UP North in the 1980s, when Prem Nazir, Malayalam cinema’s Nithyaharitha Nayakan (evergreen hero) made it to The Guinness Book of World Records for playing the lead in 524 movies, and also for pairing up with the same leading lady (Sheela) in 130 of them, it seemed to pique the interest of civil services aspirants more than Bollywood moguls. Malabar Hill knew so little of Malabar Coast back then! It was not as though they were oblivious of Nazir’s astounding repertoire. Rajesh Khanna had delivered a hit, The Train—based on Nazir’s 1967-starrer, Cochin Express—in 1970 at the peak of his career. But a forward-looking Malayalam cinema did not impress Bombay’s filmmakers fixated with formula. For decades, they were primarily hooked on to Tamil and Telugu films—one for the maudlin family socials during the black and white times, and the other for the grandiose musical dramas from the Eastmancolor era. Both worked magic at the box office. In fact, the entire southern industry was pejoratively defined for long as ‘Madrasi Cinema’, a generic term coined by the pashas from Pali Hill.
Bollywood And Malayalam: Why Malabar Coast Was Too Far For Malabar Hill
Unlike its yen for Telugu and Tamil, Bollywood never much took to Malayalam—despite a stray Aap ki Kasam or Julie. It was thought of either as ‘too arty’ or ‘too hot to handle’.
Malayalam cinema, therefore, remained an almost uncharted territory in Hindi for years until a prolific Priyadarshan made it a go-to destination for Bollywood, primarily by churning out remakes of his zany comedies in Hindi such as Hera Pheri (2000), Hungama (2003), Garam Masala (2005) and Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007). And then the Ajay Devgn starrer Drishyam (2015) turned Malayalam cinema into a veritable happy hunting ground for Hindi filmmakers.
Nevertheless, Bollywood took decades to know the real worth of Malayalam cinema. Barring an occasional Samaj ko Badal Dalo (1969), Aap ki Kasam (1974), Julie (1975) and Amar Deep (1979), the Hindi industry steered clear of Malayalam cinema until the 1980s, considering it to be either ‘too arty’ or ‘too hot to handle’. In 1980, I.V. Sasi made the Mithun Chakraborty starrer Patita, a Hindi remake of his Malyalam hit Avalude Ravukal (1978). Its dubbed version in Hindi, Her Nights, had earlier created a nationwide sensation, more for its ‘come-hither’ posters than for its progressive content.
In contrast, Tamil and Telugu cinema lured Hindi filmmakers from the very beginning. Big southern banners such as Gemini Studio, Prasad Productions and AVM regularly made Hindi movies starring top-notch Hindi stars of the time. Raj Kapoor did Sharda (1957) and Nazrana (1961), Dilip Kumar Azaad (1955) and Aadmi (1968), Balraj Sahni Chhoti Bahen (1959), Shammi Kapoor Dil Tera Deewana (1962) and Sunil Dutt Khandan (1965), while Vyjayanthimala made her debut with Bahar (1951), all remakes of Tamil hits.
The Travancore Sisters
Hindi cinema had a similar predilection for Telugu cinema. Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand shared screen for the first and last time in Insaniyat (1955), while Dilip did a Ram aur Shyam (1967) a few years later. There were many other Hindi hits such as Rajendra Kumar’s Gharana (1960), Guru Dutt’s Bahurani (1963), Sunil Dutt’s Milan (1967), Jitendra’s Farz (1967), Jeene ki Raah (1969), Bhai Ho to Aisa (1972), Bidaai and Dulhan (1974), Rajesh Khanna’s Chhoti Bahu (1971) and Prem Nagar (1974), all remakes of Telugu movies. By the 1980s, Tamil and Telugu movies began to be remade in Hindi in such a large number, from Himmatwala (1983) to Dayavan (1988), that a star like Jeetendra had to shift to Madras bag and baggage to do multiple shifts in Madras and Hyderabad. All this while, the number of Malayalam movies remade in Hindi remained few and far between. Raj Kumar’s Itihaas (1987), Ajay Degvn’s Phool aur Kaante (1992) and Priyadarshan’s Gardish (1993) were a few notable exceptions. Prolific Priyadarshan did make a few serious Malayalam remakes in Hindi in the 1990s, but he clicked only with comedies.
The scenario gradually changed with Bollywood beginning to value content-rich subjects in the new millennium. On one hand, a sensitive remake of a Malayalam film in Hindi such as Dor (2006) earned critical acclaim; on the other, the Hindi remake of Bodyguard (2011) turned out to be a huge hit. Still, Malayalam movies being remade in Hindi remains low in comparison to Tamil, Telugu or even Kannada cinema.
Similar has been the fate of big Malayalam stars when they tried their luck on the other side of the Vindhyas. Both Mammootty and Mohanlal made a foray into Hindi cinema, but they could not get even a fraction of success enjoyed by Kamal Haasan or Rajinikanth for a while in Hindi cinema. Also, while actresses from Tamil and Telugu cinema, from Vyjyanthimala and Hema Malini to Sridevi and Jaya Prada became heart-throbs of the nation primarily because of their success in Hindi cinema, none of the talented actresses from Malayalam films, including the famous Travancore Sisters, could emulate them despite possessing what it takes to reach the top.
(This appeared in the print edition as "Over The Malabar Hill")
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(The writer is a National Award-winning critic on cinema)