A number of female-oriented films such as 22 Female Kottayam, Cocktail, Beautiful and Trivandrum Lodge were also part of the new wave. The depiction of women has also changed in the New Wave films beyond recognition. Actors such as Thilakan ( Ustad Hotel) and Prathap Pothen ( Ayalum Njanum Thammil) were noted for their hard-hitting performances in the Wave films. Movies featuring gender minorites and homosexual leads is definitive characteristic of this era of Malayalam cinema. Another notable feature is that stories shifted to depict more non-male characters as lead. The focus of the films also shifted from the conventional masculine, handsome, virtuous and invincible hero to more humane characters. Until recently, most Malayalam films had rural themes portraying the "essential goodness" and "unspoilt beauty" of villages. The frequent use of Malayalam influenced by English is also noted in the films. A recurrent trope in these new narratives is accidents, coincidences, casual encounters and chance meetings that set in motion an unexpected chain of events affecting the lives of the characters drifting in the urban flotsam. While formats and styles of the new directors are deeply influenced by the global and Indian trends, their thematics were firmly rooted in Malayali life and mind-scape. Influx of new actors, the absence of superstars, rise of metro-centric/urban and middle-class themes and different story-lines were also noted in the wave. Erosion of the so-called "superstar" system in popular Malayalam films coincided with rise of the new wave where screenplay got rooted-to-reality, closer-to-life and lead characters became ordinary men and women.
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