Malayalees love their movie superstars indeed. Nearly 3 decades old in the industry the 2 M's still rule the roost.
We love them like they are part of our family. We go and watch their movies no matter how terribly it was made and how absurd the subject was. We give them awards year after year so much so that they lost count of how many awards they have received.
We are almost up to the point where at any award function, while handing over awards to the M's, we are in a position to forecast the award for them for the next 5 to 10 years with certainty. If one M is the best actor in a given year, then the other M will not be left behind. We give the other M award for actor of the decade or millennium or people's favorite actor. We make sure that no dark horses enter their territory and steal the lime light from them. The so called Malayalam film lobby discouraging upcoming actors in the industry has resulted in fan clubs for Hindi, Tamil and Telugu actors mushrooming through out Kerala.
Recently we started noticing a slight change in trend in the award shows though. As the award organizers felt that it is boring for the audience to see the 2 Ms steal the lead awards, they ventured out and got hold of actors from Tamil and Telugu film industry and brought them here to award them. We make them feel home by entertaining them with Bollywood and Kollywood songs and dance performances on stage, often making them wonder if they are attending an award show back home.
Mallus are full of praises for the M's and even at their 50s we can't get enough of them. The M's are sparing no effort to look good and stay younger thanks to the hair fixing and other cosmetic treatments. Taking into account their age and continuous churn out of flops, our M's are insecure about release of other language films coinciding with their film releases.
If the recent whistle blowing against the M's by veteran actor Thilakan is anything to go by, it is only a matter of time before more and more art lovers come out to support Thilakan. People like Sukumar Azhikode will shout out that the emperor is walking naked reminding us of the fairy tale.
It is high time the industry stops making scripts around super stars and start making films around scripts. Otherwise it is a sure sign that the death knell of the industry is not far. Let us hope that a new breed of film makers come forward and give a breath of fresh air to the Malayalam film industry.
Rajesh Kumar
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