Aug 15, 2007 05:24 PM
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Opinion in Mallu land is sharply polarized over the best actors in the industry.It has much to do with the way cinema has gradually evolved over the years. Starting with mythological movies, it moved onto stark social issues with a strong tinge of communism/socialism. It had a golden age in the 70s and 80s when lot of novels and short stories were made into movies.
Movies were based on the middle class and centered around characters which were very similar to the ones you see in daily life.
Then there was a move towards the 'superstar' cult. The same heroes who had been playing plodding middle class characters suddenly became supermen or gangsters. In the process true cinema was lost. There was also a 'college' era of movies based on college life and students.
Again over the last few years, the trend has reversed with family oriented or socially aware movies ruling the roost.
Throughout all these years, there have been a few actors who have continually left their mark on Malayalam cinema.
I will try to list out a few of them here
My knowledge of movies prior to the 70s is limited, so my choice of actors might be skewed towards later day actors. My apologies in advance.
5) Adoor Bhasi
This might be a new name for most non-Malayalis. Adoor Bhasi was the staple comedy ingredient of most Malayalam movies. He also ventured successfully into 'character' roles. Starting his career with Mudiyanaya Puthran, he went on to act in close to 600 movies. He formed a successful partnership with Prem Nazir and was his regular sidekick in many movies. With advancing age, he moved onto father/grandfather roles and did those too with aplomb. It is debataable if Jagathy is better than Adoor or not. In my view Adoor is still the big daddy of Malayalam comedy. Jagathy is making his mark and in a few years will be spoken in the same terms as Adoor. So here is to Adoor.
4) Mohanlal & Mamootty
This might appear controversial. But I could not find any way to rank one above the other. Mammotty and Mohanlal have different styles of acting. Each of them has given extraordinary roles in their rich and varied career.
Mammotty started out with typical macho movies but soon found that he could easily bridge the gap between 'commercial' and 'art' cinema (Isnt every cinema commercial and isnt all cinema art?). In 'Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha', aided by a brilliant script, Mammooty succeeds in making us root for Chandu who is Malayalam lore is the very epitome of treachery. That is his brilliance. He also shows his sensitive persona in 'Thaniyavarthanam' and 'Mathilugal'. Today he continues to do crappy movies on one hand and the occasional great like 'Palunku' and 'Karuthapakshikal'.
Mohanlal on the other hand started out as the boy next door. His very middle class persona shone through in movies like 'TP Balagopalan MA' and 'Kaliyil alpam karyam'. He was successful in migrating quite early to comedy, something that Mamooty struggled initially.
His successful partnership with Sreenivasan has given many good movies to Malayalam cinema. He had a bad time in the early part of this century, but has strongly recovered with great roles in 'Udayanaanu thaarum', 'Rasathantram' and 'Thanmatra'.
2) Thilakan
Thilakan made the transformation from baddie to the ultimate father figure. In every 'Kireedam' and 'Sphadikam', there was Thilakan as 'Achudhandan ' or 'Chacko Master' providing the counterpoint to Mohanlal's strong character. Who can forget Thilakan as the grieving grandfather in 'Moonam Pakkam'. Simply brilliant. I also remember 'Perumthachhan' which was another movie which rode solely on Thilakan's shoulders. Three cheers to him.
1) Sathyan
This is a surprising choice. But for me Sathyan was the first of the actors who brought out natural acting, as opposed to 'stylised' or 'dramatic' acting practised by say Prem Nazir. Sathyan brought out the true essence of Malayalam movies with his unforgettable roles in such classics like 'Chemmeen', 'Neela kuyil', 'Ningalenne communist aaki', 'Othenante makan' and 'Thacholi othenan'.
He was a former CRPF inspector who rose to the heights of Malayalam movie dom inspite of unremarkable looks.
Honourable mentions
*Bahadur
* This great comedian could get good laughs till the very end. A staple of most Malayalam movies in the 70s, he died just days after shooting his last movie 'Joker'.
*Jagathy
* One of the greatest actors of the Malayalam industry. He can play a variety of roles and in no time he will make the transition from this list to the top 5 actors list.
*Nedumudi Venu
* Yet another character artiste who seems to be sleepwalking through his roles these days, since he does not get different roles anymore.
