short essay on recent Malayalam films
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Answer:
The first Malayalam films were made by non-Malayali persons. The silent film Vigatha Kumaran (1928) was made by J.C. Daniel and it flopped but it was the first film to be made in Malayalam. The second silent Malayalam film was Marthanda Varma (1931) by C.V. Raman Pillai (completed by Nagercoil- born Sunder Raj).
Balan (1938), directed by S. Notani, was the first Malayalam talkie made by an outsider, businessman and studio owner T.R. Sundaram. The film was studded with 23 songs. Notani also directed Gnanambika (1940). Prahlada, with Guru Gopinath and Thankamani Gopinath, was directed by K. Subramaniam of Madras (now, Chennai).
The first Malayali producer to enter Malayalam films was P.J. Cherian who produced Nirmala (1949). Kerala’s first film studio was Udaya Studio at Alleppey which was established by K.V. Koshy and M. Kunchacko. It produced hits like Jeevithenuka in 1951 and Nallathanka in 1952. Another studio that emerged in the 1950s was the Merryland Studios at Trivandrum (now, Thiruvanthapuram) set up by P. Subramaniam in 1951.