According to Prithviraj Sukumaran, cinema would be split, with one set of films created for personal viewing on OTT platforms and the other set created for community viewing on the large screen.
With about 150 movie releases per year, the Malayalam cinema industry, which has annual earnings of around Rs 1,200 crore, was on a rapid development trajectory in the years preceding up to the epidemic. Though the pandemic halted the industry’s growth, the OTT boom has refuelled it to a large extent, but only after movie theatres in the state lost roughly Rs 500 crore in income during the COVID era.
A group of brilliant performers, writers, and technicians appears to be working their magic in an industry that is recognised for making films in 90-120 days without sacrificing technical quality or story-telling abilities.
Prithviraj Sukumaran’s continued development as an actor, director, and producer has been a significant aspect of Malayalam cinema throughout this time. Lucifer, his directorial debut, has become one of the highest-grossing films in Malayalam cinema history, and his production company, Prithviraj Productions, currently has four projects in development. Over the course of his 20-year career, he has appeared in over 100 films.
For an exclusive conversation, Prithviraj discusses the Malayalam cinema industry’s current state, its near future, the plethora of talent under its hood, and financial prospects in both the national and foreign markets.
It’s the result of a number of factors coming together. It began with conditions that were accidentally created as a result of the epidemic. People were stranded at home all across the world and in the United States. More substance was required to satisfy the appetites of the public. They were on the lookout for ways to become involved.
Malayalam cinema found a means to revive and sustain itself when the rest of the country’s film industry was stalled. We went back to making smaller, more confined films that could be completed with a small team and under COVID limitations. Streaming platforms like Amazon, Netflix, and Hotstar devoured the material we created, and the fact that it was of excellent quality helped a lot.
