A Kerala Studies Blog
കേരളത്തിന്റെ ആവാസവ്യവസ്ഥയിലും തോട്ടം സമ്പദ്വ്യവസ്ഥയിലും വവ്വാലുകൾക്കുള്ള പങ്കിനെക്കുറിച്ചു പശ്ചിമഘട്ടത്തിൽ നടത്തിയ ഗവേഷണത്തെ മുൻനിർത്തി കാദംബരി എഴുതുന്നു. അതോടൊപ്പം വൈറസ്, മഹേഷിന്റെ പ്രതികാരം എന്നീ സിനിമകൾ ഈ സഹവാസത്തെ സൂക്ഷ്മതയോടെ എങ്ങനെയാണു അവതരിപ്പിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നത് എന്നും ഈ ലേഖനം പരിശോധിക്കുന്നു.
Read more
Focussing on two Malayalam films from the last decade—22 Female Kottayam (Aashiq Abu, 2012) and Varathan (Amal Neerad, 2018)—Arun Ramesh argues that despite their apparently progressive politics, new-generation films continue to be influenced by feudal norms and practices.
Read more
Jaya Thampi revisits Sachy’s Ayyappanum Koshiyum (2020) to explore its cinematic soundscape and the many lives of Nanjiyamma’s songs in and beyond the film.
Read more
With renewed global interest in G. Aravindan’s 1979 film, Kummatty, Amal Nath Rajeevan revisits the film to examine the elements of magical realism that imbues it with timeless cinematic pleasure.
Read more
The idea of a ‘mass film’ is an eminently recognisable one in south India, but just what is it? How do we make sense of the aesthetics and feelings that make fans say, ‘nalla mass padam’, and just why is it missing in some recent Malayalam films? Arjun Ramachandran writes.
Read more
Reflecting on over a decade of her own research on bats in the Western Ghats, Kadambari writes about how bats have contributed to the plantation economy and ecology in Kerala over the years, and how, despite the Nipah outbreak, films like Virus and Maheshinte Prathikaram have portrayed this human-animal relationship with care.
Read more
Recent filmic portrayals of alcoholism in Kerala are a mixed bag–they do much to shed light on the condition and address the stigma around it, but also fall into tired and problematic stereotypes. Sreejith Varma writes.
Read more
How and why do certain films make the viewer feel that they are being followed? Shonima N. analyses two recent Malayalam films to examine how they play with the male gaze to unsettle the spectator.
Read more
Renu Susan explores how smartphones have transformed women’s TV-viewing practices in contemporary times, and carry implications for identity formation, independence, and a sense of oneself.
Read more
Aathma Dious argues that Malayali filmmakers have failed to move past popular—often stereotypical—tropes when it comes to representing second and[…]
Read more