Perhaps the most revolutionary aspect of modern Malayalam cinema (post-2010, often called the 'New New Wave') is its systematic demolition of the mythological hero. There is no six-pack, no slow-motion walk, no gravity-defying stunt.
In the 1950s and 60s, films like Neelakkuyil (The Blue Cuckoo) broke taboos around caste and illegitimate children. By the 1980s, the golden age of directors like G. Aravindan and John Abraham produced works devoid of song-and-dance fantasies, focusing instead on existential struggles. Aravindan’s Thambu is essentially a visual poem about a circus troupe traveling through rural Kerala, where the landscape itself becomes a character. Www.MalluMv.Bond - Aavesham -2024- Malayalam HQ...