NAKARAJAN

BEGINNING OF MALAYALAM CINEMA FROM 1951 ONWARS  THIKKURICHI SUGUMARAN NAIR -B.S.SAROJA LEADS With the setting up of Kunjacko’s Udaya Studio in Alleppey and Subrahmanyam’s Maryland Studio at Nemom in Thiruvananthapuram, the practice of producing a movie in a year changed. 1950 saw the production of six films. Most of the films, however, took the safe route of making movies themed on the cruel stepmother, the plot of Balan, the first hit. Attempts were made to make Malayalam versions of successful Tamil films and produce films based on the puranas (ancient Hindu texts featuring stories of various gods). This period also saw a number of directors and technicians moving from Tamil to the Malayalam film industry. In 1951, the landmark movie Jeevithanouga was made. Jeevithanouga, which featured actor Thikkurussi Sukumaran Nair as the hero, was scripted by Muthukulam Raghavan Pillai, who wrote the story for Balan and directed by K. Vembu. The long and heavy dialogues a...