otherwise was a film of no much relevance.
‘Chemmeen’ (1965) directed by Ramu Karyat was the first South Indian film to bag the President's Golden Lotus Award for the best film. Based on the famous novel by renowned Malayalam writer Takazhi Shivashanakara Pillai, ‘Chemmeen’ pioneered the growth of Malayalam cinema in technical and artistic aspects. It brought together some of the best technical talents then available in India, Salil Chowdhari (music), Markes Burtly (cinematography) and Hrishikesh Mukhargee (editing). It also had a huge star cast.
Some of the films like P.N.Menon’s ‘Oolavum Theeravum’ (1969) announced the arrival of a great movement, which changed the face of Malayalam cinema during the early 1970s.
The early 1970s witnessed a radical change in the perspective towards cinema by filmmakers as well as film viewers of Kerala. The beginning of film society movement resulted in the exposure to world classics, which helped a group of young filmmakers realise the uniqueness of the language of this medium, which till then was in the clutches of the forms used for stage dramas. Influenced by the French and Italian New Wave, as elsewhere in India, the Malayalam New Wave was born. The arrival of young filmmakers from the newly constituted Film Institute in Pune acted as a catalyst for this radical change.
Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s ‘Swayamvaram’ (1972) unplugged a stream of extraordinary films, often termed as ‘Parallel Cinema’, by film institute trained and self-taught young directors, which surpassed the superficiality of mere story telling and made maximum use of the possibilities cinema as a medium. Through ‘Uttarayanam’ (1974) G.Aravindan joined this movement followed by directors like P.A.Backer with ‘Kabani Nadi Chuvannappol’ (1975), K.P.Kumaran with ‘Athithi’ (1975) and K.R.Mohanan with ‘Ashwathama’ (1978). Renowned writer M.T.Vasudevan Nair made his directorial debut with ‘Nirmalyam’ (1973), which won the Golden lotus award, during this period. Padmarajan and K.G.George who later became the proponents of the stream of cinema often termed ‘Middle Cinema’ too made their debuts in 1979 with their films ‘Swapnadanam’ and ‘Peruvazhiyambalam’ respectively.
Even though the Parallel Cinema movement had a slow down during 1980s, some of the best films of Malayalam cinema from directors like Adoor and Aravindan came out during this period. Shaji.N.Karun’s ‘Piravi’ (1988) created stir in the International Film Festival circuits and refreshed the Malayali film sensibility. The major development during this decade was the growth of another stream of Malayalam cinema, the ‘Middle Cinema’, which fused the artistic qualities of ‘Parallel Cinema’ and the popular form of the commercial Malayalam cinema. This resulted in the birth of a number of films with down to earth stories, but with most of them becoming commercial successes. K.G.George with his films ‘Kolangal’ (1980), ‘Yavanika’ (1982), ‘Lekhayude Maranam Oru Flashback’ (1983), ‘Adaminte Variyellu’ (1983) and ‘Irakal’ (1985), P.Padmarajan with his films like ‘Oridathoru Phayalwan’ (1981), Koodevide? (1983), ‘Namakku Parkan Munthiri Thoppukal’ (1986), ‘Moonnampakkam’ (1988) and ‘Aparan’ (1988), Bharathan with ‘Lorry’ (1980), ‘Marmaram’ (1982) and ‘Ormakkayi’ (1982), Mohan with ‘Vidaparayum Munpe’ (1981), Lenin Rajendran with ‘Chillu’ (1982) and ‘Meenamasathile Sooryan’ (1985), Pavithran with ‘Uppu’ (1986) and K.S.Sethumadhavan with ‘Oppol’ (1980) all were strong presence in Malayalam cinema during the 80s.
Barring films from Adoor, Aravindan and Shaji 1990s didn’t see much good films. Murali Nair’s film ‘Maranasimhasanam’ (1999) was an exception. T.V.Chandran who started with ‘Alicinte Anveshanam’ (1989) too continued with his films like ‘Ponthan Mada’ (1993) ‘Ormakalundayirikanam’ (1995) and ‘Mankamma’ (1997). The commercial cinema came out with films cut-off from the real Kerala society and larger than human chauvinist characters. Soft porno films too flooded the theatres, which won huge commercial gains.
The new millennium too didn’t had much to offer to Malayalam cinema, though some works like Sarath’s ‘Sayahnam’ (2000) and ‘Stithi’ (2002), Satish Menon’s ‘Bhavam’ (2002), Rajiv Vijayaraghavan’s ‘Margam’ (2003), T V Chandran’s ‘Susannah’ (2001), ‘Danny’ (2001), ‘Padam Onnu Oru Vilapam’ (2003) and ‘Kathavasheshan’ (2004), Adoor’s ‘Nizhalkkuthu’ (2004) and Pradip Nair’s ‘Oridam’ (2005) came out during this period.
National Film Award winning books
September 7, 2006, 5:20 am
Winners for the The National Film Award (Golden Lotus Award) for Books on Cinema, in Malayalam
1999
Malayala Cinemayum Sahithyavum
Madhu Eravankara
1995
Abhinayam Anubhavam
Bharat Gopi
1992
Athmanindayude Pookal
Dr. Aravindan Vallchira
1990
Cinema, Kannakkum Kavithayum
Sreekumaran Thampi
1988
Kazhchayude Assanthi
Dr. V. Rajakrishnan
1984
Cinemayude Lokam
Adoor Gopalakrishnan
1982
Chalachitra Sameeksha
Vijaya Krishanan
1999
Malayala Cinemayum Sahithyavum
Madhu Eravankara
1995
Abhinayam Anubhavam
Bharat Gopi
1992
Athmanindayude Pookal
Dr. Aravindan Vallchira
1990
Cinema, Kannakkum Kavithayum
Sreekumaran Thampi
1988
Kazhchayude Assanthi
Dr. V. Rajakrishnan
1984
Cinemayude Lokam
Adoor Gopalakrishnan
1982
Chalachitra Sameeksha
Vijaya Krishanan
Malayalam cinema, an overview
September 7, 2006, 4:32 amThe beginning
If we look back, Malayalam cinema has come a long way from VigathaKumaran (1928) which was the first ever Malayalam movie. VigathaKumaran marked the beginning of the silent era of the Cinema industry. It was produced and directed by a businessman, J. C. Daniel who was a fresher and had no previous film experience. Sadly, the film was a commercial failure.
J.C.DanielThe 70's boom
The 70s saw the emergence of a new wave of cinema in Malayalam. The growth of film society movement in Kerala introduced the works of the French and Italian New Wave directors to the discerning Malayali film enthusiasts. Adoor Gopalakrishnan's first film Swayamvaram (1972) brought Malayalam cinema to the International film arena. In 1973 M. T. Vasudevan Nair who was by then recognized as an important author in Malayalam, directed his first film Nirmalyam, which won the President's Gold Medal for the best film. G. Aravindan followed Adoor's lead with his Uttarayanam in 1974. John Abraham, K. R. Mohanan, K. G. George, and G. S. Panikkar were products of the Pune Film Institute who made significant contributions. Aravindan was famous in Kerala as a cartoonist before he started making films. He is considered one of the best Indian film directors. His important movies include Kanchana Seeta (1977), Thampu (1978), Kummatty (1979), Chidambaram (1985), Oridathu (1986), and Vasthuhara (1990).Golden Age of Malayalam cinema
Most critics and audiences consider the period from (late 1980s to early 1990s) as the golden age of Malayalam cinema. The Malayalam cinema of this short but beautiful period is a culmination of the malayali ethos and south Indian life. It is characterised by detailed screenplays, excellently directed by master-directors, dealing with everyday life with a lucid narration of plot intermingling with humor and melancholy. This was aided by brilliant cinematography and lighting as in motion pictures like Perumthachan (1990), directed by Ajayan with Santosh Sivan as the cinematographer. The period had an abundance of movies rich in creative humour from directors like Priyadarshan and Sathyan Anthikkad. The era also saw well crafted comedy by the Duo Siddique-Lal, (Ramji Rao speaking (1989)) and In Harihar Nagar (1990).Popular Malayalam cinema through early-mid 1990s
Later movies followed in the essence of the golden period but lacked in freshness. However they still stand out for their brilliance in storytelling and appeal. These include 'Bharatham' (1991) by Sibi Malayil, Kaalapaani (1996) by Priyadarshan, and the award winning 'Manichitrathazhu' (1993) by Fazil. Some works stood out as strong in evocative power reminiscent of the earlier period, like Swaham (1994) directed by Shaji N.Karun the first malayalam film entry to the Competition in cannes international Film Festival in 1994. Today, the Malayalam cinema industry forms a significant component of the Cinema of India, both as a form of art and as mass medium. Not less than fifty malayalam movies are released every year and this number keeps growing rapidly, faster than ever.
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