Lets not hide it folks, the world is watching; the end is almost near for the 'ever' ruling superstars of Malayalam cinema, Mohanlal and Mammooty. I' am not talking about their acting career; its about their STARDOM.
Being 2 of the most talented actors in India, they created so much impact that the cine goers were just not ready to accept any new actors to rule their hearts in Kerala. Actors like Suresh Gopi, Dileep and even Jayaram tasted super stardom; but not for long, as they didn't have the demanded potential to show their versatility.But for the last 12 months, Malayalam cinema has witnessed a shift of interests in the Kerala audience. With the coming of pointless films with total absence of a fairly entertaining, leave a good screenplay, cine goers started ignoring Malayalam films and opted for other language films. Well, its not surprising; how far can they test our patience? Won't we get bored watching 2 old men, dancing happily when their grand children were getting married? And the answer is a BIG yes. For instance, the legendary actor Mohanlal is acting strange, opting to play mindless characters like for instance 'Sagar Alias Jacky', in which he wore a suit on his rather hammy body, walking around romancing Bhavana, an actress, as young as his daughter and even Mammooty for his ridiculous selection of films! Its a sheer pity for actors of great caliber like that of Mohanlal and Mammooty. Who can forget the brilliant, path breaking films they gave us in the past 25 years? This is just like Marlon Brando's case, when he himself mocked the character of 'Don Vito Corleone' in Francis Ford Coppola's ever green classic, 'The Godfather', in a silly spoof movie!
With the coming of a young and talented actor like Prithviraj in Nandanam, 8 years back, nobody saw a star in him. But now, after the hugely successful mass entertainer Puthiya Mugham, Prithviraj has become as hot as any other super star in South India. Puthiya Mugham was just a typical action film, but Prithviraj gave life to the character, and fitted into the role smooth and easy! The actor not only gave Malayalam film makers, a whole new dimension to think of, but also a hope for the viewers who demand freshness. He knotted in hands with Mani Ratnam, for his magnum opus Raavanan and though the film failed to impress, Prithviraj's performance was highly acclaimed, and the critics rated it above Vikram's performance in the same role in Hindi version.And as far as the box office performances are concerned, though Mammoty & Mohanlal has 3 times more fan support than Prithviraj, their recent films found it difficult to get even a decent opening. While Mohanlal is totally down and has lost his opening completely (Check: http://sify.com/movies/malayalam/fullstory.php?id=14949377 for more details), Mammooty scrapes through with the only exceptions being Pokkiri Raja, because of the 'multi starrer' tag and Pazhassi Raja, with the hype and the huge marketing budget (Check: http://sify.com/movies/malayalam/fullstory.php?id=14944110 for more details). Now lets take a look at the Box office performance of Mohanlal, Mammooty and Prithviraj films which released recently. Keep in mind that an 'Opening' for a film decides the power of the actor. In other words, stardom:
Mohanlal (Last 6 releases) Falls down!
- Oru Naal Verum: Average film (Below average opening/ Flop - Below average status)
- Alexander the great: Average film (Hold over opening with 10-20% occupancy/Disaster status)
- Ividam Swargamanu: A Good film (Average opening/Average status- Even though it was an entertainer, people just didn't go in; maybe bored of Mohanlal's hammy figure and repetitive roles)
- Angel John: A bad film (Dull opening/Disaster status- Bad script & Direction)
- Bhramaram: Above average film (Average opening/Average status- Mediocre script & direction by Blessy)
- Bhagavaan: A bad film (Average opening/Disaster status- An avoidable film in all aspects)
Mammooty (Last 6 releases) Scrapes through
- Pokkiri Raja: Mass Masala film (Fantastic opening because of the 'multi starrer' tag/Super hit- The distributors and theater owners credited the success to Prithviraj Sukumaran)
- Pramani: Below average film (Hold over opening with 20-30 % occupancy/Disaster status)
- Drona 2010: A bad film (Hold over opening/Disaster status- Bad script & Direction)
- Chattambinaadu: Mass Entertainer (Decent opening/Declaired Hit status- No new releases)
- Paleri Manikyam: A fascinating film (Average opening/Flop status- An art film, Won many awards including a best actor award for Mammooty)
- PazhassiRaja: A brilliant film (Biggest ever opening in the history/All time blockbuster- Because of the huge hype, high production value, great visual appeal, fantastic technicalities, a good script and edgy, epic scale direction)
Prithviraj Sukumaran (Last 6 releases) is the only winner!I do agree that Mohanlal and Mammooty are great actors, but there is a limit. Look at Hollywood- Al Pacino is 70 and Robert Di Niro is 67; they are considered among the greatest actors of our times. Now please check out their filmography and Analise what kind of films they are doing right now. Oh come on, they started doing mature roles when they were in their early 40's, and were still considered superstars. Nobody said super stars have to dance and mock around!! If Tamil stars are successful in doing it, they have a parallel set of good films running with fresh actors, and talented directors who have the support of the audience. Lets keep in mind that we DO NOT have that. Keralaites are so much conservative and self centered that they just cannot accept anything new! I will talk about this in another article.
- Raavanan: Above average film (Fantastic opening because of the MANI RATNAM tag/Super Hit status in Kerala- Prithviraj was hugely acclaimed and is all set to reach bigger heights)
- Pokkiri Raja: Mass Masala film (Fantastic opening because of the 'multi starrer' tag/Super hit status- The distributors and theater owners credited the success to Prithviraj Sukumaran)
- Thanthonni: Cliched mass Action film (Fantastic opening/Average status- Bad script & Direction)
- Punyam Aham: Offbeat film (Limited release/Flop status- An art film, critics raved Prithviraj's performance)
- Robin Hood: Entertainer (Fantastic opening/Hit status- Because of Prithviraj's new found stardom)
- Puthiya Mugham: Mass action drama (Very good opening/Super Hit status- Prithviraj becomes superstar)
Now let me make my point clear. People have started realizing their mistakes now. Lets hope for more young actors and directors to make their mark in an industry like Malayalam, which needs something new and fresh. Fingers crossed.
8 comments:
i agree to this article partially
Good one..waiting for your next article!
excellent work..but why r u only criticizing only the 2 superstars.. the story writer,director, producers all are response for the current situation of the Malayalam film industry. why most of Malayalam actress are moving to other film industries? because they have better opportunities, better stories than our film industry. the concept of the people who are working behind the screen should change, they should come with good stories. the movies which r flop are not because of the actors, it's because of the people who r working behind it. all actors are working 4 money, so they will continue their career till they can. i don't think they r not giving chance to new actors, it is the audience(people) who decide that, why prathyraj is doing well? because he try his maximum to act in good movies, at the same time he didn't go behind the money, if he had gone behind the money i don't think he could reach where he is now.
i too agree with u on present situation of our 2 super stars.. yes they should start taking matured roles. i too some times feel petty on the actress who acting with them.. so bad luck, they have to act as lovers with those who are age of their father..
I agree with you Jahas, but the focus of this article is on stardom. :) Thanks for commenting.
The blog is indeed thought provoking, but it leaves an impression that the blog writer (I mean my dear friend Abhi ;) ) is as biased for PrithviRaaj as the majority are for Mohanlal and Mammooty. Because the blog speaks about stardom and I can foresee, say after 2 decades, coming generations would be blaming PrithviRaaj for doing roles which he should not. So majorly the audience is to be blamed, because they create superstars and later they blame for it. Because the financiers want to play safe, therefore no experimentation happening.
Haha. You have made a point there. And I' am unbiased, Only that I support young actors and directors to make their way big, thats all. Because only then tremendous possibilities come by our way. :)
This comment on the decline of the stardom in malayalam cinema is quite good in provoking a good thought on what is happening right now around us. The stardom is on decline for sure like Abhi says but we cant reject the factor that Mohanlal and Mammoty are good actors. Even though though they give 6 or 7 flops continuosly just one hit which comes behind these failiures will teke them back to the superstardom. This can only be cleared by changing the viewing style by the malayalam film audience and not by citizising the actors and the technicians.
Sivaram is also right.
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