2024 had already proven to be the year of exceptional film making. From Bollywood to South Indian films, the presentations have been blowing the minds of the audience from the very start of the year. The expectations for the rest of the year are really high in film enthusiasts and common man equally. But who is ahead in the making of master pieces touch-wood…?
January kickstarted with the Bollywood mystery thriller ‘Merry Christmas’. The film was noted for the screen presence of popular Tamil actor Vijay Sethupathi along with Katrina Kaif. The Sriram Raghavan movie was commented to be a good blend of horror, suspense and romance. Even though it experimented with some unusual territories, the critics said it lacked the wow factor. Inspired by Sarang Darshane’s book ‘AtaljiKavihridayacheRashtranetyachiCharitkahani’, Director Ravi Jadhav presented to us the Pankaj Tripathi starrer ‘Main Atal Hoon’. It summarized the exceptional journey of the revered freedom fighter Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The movie was a visual treat with the pitch-perfect performance of Pankaj Tripathi, excellent cinematography and enchanting music. Followed by this came Hrithik Roshan – Deepika Padukone starrer ‘Fighter’ in February. Siddharth Anand’s ‘Fighter’ is a tribute to patriotism and valour of India’s Air Force Pilots. The actors have done justice to the characters and the film was appreciated by the audience. Amit Joshi’s ‘TeriBaaton Mein AisaUljha Jiya’ was another February film. The feel-good film revolves around love, Ai and good music. The film was a bold attempt, but it couldn’t entertain everyone as expected. Bollywood had made their decision of making great art clear with these films.
But, Bollywood- One of the biggest film industries of the world is facing its biggest competition from the South Indian film industry, especially the Malayalam film industry with back-to-back blockbuster hits this year. Mollywood has stepped up their game with camera brilliance, epic acting and jaw dropping story lines. They had taken the global audience by storm. Popular among them are Abraham Ozler, a thriller starring Malayalam’s popular actor Jayaram and Mega Star Mammootty in a special cameo role. The thriller revolves around a serial killing case with a suspenseful storyline. Along with the story, the rebirth of the iconic Malayalam song ‘Poomaname’ and Jayaram’s come back were added as the feathers to the film’s crown. Cinephiles opined to have had a great start to the year with the film. Mohanlal’s ‘MalaikottaiVaaliban’ was another fruit of January. The story of a wandering wrestler was portrayed beautifully with amazing action scene and fabulous frames. But the lag in the film was undeniably disturbing which made the audience to believe that this was not the best of Director Lijo Jose Pellissery as well as Mohanlal.
Tovino Thomas starrer ‘AnweshippinKandethum’ was malayalees’s start of February. The movie was set in the 90s, and took us through the suspenseful investigation of a notorious murder case. The film weaves two contrasting narratives with the nuanced performances of the actors along with Darwin Kuriakose’s directorial brilliance, Jinu Abraham’s script and Santhosh Narayanan’s musical magic. The film became a great example of powerful story telling on topics such as crime against women, gender dynamics etc. Rahul Sadasivan’s ‘Bramayugam’ starring Mammootty was another epic success from the Malayalam film industry. While Christo Xavier’s music excellently complimented Shehnad Jalal’s camera work, Arjun Ashokan and Siddharth Bharathan mind blowingly complimented Mammootty’s acting making the audience sit on the edge of their seats. While ‘Bramayugam’ took us through the feel of folklores, Director Girish A D’s ‘Premalu’ came to us like a fresh breeze. When the audience expected it to be a cheesy love story, ‘Premalu’ made sure that it stayed apart from the cliches. Young actors Naslen and MamithaBaiju had entertained the audience with their energetic performance with the right amount of romance and humour. The film also attempts to point out on the positive shift in young women’s self-perception. Apart from the regular romantic moments, the film chose the most realistic and organic moments of life making it a very unique attempt in romance.
While the Malayalam film industry was leaving its audience in awe one after the other, Chidambaram’s ‘Manjummel Boys’ became the star of the show! The crisp survival thriller speaks about the real-life incident that took place in Kodaikanal in 2006. This is the unbelievable survival story of a friends group who saved their friend from the famous ‘Guna cave’ aka ‘The devil’s kitchen’. The film is a depiction of true friendship through the cinematography of Shyju Khalid. Soubin Shahir’s role ‘Kuttettan’ is loved by everyone across the world as he remains as the epitome of selfless friendship. SreenathBhasi’s ‘Subhash’ portrayed pain and trauma in the most realistic manner. The film is a mixture of humour, thriller, mystery, survival, friendship and unforgettable experiences of life. The movie also brilliantly delivered a tribute to Kamal Hassan’s movie ‘Guna’ and its beautiful song ‘KanmaniAnbodu’. When the movie was moving towards the climax, the audience couldn’t agree more with song where it says ‘Manitharunarndhukollaithumanithakaadhalalla, adhaiyumthaandipunithamaanathu’ meaning ‘this is not the mortal love of mere human beings to understand, this is so pure beyond all that…’
While the other industries are also attempting to surprise their audience, both the industries had already made their steps ahead. Bollywood did do a great job in its presentation of the story, cinematography, music and performance. But to the question “what is new?”, they seem to not have an answer yet. Patriotism, romance and biopics have always been a trend in Bollywood. But the element of thinking out of the box was missing in them. Both the industries are rich with incredible talents, but Mollywood turned out to be the more gutsy one here. Mollywood went for full swing experiments this year. Hero turning Villain, love stories with no cliché romance were all adopted by them. Therefore, for now, Mollywood is a step ahead in terms of performance and unique story lines. Yet, the month of March is all set to welcome many more mind-blowing films. Bollywood, Mollywood, Tollywood and all the other industries are getting ready to sweep our feet off. It is evident that 2024 has come with the strong potential to take over the world of films and create history…
During this year, I was most impressed by how Anweshippin Kandethum and Abraham Ozler managed to be thrillers of different kinds, working at different levels, but still managing to maintain the suspense at varying paces. The write-up brings a fine idea of what we had during first few months of the year and keeps us waiting for more 🙂
Excellent entertainment write up, Lakshmiprabha👍👌!!!
👍❤