Malayalam Cinema Stars and their Online Habitats – 1

Pic Courtesy : Shane Waltener

Deeply saddening. This is the one emotion  that comes to mind as you go through the online domains of our actors which are meant to be their online legacies for future generations. Almost all of them come across as something “begun-with-good-intent-with the wrong-tools-and-perspective-before-leaving-it-halfway”. None of them realise  the gravity and importance of the very reason WHY the website is there in the first place. But you can’t blame ALL of them. Most of them seem to be  built as tribute by fans who then employ their own yardsticks when creating them. As a result, all you get are over-the-top fawning and salivating text that sometimes borders on the hysterically bizarre ( which I intent to share as we go along)  with howlers as text and thumbnail photographs in photogalleries that refuse to pop-up.On rechecking you find,ummm..well..that is their set size!

Guess who wrote to Old Malayalam Cinema ?

Kiran Vergis in Kakkothi Kaavile Appoppan Thaadikal

Old Malayalam Cinema received a mail from a character from an unforgettable film that was released 22 years ago.

A certain Murli wrote in a cryptic note at the Kakkothi Kaavile Appoppan Thaadikal (1988) post, that almost hid a note of glee in that. It read,

Director Kamal, Cinematographer Vipin Mohan on their favorite movie.

Director Kamal‘s first movie was Mizhineer Pookal (1986). Kakkothikavile Appooppan Thadikal ( 1987 ) was his third Malayalam movie. Now with close to 40 films that defy categories and genre to his credit, he still considers Kakkothikavile Appooppan Thadikal as the one closest to his heart. I think it is not difficult to see why.

Kakkothi Kaavile Appoppan Thaadikal (1988)

There is no other film that weaves a story around childhood and sibling love  like Kakkothi Kaavile Appoppan Thaadikal (1988), in Malayalam, written by Fazil and  directed by Kamal , and looking at the way things are progressing, there never will. Kamal calls it the movie closest to his heart, Vipin Mohan (legendary cinematographer) says there can be no film like this, ever. It doesn’t have a single superstar of the times, no sky-high budgets, no glitz. All it has  is a beautiful story of separation, independence and the inevitable reunion, deftly woven around a myth that stays sacred in the collective consciousness of one’s childhood – everything that is embodied by an appoppan thadi ( Grandpa’s beard a.k.a Calotropis Gigantea) !