Educational campuses in Kerala often spawned political tensions and violence. Political activities always mirrored politicking on the wider canvas outside the school and college walls. For generations students have been organised under the umbrella of unions with affinity to larger mainstream parties that fashion the destiny of the state and the country. Parties which patronised the student unions benefited from the sinews and vocal power of the adults-to-be enrolled in institutions across the state. Several students even graduated to become party leaders and people's representatives.
Malayalam cinema hasn't failed to capture the soul of Kerala's campuses in its long journey of 80 years. Mollywood audience has traversed through several college and university campuses by now, through the innumerable campus movies born to this industry. Here we list down some of the exuberant campus movies of Malayalam which has featured the romance, tensions, turmoil and violence of Kerala's academic spaces.
Classmates (2006)
This campus friendship-romance thriller was directed by Lal Jose. The movie starts with the reunion of an undergraduate batch after five years of course-completion in remembrance of one of their batchmates, Murali. Some unexpected events happening at the venue will reveal a well-guarded secret about his untimely death, which will thereafter change the lives of many characters. 'Classmates' effectively portrays a clear picture of typical Keralite college campus, with all its vibrant colours including various political waves, student activism, art, romance and friendship.
Puthiya Mukham (2009)
A new-age romantic campus movie, 'Puthiya Mukham' tells the struggles faced by an innocent young villager after joining a famous city college. He gets forced to break up with his girlfriend and later he falls in love with one of his batchmates. Campus egos, gang fights, talent fests and fine music distinguished this movie as a path-breaker during its time. It was directed by Diphan and the lead characters were done by Prithviraj, Priya Mani and Bala.
Oru Mexican Aparatha (2017)
A new-generation campus movie starred by Tovino Thomas and Neeraj Madhav, 'Oru Mexican Aparatha' tells how a left-wing ideologist, with the help of his friend, reintroduces SFY, a left-aligned students party on campus. Featuring the campus life on Maharaja's College, Ernakulam, in a nostalgic and sensational manner, the movie speaks about the sufferings and struggles faced by Paul, a usual undergraduate student, after identifying with a political party and starting to work for its re-establishment. It tells how political murders, violence and deception strategies burgeon on a normal college campus and how mainstream political parties take advantage of them.
Soorya Gayathri (1992)
One of the noted revenge movies of Mollywood, 'Soorya Gayathri' is the tale of a middle-aged man venturing out to find and kill the murderers of his teenager son. Balasubrahmanian, married at 17 and widowed at 20, raises his only son with immense affection and care. His son joins an engineering college where he is accidentally killed by a group of seniors while ragging. The movie attempts to picturise the unsolicited indecent practices inside college hostels. Though shot from the perspective of a single parent, 'Soorya Gayathri' explores the soul of campus life, the fun, joys and sorrows experienced by students. It was directed by Anil and written by John Paul. Mohanlal and Urvashi play the lead characters in this movie
Sarvakalasala (1987)
'Sarvakalasala' is an evergreen campus comedy which set a trend of campus movies in Malayalam. It narrates the life of Lal (Mohanlal), an orphan who has been studying several courses one after another on a university campus. His words are valued by both students and teachers, as some of the faculty members are also his classmates. The movie narrates the several hues of friendship on a college campus, relationships that begin and end within short time spans, poetry, love and rivalry. Lal's goodwill gets questioned after he was accused in an assault case faced by a female student. He later proves his innocence and resumes his campus life. The movie has some soothing nostalgic melodies which became superhits during its time.
Chamaram (1980)
This movie, starring Prathap Pothen and Zarina Wahab, speaks about a sensational love affair between a student and a teacher, and its bitter after-effects. An unconventional romance movie, 'Chamaram' captures a campus life where enthusiastic youngsters redefine society's accord. The award-winning movie ends with the unfortunate murder of the protagonist character on a chaotic college-day. The movie gifted the M'town audience with a classic melody that still takes rounds in the ears of youngsters, 'Natha, nee varum kalocha kelkkuvan..'
Seniors (2011)
This movie, directed by Vysakh and written by Sachi, revolves around the suspicious death of a campus-queen called Lakshmi (Meera Nandan.) Padmanabhan (Jayaram) gets convicted for the murder he hasn't committed and gets a life-time imprisonment. After his term, Padmanabhan rejoins the college with his three friends and finds the real killer of Lakshmi. The movie captures the transformation that happened to the college life over 12 years and progresses through several funny instances of confrontations between the two generations.
