The 50 Best Malayalam Movies (Non-commercial)
A list of the 50 best (or my favorite) Malayalam movies from the late 70s until 2011. Some of the films may be classified as slightly commercial - example :Kaalapani. Most of the films are post-1975. I have little awareness of the Malayalam cinema before the 70s. Some of these movies really had some interesting story lines. But what I really like about the movies mentioned in the list are that they have little or no Hollywood or European influences. They are distinctly Malayali in their haphazardness.
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- DirectorP. PadmarajanStarsAshokanAzeezAdoor BhawaniThis is a National award winning and critically acclaimed film by P Padmarajan, based on his novel of the same name. The film explores the angst of a teenage mind remorseful of murder and the changes life brings in the aftermath.A young man kills the village goon who was bothering the women in his family. While he is being hunted by the police, the villagers who secretly admire the young man, send him from one place to another. The part where he is taken care of by a motherly and bovine prostitute (KPAC Lalita) is amusing and heart warming. I remember the film particularly for the ensemble cast and the introduction scene of the village goon played by Azeez to very edgy and minimalistic use of music.
- DirectorAdoor GopalakrishnanStarsBharat GopyK.P.A.C. LalithaThikkurissy Sukumaran NairSankarankutty, a village simpleton, lives a carefree life, indulges in childish pursuits, lives off the money given to him by his sister (working elsewhere as a servant), and eats quite voraciously. Then one day he gets married, but the wife is frustrated by his aimless lifestyle & irresponsible attitude (even after she gets pregnant). So she goes back to her parents. Meanwhile, his sister who is now living with her lover, can no longer provide for him, and a kind widow who used to care for him passes away. He has nowhere & nobody to fall back on, and from this point on, as he starts a job as assistant to a lorry driver, he starts looking at life in a whole new way and begins to mature as well.A slothful young man lives an irresponsible life much to the chagrin of his wife and sister.
- DirectorK.G. GeorgeStarsAshokanAzeezP.C. GeorgeIrakal (English: The Victims) is a 1985 Malayalam psychological thriller film written and directed by K. G. George and produced by the then prominent actor Sukumaran.The film is an in-depth exploration of the psychology of violence. Ganesh Kumar plays the film's protagonistA young man returns home after being suspended for violently bullying his junior during a ragging incident. But the situation in his dysfunctional family pushes him to the edge of insanity. Pretty sensational debut by Ganesh in this K.G.George movie.
- DirectorGovindan AravindanStarsNedumudi VenuSreenivasanVineethThe movie narrates the story of a remote village and the incidents pertaining to the electrification during the post-independence period of India.The advent of electricity throws life into disarray in a remote village in Kerala. It is interesting that many years later, Ashutosh Gowariker made SWADESH where electricity lighting up the village is viewed as a sign of development.
- DirectorMohanStarsIdavela BabuAshokanNaliniA Padmarajan story of mischief gone wrong during a Break (Idavela)Sexual jealousy leads to violence when four young men go away on an excursion and two of them fall in love with the same girl at a resort. Another great performance by Ashokan who was in Peruvazhiyambalam.
- DirectorBharat GopyStarsMohanlalSukumaranJayaramKuttan's family is heavily indebted by the wayward lifestyle of his elder brother, Ravi. However, Ravi's untimely death forces Kuttan to take the responsibility of the family. Watch the full movie, Ulsavapittennu online, only on Eros Now.A tragedy about the prince in a declining royal family who finds it tough to deal with the outside world after his elder brother's wayward ways leaves the family in debt . The final scene is heartbreaking. This film was directed by Bharat Gopi.
- DirectorBharathanStarsPrathap PothenSurekhaNedumudi VenuThakara (Prathap Pothan) is an orphan. He is mentally immature, but kindhearted. He has a close relationship with Subhashini (Surekha), the dream girl of the village. Thakara was betrayed by the words of Chellappanashari (Nedumudi Venu) and indulges in a physical relationship with Subhashini. Subhashini's father Mathu Mooppan (K. G. Menon) finds out their relation and beats Thakara unconscious. Thakara, fully filled with revenge on Mooppan, runs away. Once he earns enough money to buy a knife, he returns and kills Mooppan. Subhashini refuses to go with Thakara, who proposes to her after killing her father. With no way to escape, Thakara finds his end in front of a running train.The debut movie of Nedumudi Venu, one of the great character actors of Malayalam cinema. A slightly retarded young man has a physical relationship with the village beauty. There is trouble between him and her violent father. Surekha was sensuous as the village beauty.
- DirectorSibi MalayilStarsMohanlalAugustineJanardananSadayam follows the final days of a condemned prisoner, for murdering two little girls.A disturbed painter (played by Mohanlal) murders two teenaged prostitutes because he believes they have no future. The film is about his life in jail before he is to be hanged.
- DirectorK.N. SasidharanStarsBharat GopyMadhaviMammoottyGopi is having a moderate but highly respected life as a Tehsildar(regional land and tax officer) but his wife wants more.I dont really understand the world this film is set in. I was a little kid when this film came out. a lot of the characters motivations and actions can be related to the Kerala of today. The constant need for self improvement to recover from the state of sloth that the characters find themselves in. Pretty messed up ideas of modernity and success.
But there were problems with the sound recording and the film lacked finesse. But this was a problem with many of the films made by the "great" Malayalam filmakers of the 70s and 80s. None of them were technically proficient. But they were good writers and knew their people well. - DirectorP. PadmarajanStarsNedumudi VenuBharat GopySubhashiniPavithran, a thief who was trying to sell stolen items meets a crooked merchant in the town. But an incident occurs afterward changing his entire life.
- DirectorK.S. SethumadhavanStarsBalan K. NairMaster ArvindMenaka6 year old Appu is jealous when his mother Malu, whom he knows as his elder sister, marries Govindan.
- DirectorM.T. Vasudevan NairStarsSanthosh AntonyByonKunjandi
- DirectorBharathanStarsJayabharathiKrishnachandranKaviyoor PonnammaPappu, a teenager, is awaiting his Pre-Degree results to join an Engineering course. He gets attracted to his neighbor Rathi, who is a middle-aged woman, and falls hopelessly in love.
- DirectorT.V. ChandranStarsJanardananSalu KoottanadLakshmi KrishnamurthySet in 1940s, the low-caste Ponthan Mada bonds with his colonial landlord Sheema Thampuran, who was expelled to British India from England during his youth for supporting the Irish Republican Army.
- DirectorAdoor GopalakrishnanStarsMammoottyM.R. GopakumarTanvi AzmiThommy is a loyal servant of Bhaskar Patel. But Patel is a ruthless tyrant. Thommy struggles between his moral sense and his professional sense. He is finally redeemed without compromising his duty as Patel's servant.
- DirectorJayarajStarsSuresh GopiLalManju WarrierAn adaptation of "Othello" set in the south Indian state of Kerala.
- DirectorAdoor GopalakrishnanStarsMammoottyThilakanKaramana Janardanan NairIts a story of Basheer, an author who experiences his prison life. In it he finds friendship, loneliness, fear and finally love, but that remains questionable.
- DirectorAdoor GopalakrishnanStarsMammoottyAshokanShobanaA young man narrates two conflicting accounts of his life, changing the details and incidents in both, as he slowly approaches madness.
- DirectorA.K. LohithadasStarsMohanlalManju WarrierLalResponsible for the accidental death of a man he met on the streets of Mumbai, Vishwam returns to Kerala to give the news to the latter's debt- ridden family, but instead falls in love with his sister.
- DirectorT.V. ChandranStarsMeera JasmineM.R. GopakumarMammukoyaShahina is studying in school but she can't go to school because she is pregnant. And she conceived from her divorced husband..
- DirectorT.V. ChandranStarsMammoottyVani ViswanathMallika SarabhaiDany, who lives an isolated life, meets Bhargavi. They both develop a camaraderie. But when Dany dies, Bhargavi fights to perform his Christian funeral rites amidst orthodox Hindus.
- DirectorT.V. ChandranStarsDileepJyothirmayiVijayaraghavanRenuka trying to find the reason for Gopi's suicude by going through his past.
- DirectorUday AnanthanLal JoseShaji KailasStarsSathyan AnthikadAugustineM.A. BabyA series of related and unrelated tales together linking them in subtle ways and discuss different shades of life.
- DirectorNedumudi VenuStarsVishnuMaathuThilakanThe movie progress and narrates the incidents in a drama set for a month in a village in Kerala.