The last two superstars (Mohanlal and Mammootty) released in Malayalam were thriller films. Both CBI 5 (Mammootty) and 12th Man (Mohanlal) follow the same narrative style in the same zoner. A crime takes place, investigates and finds the villain at the last minute. The usual equation of unexpectedly placing someone as a villain repeats itself. From this it can be seen that 2022 alone has not undergone any significant changes to this model of the detective films that were popular in the eighties and dominated at that time.
CID Nazir is considered to be the first detective film in Malayalam. Most of the background to this was smuggling and extortion stories. The storyline of other detective films released at the time was almost the same. But with the 1980s, a new realism emerged and the mystery of the storyline slowly shifted to sexuality and morality. The motive for committing the crime was mainly focused on rape, incest and sex.
Yavanika, directed by KG George and released in 1982, is considered as a major turning point in the history of Malayalam crime cinema. The film revolves around the disappearance and murder of the character Ayyappan (Bharat Gopi). Yavanika’s success is that she was able to bring very complex human relationships to the audience with the same complexity. Rohini indiscriminately kills Ayyappan, who sexually and financially exploits Jalaja’s character Rohini and even exploits her work. What they did was a crime when it came to technology. But Yavanika is seen as a film that seeks to address the contradictions in society that can be seen as a defense against exploitation in the face of the concept of resistance.
After all, the detective films of the day were almost like a distorted version of the curtain. It has created a sense of morality in the public sphere, a regressive view of sexuality as a motivating force for crime. Such films have reaped commercial success by building the market on this distorted moral sexual logic. In other words, such films were made by deliberately or unintentionally exploiting the moral consciousness of the Malayalee public.
It’s amazing that movies like CBI5 do not even address the period in which it is screened, and do not respond to changes in any way, without abandoning the weekly standard.
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The motivation to commit crime within the story is very important for the audience watching the movie. This article seeks to find out why this motivation is always confined to moral, sexual and extra-marital relationships.
Just look at the most famous CBI series in Malayalam to understand this. According to a CBI diary, the investigation is into the murder of Lizzie’s character Omana. The film’s suspense is shattered when Omana’s husband Srinath’s character Sunny is arrested for murder and Vijayaraghavan’s character Johnnykutty is killed during a subsequent investigation into a rape attempt.
When the CBI enters the second part, Babunamboothiri’s character Janardhanan Nair is involved in the murder of his illegitimate daughter. This is exactly what Sethuramayya did when he joined the CBI. Only the characters are changing, similar to the storyline. The film’s suspenseful climax is about the murder of Manikunju, who knew the ‘illegality’ of Mosi and Taylor Mani. To be honest, the main reason for the murder in the CBI is that it is not illegal but it is done for fear of being misunderstood as illegal. The situation is no different in the recently released CBI The Brain. But it’s surprising that films like CBI5 do not even address the period in which it is screened, and do not respond to changes in any way, without abandoning the IQ standard.
It seems that this should not be seen as a mere feature of the CBI series. This is the result of most of the hit movies released in Malayalam. It is hoped that only a few of these films will be screened. This is not to say that there is no other interpretation for all these films. But the emphasis here is only on moral logic.
Grandmaster is a 2012 Malayalam film directed by B Unnikrishnan and starring Mohanlal in the lead role. The film follows the same zoner mentioned above. Aniyan’s revenge on four women who killed Chettan by giving him alcohol due to murder. Three of the four women were killed. It is also important to note that the fourth woman (the protagonist) flew into the So Cold family and was portrayed differently from the other three women. It is also important to note that the other three women were portrayed in the worst possible way and not forgotten.
The following year, Mohanlal’s Jeetu Joseph was released and was one of the highest grossing Malayalam films of all time. The plot is that he killed the young man who shot and blackmailed his nude video. So when a video is shot and blackmailed, it’s important why the family did not go to court. One of the reasons for this is that the public is ashamed of it. But Vinayakan’s character in the movie Operation Java takes the position of approaching the cyber police when such a situation arises. This equation may not always be correct. However, it is important to note that this is not the case.
It is the moral sense of the public that gives courage to make films based on moral logic.
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Memories was another Jeethu Joseph film that came out before the scene in 2013 itself. The story begins with a police officer who becomes a full time drunk due to some personal loss and takes up a challenging case. Here too, when it comes to the story, it is a regular refrain. The teacher, who is also the hostel warden, sees five girls in an institute reading an erotic magazine. They use a young man named Anand to take revenge on the teachers. Realizing that he was the only one who lost at the last minute, he kills the husbands of the five girls and seeks revenge.
There are many movies in Malayalam that have been released on moral sexual logic. It would be an adventure to write about all of this in detail. A lawyer’s case diary, detective, Chintamani murder case, seniors’ aggression, romance Fifth Pathira, and most of the other films are all about murder. The latest Mohanlal movie to hit the screens on the 12th is Iyer Game of Thrills.
This is not to say that this is the nature of 100% Malayalam thriller movies. But the plot of the majority is just an attempt to critically evaluate any of this. It is the moral consciousness of the public that gives courage to make films based on such moral logic. But the need of the hour is for the film to come out of that bubble.
The author is a researcher.
(Samayam Malayalam believes in promoting diverse views and opinions on all issues. They need not conform to our editorial positions.)