A deep dive into Malayalam cinema’s renaissance through V.K. Cherian’s lens, exploring Noon Films, the A-Team of filmmakers, and the cultural movements that transformed storytelling in Kerala forever. V.K. Cherian in conversation with Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri. 

In Noon Films: Magical Renaissance of Malayalam Cinema, filmmaker and writer V.K. Cherian chronicles the revolutionary era of Malayalam cinema, driven by pioneers like Adoor Gopalakrishnan, G. Aravindan, and John Abraham. Rooted in movements like the Chitralekha Film Society, these filmmakers redefined cinematic language, blending global influences with local narratives. Cherian's insightful account reveals how the Noon Films, once marginalized, sparked a cultural and artistic awakening that reshaped Kerala’s film industry. Rich in historical context and critical analysis, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in world cinema, creative innovation, and the legacy of India's regional film movements.

Malayalam films have been wooing Indian audiences with unfailing regularity over the last few years. However, the renaissance of films from Kerala began almost 50 years ago with the formation of the Chitralekha Film Society, the emergence of the A-team of filmmakers, and what came to be called Noon Films. In his new book Noon Films: Magical Renaissance of Malayalam Cinema (Atlantic Books), filmmaker and writer V.K. Cherian provides a fascinating account of a magical time that gave the Malayalam industry a new direction. The author spoke to Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri.

Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri: ‘Noon Films’ – for those not acquainted with Malayalam cinema, it is a fascinating term. I was totally engrossed. Can you tell our readers something about how this term originated and what these films entailed?

V.K. Cherian: The term Noon Films originated not from critics or filmmakers, but from the distributors and theatre owners of Kerala in the 1970s. The New Wave films, made by FTII graduates like Adoor and writers and cultural activists like M.T. Vasudevan Nair and Aravindan, were being honoured from 1972 in the national film awards year after year, and there was huge interest from a sizable section of the population. Adoor’s Swayamvaram (1972) got the best film of the year and three more awards. M.T. Vasudevan Nair’s Nirmalyam (1973) got the best film and best actor award. Aravindan’s Utharayanam (1974) bagged a special award at the national film festival, creating excitement among not just the film society-walas of towns across Kerala, but the chain of libraries across each of the villages in Kerala, leading to cinema houses taking these films seriously.

Swayamvaram made by Chitralekha Film Cooperative was released as a regular film, but its initial run before the awards was a flop. It ran for two weeks to dull houses after the awards. Nirmalyam was a regular on the show since MT had already been established as a good scriptwriter before. Aravindan’s slow-moving meditative films were also a favourite, but the theatre circuits and distributors thought it would be wise to show it at 12 noon so that their regular shows and revenues would not be affected. They decided to give a special status to new Malayalam films by providing them a space at the 12 o’clock slot and calling them Uchapadangal (noon films). Most of Aravindan's films were noon films, as were those of P.A. Backer, T.V. Chandran, and a few others who made such films in the 1970s and ’80s. That is how such films began to be described as noon films by the distributors, to show their disdain for such experiments but willingness to accommodate them for a special group of audiences.   

The ‘A-Team’ of Malayalam New Wave Cinema

Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri: Related to the Noon Films is what you call ‘The A-Team’ of filmmakers. Could you give us an introduction to this group of filmmakers and their contribution?

V.K. Cherian: The term ‘A-Team’ was coined by Prof. Dr. Ayyappa Paniker, head of the Department of English of Kerala University. Dr. Paniker was often referred to as the T.S. Eliot of Malayalam for his innovative themes and writing. He was also famous for his puns on various cultural phenomena, and he decided to call the pioneers of ‘New Wave’ films in Kerala the A-Team, referring to them alphabetically as Adoor, Aravindan, and Abraham (John). All of the A-Team’s films were the toast of the 1970s. Adoor, with his Chitralekha Film Society established in 1965, did what Satyajit Ray did in 1947 with his Calcutta Film Society. Aravindan and John, like Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak, carried the flag of good films in the 1970s. Incidentally, both Adoor and John were students of Ritwik at FTII.

Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri: How did these legendary filmmakers – Adoor, Aravindan, and Abraham – differ from each other in their craft and art, and what, if any, were the commonalities?

V.K. Cherian: Each had their strength in the craft of filmmaking. Adoor, being an FTII gold medallist in the 1965 batch, remains a method director in the mold of Ray, innovating in each of his films with different subjects and filmmaking styles. Aravindan, being an established cartoonist and a cultural icon, was more focused on content than craft, though he had a team of FTII graduates working with him from his second film. John, being the favorite student of Ritwik, followed Ritwik-da’s lifestyle and made some shocking films like Agraharathil Oru Kazhuthai (Donkey in a Brahmin Village), but with not-so-focused craft. Innovation of themes, content, and narratives were their strength, and together they promoted a new film culture through the film societies across Kerala.

The Impact of Noon Films on Malayalam Cinema

Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri: How does Malayalam cinema before these Noon Films differ from what came after? What is the one big change the movement makes to the filmmaking experience? Did these films – inhabiting a place of high art as opposed to big commerce – influence the film-watching experience in the state?

V.K. Cherian: Meaningful Malayalam films were stuck in the phenomenon of converting good novels and theatre productions into celluloid before the advent of Noon Films and the Chitralekha Film Cooperative. Poets, theatre people, and novelists began making films, and some got national awards too. The big change the Noon Films brought about in Malayalam films was aligning it with emerging global film language in content and format. Most of these filmmakers were FTII trained or had FTII-trained technical teams with them. Adoor’s entire team was from FTII. MT, the writer, had Azad and Ramachandra Babu, both FTII-trained people, with him. Aravindan had FTII-trained Shaji N. Karun and Isaac Thomas. John relied on his FTII juniors to make his films. Together as a team, they redefined the visual language of Malayalam films, as most of them were acquainted with global film languages during their period at FTII. Their films did influence the film-viewing and making culture of the state over the years as people began to discard commercial formula films produced by the studios in Kerala. These studios shut shop by the late 1980s. Adoor’s second film Kodiyettam was a box-office hit too, with one theatre screening it for 145 days, indicating a sharp change in audience taste. A new breed of actors and technical persons introduced by these films took over Malayalam films by the 1980s, raising the craft level of Malayalam films.  

The Chitralekha Film Movement and Its Influence

Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri: You have a big section on the Chitralekha Film Movement and its impact on the renaissance. Is it almost akin to the Calcutta Film Society Movement and its impact on Bengali cinema in the 1950s? Could you give us an account of how it influenced Malayalam cinema, and in particular Noon Films?

V.K. Cherian: Yes, what Ray did to Bengali films through the Calcutta Film Society and his films was done by Adoor and his colleagues through the Chitralekha Film Society. They went one step ahead when they formed a film cooperative with the same name and produced two films and established a studio at Thiruvananthapuram by the mid-1970s. The film cooperative produced Adoor’s first film and supplied all technical support to Aravindan’s first film. Chitralekha was not just the hub of most FTII graduates of the 1970s and ’80s, but also kicked off the film appreciation camps in Kerala, modelled on FTII-NFAI summer film camp. The multipronged intervention of Chitralekha Film Society, the film cooperative, and film productions redefined the content of Malayalam films, making it attractive to the literary people and library movement of the state. Film as a medium began to be accepted as a medium of art, not just a money-making industry.

Noon Films' Legacy and the New Era of Malayalam Cinema

Shantanu Ray Chaudhuri: Finally, Malayalam cinema has been going great guns in recent years with cutting-edge narratives that have been influential in their pan-Indian success. Do you see the influence of Noon Films in this new era of film-making? How do you see this new renaissance? You have kept the recent successes out of the ambit of the book – given the way Malayalam cinema has resonated with viewers of late, do you think that’s an aspect you could have touched upon in an afterword?

V.K. Cherian: I did not write an afterword deliberately, because though the content and style of Malayalam films have changed drastically, they have not surpassed the A-Team in creative innovations. The A-Team not only gave a new direction to Malayalam films, but also innovated to be noticed by the country and internationally. Adoor and Aravindan have had international screenings and retrospectives over the years. Adoor bagged the British Film Institute honor and remains the only one to do so after Ray. A Japanese professor of films considers Aravindan’s Kummatty as one of the best films ever made. John Abraham is being celebrated even today across the country just as Ritwik Ghatak for deep insights into his milieu.

One does not find such creative giants from Kerala these days, though they are continuously trying to innovate in content and craft. I feel Malayalam films and filmmakers are yet to grow out of the renaissance period. The contemporary creative innovations do not as yet merit an afterword. Let’s see how posterity views them.