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2000 has been a good one for Malayalam cinema. If National Awards were any criterion. Malayalam films bagged as many as 14 National Awards.

In 1965, Malayalam cinema won its first gold medal -- for best film at the national level. The film was Ramu Kariat's Chemmeen.

Thirty-five years later, in 2000, Malayalam cinema won yet another gold medal -- for Shaji N Karun's much appreciated film, Vaanaprastham.

Malayalam cinema has witnessed 14 National Awards and experienced a sustained growth over the years.

However, today, celebrated talking to celebrated filmmakers of yesterday and today, the picture that one got was that of a gloomy and depressing one. All of them, from the hero of Chemmeen, Madhu to the comparatively young filmmaker Priyadarshan, from Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Shaji N Karun to the Chairman, Kerala State Films Development Corporation agree on one point; the standard of Malayalam films have deteriorated.

This effort is a critical analysis of Malayalam cinema over the years.

All of them seem to be agreed on the following:

* Malayalam films do not have good stories these days.

* The best period in Malayalam cinema was when great literary works were made into films.

* Technical excellence is not a yardstick for good cinema.

* You cannot compare any film with Chemmeen as it was a classic.

So the question that now remains is: Just because a handful of films won awards at the national level, how valid is it to assume that Malayalam cinema is growing?

Read on!

'Malayalam cinema is definitely growing' 'Pain drives all great creations' 'It's the filmmaker's duty to entertain people'	'Today we have only copycats' 'Cinema is both art and industry' 'We have a long way to go' 'You don't see emotion these days'
'The films I consider bad win awards!' 'I love the films of the '60s and '70s'

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