From the 1960s onward, films like Chemmeen and Neelakuyil broke away from the studio-bound aesthetics of the time to explore the lives of marginalized communities and the nuances of rural Kerala.
The industry has a long history of tackling critical social issues with sensitivity and nuance.
The 1970s and 80s are rightly considered the golden age of Malayalam cinema. Driven by writers like M. T. Vasudevan Nair and Padmarajan, and directors like Adoor Gopalakrishnan and G. Aravindan (who operated in the parallel cinema movement), this era produced works of astonishing literary and aesthetic merit. Films like Elippathayam (The Rat Trap, 1981) by Adoor became allegories for the decay of the feudal janmi (landlord) class in the face of communist-led land reforms. Simultaneously, the mainstream saw the rise of the “middle-class hero” portrayed by actors like Prem Nazir, and later, the everyman persona of Bharath Gopi.