PARVATHY OR ANNA? UYIRIL THODUM OR JAATHIKKATHOTTAM? MAMMOOTTY OR…? A PICK
OF THE YEAR’S BEST WORK
2019
has been one of the greatest years in recent memory for Mollywood, the Kerala-based
film industry that makes films largely in Malayalam. It has, therefore, been
tough to arrive at lists of the year’s most memorable films. Still, as a
follow-up to my Best Mollywood Films 2019 compilation, here is my selection of
the best actors, directors, songs and technicians – nominees and winners – in
categories generally recognised at most film awards worldwide, what I like to
call my personal
Mollywood Awards 2019.
(Note: I am appending to this article a footnote* on my use of the word “Mollywood”,
which I initially wrote for my piece on the best Mollywood films of the year.)
This list contains only
films released in 2019 and in mainstream theatres, not at festivals alone nor,
for practical reasons, direct-to-online releases, although in coming years I
will extend the scope to the latter too.
2019
has given the Mollywood gazer a lot to celebrate. I have covered 19 films in
the nominations here and ended up leaving out many more than I would have liked
to because, unfortunately, no list can be unlimited. There are anywhere from five to seven nominees in each category, all
arranged in alphabetical order. If even one reader seeks out a film included
here that they missed in the past year in theatres, my job is done.
BEST FILM
Nominees: (All
nominee lists are in alphabetical order)
1. Jallikattu
4. Unda
5. Virus
And the award goes to…
Kumbalangi Nights
BEST DIRECTOR
Nominees:
Aashiq Abu (Virus)
Girish A.D. (Thanneermathan
Dinangal)
Khalidh Rahman (Unda)
Lijo Jose
Pellissery (Jallikattu)
Madhu
C. Narayanan (Kumbalangi Nights)
And the award goes to…
Madhu C. Narayanan (Kumbalangi Nights) and Aashiq
Abu
(Virus)
BEST WRITING
Nominees:
Girish A.D., Dinoy Paulose (Thanneermathan Dinangal)
Khalidh Rahman, Harshad (Unda)
Muhsin Parari,
Sharafu, Suhas (Virus)
R. Jayakumar, S. Hareesh (Jallikattu)
Syam Pushkaran (Kumbalangi Nights)
And the award goes to…
Syam Pushkaran (Kumbalangi Nights)
BEST ACTOR (FEMALE)
Nominees:
Aishwarya Lekshmi (Vijay Superum Pournamiyum)
Anaswara Rajan (Thanneermathan Dinangal)
Anna Ben (Kumbalangi Nights)
Rajisha Vijayan (Finals)
Veena Nandhakumar (Kettiyollaanu Ente Maalakha)
And the award goes to…
Parvathy (Uyare)
BEST ACTOR (MALE)
Nominees:
Asif Ali (Kettiyollaanu Ente Maalakha)
Mammootty (Unda)
Soubin Shahir (Kumbalangi Nights)
Sreenath Bhasi (Kumbalangi Nights)
Tovino Thomas (And The Oskar Goes To)
And the award goes to…
Vinay Forrt (Thamaasha)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (FEMALE)
Nominees:
Anna Ben (Kumbalangi Nights)
Chinnu Chandni (Thamaasha)
Dhanya Ananya (Nalpathiyonnu)
Grace Antony (Kumbalangi Nights)
Manohari Joy (Kettiyollaanu Ente Maalakha)
Rima Kallingal (Virus)
Santhy Balachandran (Jallikattu)
And the award goes to…
Manohari Joy (Kettiyollaanu Ente Maalakha)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (MALE)
Nominees:
Aju Varghese (Helen)
Asif
Ali (Uyare)
Fahadh Faasil (Kumbalangi Nights)
Lukman (Unda)
Roshan Mathew (Moothon)
Saran Jith (Nalpathiyonnu)
Sreenath Bhasi (Virus)
And the award goes to…
Asif
Ali (Uyare)
BEST CAST
Nominees:
Soubin Shahir, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Kendy
Zirdo, Saiju Kurup, Parvathi T, Megha Mathew, Rajesh Madhavan, Sivadas Kannur,
Unni Raja and others
Kettiyollaanu Ente Maalakha:
Asif
Ali, Veena Nandhakumar, Manohari Joy, Basil Joseph, Jaffer Idukki, Raveendran
and others
Kumbalangi Nights:
Soubin
Shahir, Sreenath Bhasi, Shane Nigam, Mathew Thomas,
Fahadh Faasil, Anna Ben, Grace Antony, Jasmine Mètivier, Sooraj Pops, Ramesh Thilak and others
Unda:
Mammootty, Shine
Tom Chacko, Arjun Ashokan, Lukman, Omkar Das Manikpuri, Ranjith Balakrishnan,
Bhagwan Tiwari, Jacob Gregory, Dileesh Pothan, Chien Ho Liao, Easwari Rao and others, Cameos by Asif
Ali and Vinay Forrt
Uyare:
Parvathy, Asif Ali,
Tovino Thomas, Siddique, Anarkali Marikar, Prem Prakash, Pratap K. Pothen, Samyuktha
Menon and others
Virus:
Parvathy, Kunchacko Boban, Tovino
Thomas, Rima Kallingal, Sreenath Bhasi, Revathy, Joju George, Indrajith
Sukumaran, Asif Ali, Indrans, Sharafudheen, Soubin Shahir, Dileesh Pothan,
Rahman, Madonna Sebastian, Sajitha Madathil, Leona Lishoy, Darshana Rajendran,
Remya Nambeesan
And the award goes to…
Virus:
Parvathy, Kunchacko Boban, Tovino
Thomas, Rima Kallingal, Sreenath Bhasi, Revathy, Joju George, Indrajith
Sukumaran, Asif Ali, Indrans, Sharafudheen, Soubin Shahir, Dileesh Pothan,
Rahman, Madonna Sebastian, Sajitha Madathil, Leona Lishoy, Darshana Rajendran,
Remya Nambeesan
BEST MUSIC
Nominees:
Justin Varghese (Thanneermathan Dinangal)
Prashant Pillai (Jallikattu)
Sushin Shyam (Kumbalangi Nights)
Sushin Shyam (Virus)
And the award goes to…
Sushin Shyam (Kumbalangi Nights)
BEST SONG
Nominees:
Aradhike (from Ambili):
Composition: Vishnu Vijay
Lyrics: Vinayak
Sasikumar
Singing: Sooraj
Santhosh, Madhuvanthi Narayan
Enna Undra (from Kettiyollaanu Ente Maalakha):
Composition: William Francis
Lyrics:
B.K. Harinarayanan
Singing: William
Francis
Jaathikkathottam (from Thanneermathan
Dinangal):
Composition: Justin Varghese
Lyrics: Suhail
Koya
Singing: Soumya
Ramakrishnan, Devadutt Bijibal
Nee Mazhavillu Polen (from Finals):
Composition: Kailas Menon
Lyrics: Sreerekha
Bhaskaran
Singing: Naresh
Iyer, Priya Prakash Varrier
Parakkaam Parakkaam (from
Finals):
Composition: Kailas Menon
Lyrics: M.D.
Rajendran
Singing: Latha
Krishna, Yazin Nizar
Silent Cat (from Kumbalangi Nights):
Composition: Sushin Shyam
Lyrics: Nezer
Ahemed
Singing: K.
Zia
Uyiril Thodum (from Kumbalangi Nights):
Composition: Sushin Shyam
Lyrics: Anwar
Ali
Singing: Anne
Amie, Sooraj Santhosh
And the award goes to…
Uyiril Thodum (from Kumbalangi Nights):
Composition: Sushin Shyam
Lyrics: Anwar
Ali
Singing: Anne
Amie, Sooraj Santhosh
BEST EDITING
Nominees:
Deepu Joseph (Jallikattu)
Ratheesh Raj (Driving Licence)
Saiju Sreedharan (Kumbalangi Nights)
Saiju Sreedharan (Virus)
Shameer Muhammad (Helen)
Shameer Muhammed (Thanneermathan
Dinangal)
And the award goes to…
Deepu Joseph (Jallikattu)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Nominees:
Ajith Aacharya (Chola)
Gireesh Gangadharan (Jallikattu)
Jomon T. John,
Vinod Illampally (Thanneermathan Dinangal)
Mukesh Muraleedharan (Uyare)
Rajeev Ravi, Shyju
Khalid (Virus)
Sameer Thahir (Thamaasha)
Shyju Khalid (Kumbalangi Nights)
And the award goes to…
Shyju Khalid (Kumbalangi Nights)
BEST SOUND DESIGN
Nominees:
Ajayan Adat (Virus)
Jayadevan
Chakkadath (Kumbalangi Nights)
Renganaath Ravee (Jallikattu)
Sync Cinema (Helen)
Vishnu Govind, Sreeshankar (Unda)
And the award goes to…
Renganaath Ravee (Jallikattu)
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Nominees:
Helen
Jallikattu
Kumbalangi Nights
Unda
Uyare
Virus
And the award goes to…
Jallikattu
MOST INTERESTING DEBUTANT IN A LEAD OR
SUPPORTING ROLE
Nominees:
Anna Ben (Kumbalangi Nights)
Dhanya Ananya (Nalpathiyonnu)
Kendy
Zirdo (Android Kunjappan Version 5.25)
Mathew Thomas (Kumbalangi Nights)
Saran Jith (Nalpathiyonnu)
And the award goes to…
Anna Ben (Kumbalangi Nights)
*FOOTNOTE ABOUT THE TERM MOLLYWOOD:
Over
the years, some readers have urged me to not use the word Mollywood for the Kerala-based
primarily Malayalam language industry. I would like to discuss why I persist
with it.
To
those who say Mollywood is a derivative term subordinating the Malayalam film
industry to Bollywood, I must point out that Mollywood is not derived from
Bollywood. All the nicknames used by the press and public for India’s film
industries – Mollywood, Bollywood,
Kollywood, Tollywood, Sandalwood and so on – are drawn from
Hollywood. A reader once told me she has no problem with “Bollywood” but
objects to “Mollywood”. This I cannot understand. Either you object to all
these derivative labels or none at all. If you object to all, I completely get
where you are coming from, but do note my reasons for continuing to use them at
least for now.
First, “Bollywood” has served as great national and international branding for the Indian film industry headquartered in Mumbai that makes films mostly in Hindi, with very very occasional forays into Haryanvi, English and other languages. Whenever I speak to my counterparts in the foreign press, I find a majority of them are not even aware that India makes films other than the ones coming from Shah Rukh Khan’s city. While this is primarily due to the extreme pro-Hindi, pro-Bollywood bias of India’s own supposedly ‘national’ newspapers and TV channels based in Delhi and Mumbai that amplify Bollywood’s works while largely ignoring India’s other film industries, another factor is branding. The term “Bollywood” is catchy. As long as the ‘national’ media’s bias remains, my personal choice is to do everything in my power as an individual to give high visibility to films from India’s other industries, because like most cinephiles, I am keen that the films I love get as wide a national and global audience as possible.
Second,
as Indian cinema evolves, these terms have become useful in another way. Unlike
Bollywood cinema whose characters almost invariably speak Hindi and at a
stretch, English but no other Indian language irrespective of which part of
India or the world they are situated in, Mollywood has been adventurous with
language. Increasingly, I am afraid, a
certain section of Mollywood has also been treating Hindi as a signifier of
coolth and using it even where it is not necessary or relevant – in the way
English was once viewed by Bollywood – but that is a separate discussion. Back
to the subject at hand, the 2017 film Tiyaan, which revolved around a community of Malayalis living in
Uttar Pradesh, was – as it would be in real life – equal parts Malayalam and
Hindi with even some Sanskrit dialogues included in the mix. In this year’s lovely
Mammootty-starrer Unda, when a posse from the Kerala Police travelled on
election duty to Hindi belt states, what we were given was a natural mix of
Malayalam, Hindi and a few other tongues. To describe either of these as “Malayalam
films” would be inaccurate. Mollywood therefore
is also an expedient term. (This applies to Bollywood too on the
rare occasions when the quest for authenticity has spurred a director to favour
a language other than Hindi.)
With no
disrespect then to those who disagree, I intend to use “Mollywood” as long
as there is a far bigger worry than a derivative term, that worry being the ‘national’
media barely acknowledging this industry. But the day Mohanlal and Manju Warrier,
Parvathy and Fahadh Faasil become household names across India the way the
Khans, Kapoors, Kaifs and Chopras of Bollywood are, I plan to invest time and energy in coining an
alternative term. I promise.
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