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Kerala has Hindus (56%), Muslims (25%), Christians (19%) – all represented on screen:

Kerala has a massive diaspora—Malayalis working in the Gulf, the US, and Europe. This sense of "foreign return" is a massive trope in the culture.

Movies like Bangalore Days or Varane Avashyamund capture the tension between the globalized Malayali and the insular one back home. The culture is one of constant "leaving and returning." The sadness of the airport departure lounge is practically a genre of its own. We laugh at the Gulf returnee who speaks "Manglish" (Malayalam + English) and wears gold chains, but we also cry with him because he is us.

Key figure: J.C. Daniel – ignored for decades, then posthumously honoured with the J.C. Daniel Award (highest lifetime achievement in Malayalam cinema). Kerala has Hindus (56%), Muslims (25%), Christians (19%)

Malayalam cinema now punches far above its weight (only ~200 films/year vs Hindi's 2,000).

Recent hits that broke boundaries:

OTT strength: Films like The Great Indian Kitchen (sexism in domestic labour), Nayattu (police brutality), Jai Bhim (though a Tamil film, co-produced in Malayalam) – watched globally. Malayalam cinema now punches far above its weight

Critics' darling: Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam (2022) – Lijo Jose Pellissery's surreal Tamil-Malayalam border film. No plot, pure mood.

Malayalam cinema was reborn due to:

Landmark films:

New directors: Lijo Jose Pellissery (Angamaly Diaries, Jallikattu), Dileesh Pothan, Alphonse Puthren (Premam – youth blockbuster), Anjali Menon, Aashiq Abu.

New actors: Fahadh Faasil (son of director Fazil) – became the face of new Malayalam cinema with eccentric, intense roles (Kumbalangi Nights, Joji). Dulquer Salmaan (Mammootty's son) – urban, romantic.