After a long break of 10 years, ( there were no movies produced between 1941-1948 in Malayalam, from what we know now) it was production back to normal, averaging 6 movies every year, for the next decade. The films in this decade had a few firsts (it was bound to be), with Malayalam’s first box-office hit Jeevithanouka(1951), which established a set formula and format for a ‘winning story’ at the box-office and gave us our first megastar -Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair! Janova (1953), was the first and last film which saw MGR in a Malayalam film!
Movie |
Year |
Direction |
| Jeevitha Nouka | 1951 | K. Vembu |
| Kerala Kesari | 1951 | V. Krishnan |
| Rakthabandham | 1951 | M. R. Vittal |
| Prasanna | 1951 | Velswamykavi |
| Vanamala | 1951 | G. Vishwanathan |
| Yachakan | 1951 | R. Velappan Nair |
| Amma | 1952 | K. Vembu |
| Suhruth | 1952 | Joseph Pallipad |
| Athma Santhi | 1952 | Joseph Thaliyath (Jr) |
| Athma Sakhi | 1952 | G. R. Rao |
| Vishappinte Vili | 1952 | Mohan Rao |
| Marumakal | 1952 | S. K. Chari |
| Premalekha | 1952 | M. K. Ramani |
| Alphonsa | 1952 | O. J. Thottan |
| Kanjana | 1952 | Sri Ramulu Naidu |
| Achan | 1952 | M. R. S. Mani |
| Velakkaran | 1953 | E. R. Kooper |
| Thiramala | 1953 | Vimal Kumar,PRS Pillai |
| Lokaneethi | 1953 | R. Velappan Nair |
| Aasha Deepam | 1953 | G. R. Rao |
| Genova | 1953 | F. Nagoor |
| Sheriyo Thetto | 1953 | Thikkurissi Sukumaran |
| Ponkathir | 1953 | E. R. Kooper |
| Avakasi | 1954 | Antony Mitradas |
| Sandehi | 1954 | F. Nagoor |
| Puthradharmam | 1954 | Vimal Kumar |
| Avan Varunnu | 1954 | M R S Mani |
| Neelakkuyil | 1954 | Ramu Karyat,P Bhaskaran |
| Manasakshi | 1954 | G. Vishwanath |
| Balyasa | 1954 | Antony Mitradas |
| Snehaseema | 1954 | S. S. Rajan |
| Kidappaadam | 1955 | M. R. S. Mani |
| Harishchandra | 1956 | Antony Mitradas |
| Kalam Marunnu | 1956 | R. Velappan Nair |
| Natyathara | 1956 | C S Rao ( Dubbed !) |
| News Paper Boy | 1956 | P. Ramdas |
| C. I. D. | 1956 | M. Krishnan Nair |
| Aniyathi | 1956 | M. Krishnan Nair |
| Rarichan Enna Pouran | 1956 | P. Bhaskaran |
| Aatmarpanam | 1956 | G.R. Rao |
| Manthravathi | 1956 | P. Subramanian |
| Koodapirappu | 1956 | J.D. Thottaan |
| Avar Unarunnu | 1956 | N. Sankaran Nair |
| Paadaatha Painkily | 1957 | P. Subramaniam |
| Atchanum Makanum | 1957 | Vimal Kumar |
| Minnaminungu | 1957 | Ramu Kariyatt |
| Minnunnathellam Ponnalla | 1957 | R. Velappan |
| Jail Pulli | 1957 | P. Subramaniam |
| Thaskaraveeran | 1957 | Shri Ramalu Naidu |
| Devasundary | 1957 | M.K.R. Nambiar |
| Nayaru Pidicha Pulival | 1958 | P. Bhaskaran |
| Lilly | 1958 | F. Nagoor |
| Mariakutty | 1958 | P. Subramaniam |
| Randidangazhi | 1958 | P. Subramaniam |
| Chathurangam | 1959 | J.D. Thottan |
| Naadodikal | 1959 | S. Ramanathan |
| Minnal Padayali | 1959 | G. Viswanath |
| Aana Valarthiya Vaanambadi | 1959 ? | P.Subramaniam. |
Neelakkuyil (1954) gave us P.Bhaskaran and Ramu Kariat, and the first indigenous Malayalam narrative, one of our own. Newspaper Boy(1956) was the first film,completely done by a bunch of students, led by P.Ramdas – a first in Indian Cinema! Naayaru pidicha Pulival (1958) became the first movie based on traveling circus in Malayalam Cinema, and Aana Valarthiya Vaanambadi(1959 ?) became our first Jungle Movie, directed by P.Subramaniam.
The infancy of 1930s with 2 silent movies and one talkie and the 1940s was overran in 1950s with many movies getting released, incredible achievement
Module 2: Indian Cinema.
Phalke and the desi enterprise – Indian cinema 30s to the 60s – The golden 50s – Indian art cinema and the
Indian New wave – History of Malayalam Cinema – New wave in Malayalam cinema – Contemporary
trends in Malayalam cinema
can someone find out this syllabus for me plz…am tired out of searching,..:(..plz…plz…
this is a gud page…by the way..i need hindu bakthi filims namely baktha kujela….please provide the url’s of pages that provide bakthi filims…..
Thank you Velayudhan.Here is a Wiki Page that lists Mythological films across different languages of India, maybe you could start there, exploring each one. You could buy a VCD copy of Bhaktha Kuchela here. Thanks..cinematters
can you please help me…our syllabus has included film studies and history of film..we find it extremely difficult to learn the history..it is highly disappointing that the university haven’t provided us with ample material.can you please help us by providing material and essays based on the milestones and features of the past years of malayalam cinema? the material we have collected are dry and a least remedy to our leaking memory as all we have are list of films years and list of directors
Hi Gayathri,
THAT still scores on consistency, don’t they ? Could you please be SPECIFIC on what exactly you need in the first place, as the impression I get from reading your note is the entire history from 1930 – 2012 neatly packaged in a audio-visual presentation, which is clse to impossible. If you could let me know what EXACTLY the syllabus require you to learn, it would be good start. And, as such, the Web has a reasonably good amount of resources spread across the cyberscape. You just need to invest time and search. Let me know. Cinematters.
Glad to know that Universities are still the same
Our syllabus includes all the basic details on the techniques , major movements, history and all that we could possibly think of not learning
the syllabus as such is as vague as possible and i’m not sure what the university expects us to learn 
but for all that we know there isn’t a standardized text book or clear material in hand even for our teachers 
but yes you have guessed right we have to learn the whole history of both Indian and Malayalam cinema including movements like the New Wave…Will you be able to help us? its been really tricky because we have to complete all these and the rest of our core portions within a single semester..and we are the first batch to have the sysytem implemented 
so text and no question papers for a model 
Hi Gayathri,
Will mail you on this. Thanks.cinematters
Module 2: Indian Cinema.
Phalke and the desi enterprise – Indian cinema 30s to the 60s – The golden 50s – Indian art cinema and the
Indian New wave – History of Malayalam Cinema – New wave in Malayalam cinema – Contemporary
trends in Malayalam cinema …this what one of our module says :’( it was actually lengthier but i guess they did a great job publishing an abridged version making it as vague as possible …
This is not my opinion..I read in some magazine that he was suspected of being one as he “vansished” mysteriously. Also..those were the times. there were rumors of german spies all over the world post WW2.
Dear Sibi,
Like you said, those were the times.Anything was fodder.. 
..regards..cinematters
Could be possible that it must have been the overtly fertile imagination of a copy editor !
In 1948 or 49 a movie called Vellinakshatram was made with the help of a German. Later on he mysteriously vanished and was said to be a spy. Have any details ?
Dear Sibi,
As far as I know, the movie was produced by Udaya Studio, and directed by Felix JH Baez, our noire friend. This looks like another exciting lead to pursue. Though launched with much fanfare by Udaya Studios, it crashed and burned at the box-office, as far as i have read about it. This was Ms Kumari’s debut film, also A Chidambaranath’s first as Music Director.It is claimed to the first indigenously made Malayalam film in Kerala..We would need to check also the claims of Merryland to get to the bottom of that, but I guess Kunchacko’s and Udaya’s saga started with Vellinakshathram. regards..cinematters
That part of being a spy is news to me. Wow.
these are being nostalgic feelings to all malayalees.
thank you for this details.
Dear Prophet Muhammed,
Thank you for writing in. These are certainly worth the nostalgia for every Malayali out there. Hope to see more of you at OMC..regards..cinematters
Thanks for your efforts. Iwould like to know about the actors of malayalam movies ,those were released in the period 1930 to 1960 .
Dear Sajeev,
There is no readymade list of actors who were a part of the Malayalam Film Industry between 1930-1950. If its online, you got to do it the old fashioned way, search with the help of Google. Articles that are avaialable have been hyperlinked in that list which will give you a real good idea of the actors and the movies. There are also reference books available offline – Vijaykrishnan‘s Malayala Cinemayude Katha is a good starting point. You can even buy the book online here. Thank you for your kind words. Regards..cinematters
can you help me to find the video clipping of Malayalam lyrics by Mahakavi Pala inthe picture Avarunarunnu. The music direction is done by Dakshinamoorthy Swamy
Thanking you
Sreekumar
Dear Sreekumar,
Thank you for writing in. I’m not quite sure what you meant by ” video clipping of Malayalam lyrics “. If you mean the Videos of the 11 songs in the movie, I’m sorry I am not even sure there is a commercially released copy of the movie out in the market in the first place. As many malayalam movies of the 50′s are now being released as VCD’s, I hope a VCD of this would be released soon.
However, if you meant the lyrics of the songs, you can go through all of them here at Malayalasangeetham info. It also has a sample clipping of the tracks that are available.
Will keep an eye out for a release of the movie VCD copy in the market and keep you posted. Also you could keep a regular check at Maebag.com. They do have a great collection of old movies and are pretty reliable too.
PS.
I have deleted your personal number from here as it is unsafe to leave your personal number in an online public domain. Thanks.
Wish to know more details about O.J. Thottan, Director of Alphonsa
Dear Thomas,
Thank you for passing through OMC and writing in. Other than the details of the movie Alphonsa (1952) and its technical crew, I am sorry I just donot have more on OJ Thottan at this point of time. I am trying my level best to collate any information that I could get off from the Web, writing to people with similar surnames ( I can see that you too carry that illustrious surname), and through community forums on old Malayalam Cinema. Please rest assured that you would be the first to know once I get any information on OJ Thottan. Thanks once again for writing in. Regards, CM
most valuable notes of malayala cinima.
Hi Robinson,
Thank you for writing in. Those valuable notes that you just mentioned would not have borne fruit if not for a dedicated team of people who keep painstakingly compiling the Malayalam Movie Database and keep refining it as and when new information flows in. You could go through the database here.. Thank you once again and hope to see you moe often in these parts. Have a great week..Regards..Cinematters
Thank you so much for posting this page about the unbelievably good period of Malayalam film. I have bookmarked it. Definitely see Neelakkuyil. How can I get the others?
Hi Sangeetha,
.. Regarding the movies, Maebag.com is a great place to get those old titles. But sadly most of them are only avbl in the VCD format. There is a selflessly committed group of enthusiasts who are collating and making the database on Malayalam Cinema, as we speak, and I am honored to have been invited to be a part of it. You could lose yourself in the ealth of information they have collected over the years at http://www.malayalasangeetham.info.
Thank you so much for taking your time out to write in and those kind words. Glad that you found the list worthwhile, and thank you for subscribing to OMC
Thanks once again for passing through..
Regards,
CM
best movie