The rise of Mollywood, India’s more subtle film hub

To outsiders, and indeed many in the country, Indian cinema is all about masala movies. Named after the blend of spices ubiquitous in the country’s cuisine, these films feature a mix of genres, formulaic plots and larger-than-life heroes. Most of India’s highest-grossing movies—many from Bollywood, the behemoth Hindi-language film industry—can be classified as masala. But these big-budget, action-packed melodramas belie India’s diverse cinematic output.

It is Mollywood which is leading the way in variety and sophistication. (The name nods to Malayalam, the language of Kerala state, where the film-makers are based.) It is arguably India’s most productive film industry: some 200 Malayalam films were released in 2023. Bollywood—which caters to some 500 million Hindi speakers, 15 times Kerala’s population of 35 million—produced roughly the same number.

There is quality as well as quantity, and nuanced fare is increasingly appealing to Indian audiences. “Manjummel Boys” (pictured), released in February, brought in ₹2.4 billion ($29 million) at the box office, making it the highest-grossing Malayalam movie ever and the third-most successful film in India in 2024 so far. Unlike other national hits, the film’s cast is relatively unknown and its plot is unusual (the survival thriller, based on a true story, follows a group of boys trying to rescue their friend who is trapped in a cave).

In its simplicity and parsimony—it cost ₹200 million to make—“Manjummel Boys” stands in stark contrast to “Fighter”, Bollywood’s biggest hit of the year to date. That blockbuster cost 13 times more and featured an ultra-nationalist plot, pitting India’s air force against Pakistan’s. The film also threw in a romance between Bollywood’s biggest stars for good measure.

Yet “Manjummel Boys” is no exception: there have been a string of Malayalam box-office hits of late. Of the 10 highest-grossing Indian movies this year, three have been Mollywood productions. They depict fresh stories. 

“Aadujeevitham” (“The Goat Life”), released in March, recounts the true tale of an immigrant labourer in Saudi Arabia forced into slavery as a goatherd. “Aavesham” (“Excitement”) follows college students who become entangled with an eccentric gangster. Even “Bramayugam” (“The Age of Madness”), a horror movie shot in black and white—the ultimate artistic indulgence—has achieved commercial success.

For years, Kerala’s movies were limited to audiences within the state, but they are now finding fans farther afield. Thanks to the rise of streaming, dubbed or subtitled regional movies can reach a national audience. The trend accelerated during the pandemic, as film-starved Indians stuck at home discovered Malayalam movies for the first time. 

“The Great Indian Kitchen”, released on Prime Video in 2021, told the story of a housewife struggling in a patriarchal household. It was shot in one location and became a surprise hit; it has been remade in Hindi. (Bollywood has often adapted successful Malayalam stories, rarely with the same panache).

What explains Mollywood’s distinctiveness? One reason is the industry’s history. Many early Indian films were based on stories from Hindu epics such as the Mahabharata; portraying deities, including the elephant-headed Ganesha, required expensive prosthetics and costumes. 

But Kerala’s production houses eschewed such tales, says G.P. Ramachandran, a film critic. That was partly out of financial necessity, but mostly out of choice. The industry was shaped by the literary and social movements of the state, which was a hotbed of communism in the 20th century, as it is now. Films both niche and commercial still explore social issues.

Another factor has been the state’s demography. Just 55% of Kerala’s population is Hindu (compared with 80% nationally). The state’s Christian and Muslim populations (18% and 27% of the total, respectively) demand content that speaks to a broad audience. 

Malayalam films avoid the religious tropes that have infiltrated Bollywood with the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party, India’s Hindu-nationalist governing party. (For the same reason the BJP has struggled to make much headway in Kerala, which has always been dominated by secular, left-leaning parties).

The cinema-going public in Kerala is also discerning. The state is India’s most developed and its population the most literate. Keralites take pride in their taste and film groups have proliferated since the first society was set up in 1965. Cineastes organise screenings of offbeat flicks and expose aspiring film-makers to cutting-edge techniques from around the world.

C.S. Venkiteswaran, a critic, estimates that roughly 50% of all Mollywood movies are made by first-time producers, who may offer new ideas. As with independent films in the West, small budgets can prove helpful, as they force film-makers to focus on storytelling and character development rather than whizzy effects or elaborate set pieces. 

A study by a consulting firm in 2021 found that, compared with other regional cinema, Malayalam movies feature more humble, “people-like-us” protagonists, and far fewer antagonists.

Mollywood is not yet a potent commercial force—last year only 7% of its films turned a profit—but this crop of celebrated films shows that subtle stories can find a wide audience. 

India’s box office can be volatile, Mr Ramachandran points out, and Indians are unlikely to abandon their beloved masala fare entirely. In time, however, Malayalam movies may contribute to a more balanced cinematic diet.