KOCHI: It was unabashed mediocrity, sickening staleness and finally a couple of stray surprises. No film released in 2010 took Mollywood by storm and there were more misses than hits.
While some overhyped outings tumbled down the drain, some others had a miraculous run at the box office. Mollywood had only one landslide hit, Pokkiriraja, a star-ridden potboiler sprinkled with exaggerated action sequences and complete with item numbers.
Though incomparable with former Malayalam hits in the genre, Happy Husbands and In Ghost House Inn turned out to be major crowdpullers. Pranchiyettan and the Saint proved that experimental takes, if executed neatly, can keep the cash registers ringing, too. Katha Thudarunnu, Malarvadi Arts Club and Elsamma Enna Aankutty, too, were well-received by the spectators for their feel good appeal. Other films that fared well at the box office include Pappi Appacha, Shikar, Mummy and Me, Apoorvaragam and Karyasthan.
Expectations skyrocketed when Orunaal Varum hit the theatres, but neither Sreeni's script nor his halcyon combo with Lal could save it from being a colossal disaster. Drona, Anwar, Pramani, Aagathan, Vande Matharam, Alexander the Great and Four Friends were other phenomenal flops of the year. While most of the films can claim topnotch technical expertise, they lacked a solid script to back, making them major debacles. Though Cocktail had good craft coupled with so much of spunk, it unfortunately couldn't make to the top list. While offbeat taboo kept the audience away from Kutti Srank and Sufi Paranja Katha, the real tragedy was genuine attempts like T D Dasan going unnoticed.
2010 also saw a number of newbies making notable debuts. While Vaishakh, Vineet Sreenivasan and Ann Augustine hogged much limelight, films of Mohan Raghavan and Arun Kumar were noted for their craft. Among the actors, Mammootty had the maximum number of performanceoriented roles ranging from critically acclaimed Kutti Srank to the sweet and simple Prachiyettan.
Shikkar provided Mohanlal a muchneeded hit while Prithviraj and Jayasurya had no solo hits to their credit this year. Kunchako Boban gained back his visibility with five releases and two hits. Though there were a couple of femaleoriented films that fared well at the box office none of them was outofthebox offerings. Mamta put on a fine act in Katha Thudarunnu and Urvashi played title roles in Mummy and Me and Sakudumbam Shyamala. While Penpattanam sank without a trace. Pattinte Palazhi, touted as Meera Jasmin's comeback vehicle, had a lukewarm reception.
Denied of meaningful films, there was a damaging uptick in sensibility as the audience swayed in favour of masala films. The delicate balance of commercial and artistic elements that used to define popular Malayalam cinema was nowhere to be seen. There was minimal experimentation and themes were mostly stale and common. The sociopolitical element was missing as most of the heroes continued their eternal mission of settling family rivalries and conducting local temple festivals.