Successful Malayalam Cinemas of the Early Period

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Jeevithanouka (The boat of life) Jeevithanouka (1951) was a turning point for Malayalam cinema. This highly dramatic musical film, which narrated the story of ego clashes in a joint family, was mainly directed towards the women audience. Jeevithanouka was a huge success, and can be considered as the first 'super hit' of Malayalam cinema. Thikkurishi Sukumaran Nair, an actor from the stage, became the first 'superstar' of Malayalam cinema after the success of the film. But this success had also an adverse effect on Malayalam cinema. Films that were produced after Jeevithanouka were made according to this success formula, and nothing creative was seen for a long time. Superstars took over the driver's seat and directors were forced to the background

Neelakuyil (The Blue Cuckoo)Through Neelakuyil (1954) Malayalam cinema for the first time had an authentic Malayalam story. The story for Neelakuyil was penned by renowned Malayalam writer Uroob and directed by the duo of P Bhaskaran and Ramu Karyat. This melodramatic film dealt with the issue of untouchability in the society. Satyan and Miss Kumari were elevated to stardom after the huge success of this film. Malayalam film music which till then were cheap imitations of Hindi and Tamil film music, also came up with original Malayalam tunes through this film. K Rghavan arranged the lyrics written by P Bhaskaran. The music scored for the movie was to a great extent influenced by the Malayalam folk music and the tunes were an instant hit among the masses. This was also the first Malayalam film to be shot outdoors. Neelakuyil heralded the arrival of a mature Malayalam cinema on the Indian film world.

Newspaper Boy (1955) was the reflection of neo-realism in cinema, which became popular all over the world. This film was a result of extreme hard work by a group of college students. P Ramadas, who was totally new to cinema, directed newspaper Boy and almost all technical works were handled by amateur students. This film was released a few months before Satyajith Ray's classic- Pather Panchali hit the silver screens. Newspaper Boy narrates the sad story of a printing press employee and his family reeling under extreme poverty. He dies of extreme poverty and illness, which forces his children to stop their education. His elder son Appu leaves for Madras in search of a job. Failing to secure a job there, he returns and decides to take up the job of a newspaper boy