Came across this fantastic re-interpretation of a magical kind altogether the other day, based on a small report in the Malayala Manorama daily. KV Jyothilal, an accomplished and experienced artist from Kollam has done this exquisite series of paintings based on the Malayalam Classics that we have grown up on, and have come to love and cherish. He has done a series on his favorites composed by Vayalar and another series dedicated to the classics by P Bhaskaran.
It is quite commendable and the more you go through his ontepretation of Vayalar’s compositions, one is amazed at the different layers and textures that he reveals, that is the best part about the sets. He had just completed an exhibition of the series last week, a tiny report of the same that stoked my curiosity. And thank God, he did have the good faculties to have uploaded all of it as separate blogs termed Nirakkoottam ( a play on the term Nirakkoottu – color palette). I have attempted to showcase his creation against the celluloid original ( as available on the Web ) that was his inspiration so that it becomes easy to put them in perspective. He has in total, painted 32 interpretations of his beloved classics of which only 10 have been displayed online. Here are a few from the series.
Continue reading Vayalar’s Classics gets a reintepretation as Paintings, courtesy KV Jyothilal
There is no other dirge that we hold close to our heart than the classic Samayamam Rathathil (In the Chariot of Time, here I am, on my journey to heaven), which has become a symbol of passing regardless of caste, creed or social boundaries. No ‘Passing ‘ is complete without 
Songs that celebrate the festive spirit of Onam, the harvest festival of our homeland ( wait a minute, harvest festival? I can’t even recall the last time someone celebrated a decent harvest), have got themselves their own special place in the realm of Malayalam Cinema. Come to think of it, it has been quite some time, since someone decently picturized a traditional Thiruvathira recital or an Onappaattu worth its salt in recent years. Should we blame the increasing disconnect with our traditions, and as an implication, less recognition by the movie-watching public, which again means less marketability? I don’t know. 
Its hard when you have a body of work that is more than 900 plus songs to his credit in Malayalam Cinema, and most of them compete with each other on your favorites’ list. Right from the first composition in Kalam Maarunnu (1955), “Aa Malarpoyikayil”, a duet – sung by KS George and K Sulochana, it becomes a delightful exercise every time I try to compile my favorite 10 songs of ONV. I think ONV had two great associations for the collective number of films collaborated, when it came to making great songs for cinema, G.Devarajan and Salil Choudhari.
When KPAC went ahead and transferred the ‘socialist revolution’ on to the commercial framework of Malayalam Cinema, they were also cleverly marketing the principle onto those parts of the community that had not yet heard or known about the ‘movement.’ That was one aspect. It also gave us some great compositions through them movies that still manage to capture our attention, and sing along with it, amazed at the way some can turn on the goosebumps routine. But, whether they are equally as inspiring as they once were, hmmmmm..that would be something really worth thinking about, when the idea itself is gradually sliding down the planet’s history dustbin. No, personally, I still believe the idea will have universal relevance. It was the ‘execution’ part that did it in. Here are the ones that still manages to get my eyes misty and the heart reasonably wistful.
OLD MALAYALAM CINEMA 