Abstract:

In search of an economic history of cinema, the presentation focuses on the brief consolidation of the horror genre in Malayalam cinema in the 1960s. In broad brush strokes, it charts the narrative from Bhargavinilayam (A Vincent 1964) which brought in new aesthetics of space, to its further capture in the bounded world of plantations in films such as Kattuthulasi (M. Krishnan Nair 1965) and others. The presentation attempts to understand the emergence of plantations as a sedimented cinematic place in the imaginary of Malayalam cinema. Examining the modalities of placemaking in the plantations, and using the figure of the ghost as a pivot for this discussion, it aims to lay bare the secret histories of capital hidden in plain sight in the horror genre. The historical exploration of the 60s will be bracketed off with two recent films, Iyobinte Pusthakam (Amal Neerad 2014), its hero Alsohy (Fahad Fazil) invoked in the title of the presentation, and Varathan (Amal Neerad 2018).

The attempt in the presentation is to assemble a primary, if speculative, account of the economic structure of the film industry in the region. The speculative nature of this enterprise is inevitable.  This is because the evidence to put together a definitive economic history of dispersed industries such as the film industry is hard to come by. The presentation partakes in the emerging discussions within the discipline of film studies in India concerning modalities of 'placemaking' and of capturing built environments in cinema. It also engages with methodological considerations in doing a history of cinema, alongside a reconstruction of the pasts of Malayalam cinema.