Top Malayalam actors, 2010

It is a man's world, at least in the Malayalam film industry. Gone are the days when actresses performed magically on the screen, and the overall quality of films has been appalling of late. It's also become routine for every film to focos solely on the hero.

Still, there have been some nice performances in Malayalam films in 2010. Here, we take a look at some of the industry's top actors and how they've fared this year.

Before we begin, a few honourable mentions, for actors like Thalivasal Vijay (Yugapurushan), Kunchacko Boban (Elsamma Enna Aankutty) and Suresh Krishna (Kutty Sranku). While these actors were brilliant in their roles, they just barely missed the list.

Mammootty

He thrilled the masses with films like Pokkiri Raja, but 2010 was the year Mammootty proved, with his performances in Shaji N Karun's Kutty Sranku and Ranjith's Pranchiyettan & The Saint, why he is regarded among the best actors in the country. While the character of the Sranku(boat driver) required subtlety, the other had him with a rather humorous Thrissur slang. He also experimented with his looks to suit the character.

(source - Rediff movies)

Best Actor Review

Best Actor is a Super Hit!! 

Debutant director Martin Prakkat’s Best Actor is about a school teacher, who wants to become a film actor.
He has to go through hardships and some shameful treatments, just like any other wannabe actor, but things really go out of hand when he joins a goonda gang to earn some ‘original experience’. Well, it is a nice and simple story but the problem here is that it too predictable and lacks the fizz to a great extent. 

Mohan (Mammootty) teaches in a school, but dreams about getting into films. He approaches several filmmakers for a role, without any success. His wife Savitri (Sruthi Ramakrishna) and their son, is confident about his credentials and always support him, in his attempts to get a break. 

There is an inherent sincerity about the film, which is to be appreciated. Mammootty has given his heart and soul to his character, of a person who is never a conventional ‘macho-hero’. It is amazing that an actor of his experience and stature could handle the role in such an understated manner. But the film takes too much time in its narration and things often get painfully slow at several occasions. 

Lal, Nedumudi Venu, Salim Kumar and Vinayakan are part of a criminal gang and the story gets some pace with their entry. The four make the whole atmosphere quite lively with their mannerisms and the peculiar ‘Kochi slang’. They pep up the scenes with some witty one-liners initially, but soon after some of those dialogues get unacceptably vulgar.

The story often moves ahead without a definite direction right from the beginning and the lack of an interesting script is evident mostly. The highly conventional way that the film unfurls also tends to be a letdown. Some of the scenes and even dialogues have been inspired from yesteryear films in the genre. 

The visuals are good and the music is just about okay. Sreenivasan has a brief role as a film director and some of the mainstream filmmakers from Malayalam like Lal Jose, Ranjith and Blessy among others also appear in the film which gives some kind of believability to the storyline. The rest of the cast, including Kannada actor Sruthi Ramakrishna, has performed pretty fine

However, Best actor is in full swing and it is sure that it will become a Megahit of Megastar Mammootty.

Mammootty's Best Actor censored

Megastar Mammooty's Martin Prakkat directed  Best Actor has got a clean U certificate from the Thiruvananthapuram censors.

A preview of the film was held at AVM  preview theatre in Chennai.

Those who saw the preview say that "it is a light hearted comedy entertainer and Mammootty rocks".

The film is releasing on Thursday (Dec 9) in 80 screens in Kerala. It will be the first of the big Christmas releases.

Pranchiyetten ' heading for hundred days

Mammootty will be celebrating the hundred days of his new movie 'Pranchiyetten and The Saint' in a couple of weeks. The movie which has become the biggest family hit in the recent times now shows possibilities of ending up as the Superhit of the year after 'Pokkiri Raja'.
 
The movie which continues in more than five centers in its 90th day, is still registering good collections. In the metros, the movie is rock stable in its collections.And if the collections continue as such; this will be one of the rarest movies that will celebrate a full show hundred days in Ernakulam-one of the biggest metros of the state where there is scarcity in number of release theatres.
  
The movie has already collected around near five and half crores gross in its eighty days run.

Mammootty to launch Best Actor audio

The audio of Mammootty's Best Actor will be released by the mega star himself in Kozhikode.

Mammootty is coming directly from Mysore, from the location of his Kannada flick Shikkar, and the function will be taking place at Kadavu Resort. 

The road show conducted by Best Actorteam for the promotion will also reach Kozhikode on the same day.
 
The unique promo show has already become the talk of the town. 

The show had completed the first round through all the major towns in Kerala. Mammootty flagged off the road show two weeks back in Trivandrum.

Calicut University confered D.Litt. on Mammootty

The University of Calicut will confer honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) degrees on film actor Mammootty, freedom fighter Captain Lakshmi Sahgal, and historian Irfan Habib at a special convocation to be held on the campus on Thursday.

Governor R.S. Gavai, who is Chancellor of the university, will confer the degrees. Mr. Mammootty will accept the honour in person when Mr. Habib and Ms. Sahgal will be represented by their deputies.

Apart from these three, Calicut University Syndicate had decided to confer honorary D.Litt. on Malayalam novelist Kovilan also. But his death in June this year deprived him of the topmost degree of the university as the statutes of the university do not permit conferring of a degree posthumously.

The convocation will be held at a specially raised stage in front of the C.H. Mohammed Koya Memorial Central Library. Minister for Education M.A. Baby, who is Pro-Chancellor of the university, will attend the function.

Academic procession

The Senate will meet at a temporary senate house at the venue at 11.40 a.m. and ratify the conferral of D.Litt. degrees. The Chancellor will reach the senate house at 12 noon, and will join an academic procession to the convocation venue.

Members of the Syndicate and Senate will lead the procession, followed by members of the Academic Council, Registrar, Vice-Chancellor, Pro-Chancellor, and Chancellor in order.

The convocation is scheduled to begin at 12.05 p.m. and conclude by 1 p.m. It will be a holiday for the university on Thursday.

The Governor reached university campus on Wednesday afternoon. Security on the campus has been stepped up. Only invitees will be allowed to attend the convocation, said university authorities.

Previous awardees

So far, the university conferred honorary D.Litt. degrees on 12 persons. They were M.M. Ghani, educationalist and first Vice-Chancellor of Calicut University; K.P. Kesava Menon, freedom fighter and founder of ‘Matrubhumi' newspaper; S.K. Pottekkad, writer; Vaikom Mohammed Basheer, writer; N.V. Krishna Warrier, writer and editor; V.R. Krishna Iyer, jurist; Aryavaidyan P.K. Warrier, chief physician and managing trustee of Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala; M.T. Vasudevan Nair, writer; M.F. Husain, artist; Arun Nigavekar, educationalist and former chairman of the University Grants Commission; Amrik Singh, educationalist; and Kamala Suraiyya, writer.