Malayalam softcore pornography

For the article about mainstream Malayalam film industry, see Malayalam cinema.

Malayalam softcore pornographic films, also known as Mallu porn films was a popular genre of softcore porn movies produced in the South Indian state of Kerala. They were marked as B-grade films, which emerged parallel with the mainstream Malayalam cinema of Kerala in the 1980s. Regarded as the first successful Malayalam film with softcore nudity, Aadipapam, which came out in 1988 is considered to have started the trend of softcore films in Malayalam. These films eventually became a parallel culture in Malayalam cinema, during the Malayalam film-industry crisis.

Despite facing a temporary decline in the 1990s, the popularity of the B-grade films became immense in Kerala after the release of erotic film Kinnara Thumbikal in 2000. It grossed ₹4 crore at the box office against a budget of ₹12 lakh and would go on to pioneer a new wave of low-budget softcore porn films in the state, with this period being termed the Shakeela Tharanagam (The wave of Shakeela). In 2001, more than 70% of the total films produced in Malayalam were of the soft porn variety. The decline of B-grade films started in 2003, mainly due to the rapid internet surge in India among many other reasons, which put an end to the genre's roughly 25-year existence in 2005.

There is a general consensus that the B-grade films were the backbone of Malayalam film industry during the worst period of it. But they were seen as vulgar and crude by many of the critics. They consider that these films brought a lot of ignominy and disgrace to the Malayalam film industry in the beginning of 2000. There was also a widespread protest against Shakeela films and isolated incidents of violence against the theaters showing them were reported at the time.

History

Roots and early years

In the 1970s, Malayalam films that explore themes surrounding sexuality started emerging. The 1972 Malayalam film Punarjanmam (Reincarnation) is considered to be the first erotic psychic thriller in Indian film history. The plot of the film involved a man who displayed unable to have sex with his partner because the wife seemed to him as his mother each time they attempted to consummate their relationship. In 1978, Avalude Ravukal was released, which is the first Malayalam film to get an A certification, classifying it as fit for adults only. It was highly successful and was dubbed in Tamil and Hindi. Avalude Ravugal was a bold attempt by I. V Sasi about an adolescent sex worker, but it was unfairly dismissed as porn. The same year came out Rathinirvedham, where the plot revolves around a teenager, who is sexually attracted to an older woman. It is considered as a landmark film in Malayalam cinema's history. At the same time, many film analysts also criticize that that the influx of Malayalam soft porn films during the next several years began after the release of Rathinirvedham.

Rise and peak

From the mid 1980s, the soft porn production gradually started to rise up. The increase in VCRs and TVs were also a reason behind this. In 1985, Crossbelt Mani, a seasoned director, made the film Ottayan with a rape and revenge storyline, inserted sex scenes, and distributed it around Kerala's main theatres. The heroine's blouse was pulled off during a six-minute rape scene and the villain massaged her breasts. The film, which costed ₹10 lakh to make, made ₹12 lakh in two weeks until the censor board caught on and banned it. Dhoomam (1985) director Chandrasekharan Thampi originally planned to make it as a black-and-white art film, but it was shelved due to financial difficulties. Later, he inserted additional sex scenes, including one sexual intercourse scene, and released the movie through his own firm, but only in isolated towns and villages and without any publicity. Because of word-of-mouth promotion, it became popular Directors such as K.S. Gopalakrishnan then made films such as Pidikitapulli (1986) and Karinagam (1986) that featured several sex scenes and nudity, that were never shown to the censor board. The sex scenes were absent when the censor board confiscated a print of Pidikitapulli, but two weeks later the same film was playing in the crowded suburban Trivandrum theatre, with the sex scenes reinserted. At that time, president of the Kerala film chamber and the producer of the mainstream Malayalam film Vartha (1986), K. V. Gangadharan quoted that "super-hit family dramas in the cities are flopping in rural areas because the average male cine-goer in these areas is lured by these soft-porn films with inserted sex scenes." Following the ban, producers and distributors of soft porn films relocated from cities to countryside. Students from Trivandrum made daily pilgrimages to Guruvayoor or Attingal to see soft-porn films. The Sree Krishna theatre in Guruvayoor located about 100 yards from the main temple entrance, routinely showed soft-porn films. In 1986, roughly 14 of the 32-odd films released had sex or nude scenes that were shot separately and never shown to the censor board, but were afterwards inserted into the film for screening in rural areas. These nude reels, which was kept in discreet were known as Thund (Bits) and hence the popular term 'Bit/Piece padam' (Bit film) arised.

In 1988, Adipapam, which is regarded as the first successful Malayalam film with softcore nudity was released. It was a big success at the box office grossing ₹2.5 crore against a budget of ₹7.5 lakh. The director of Adipapam, Chandrakumar himself later went on to direct eight more softcore films and the heroine Abhilasha became the most sought B-grade actress of that time. Chandrakumar also made a quote that "Abhilasha's thighs and Mammootty's face costs the same". The success of Adipapam inspired a series of similar productions in the next few years. The film Layanam (1989) starring Silk Smitha in the lead role got a lot of attention when it was released. It was also a big success at box office and 12 years after its release, it was remade in Hindi as Reshma Ki Jawani. According to the noted film historian Rajakrishnan, the boom of soft porn films was fuelled by a lenient Madras Censor Board. When they were barred from censoring Malayalam films, they dried up".

Temporary decline in the 1990s

When the family friendly films along with group-gang comedy films started coming into Malayalam cinema in the 90s, it temporarily ended the trend of B-grade films that lasted from 1986-1992.

The wave of Shakeela

See also: Shakeela and Reshma (B-grade actress)

The continued failure of comedy films and the theater strikes in Kerala, that started in the early 2000s, led to a comeback of B-grade films in Malayalam. By the millennium, a majority of the Malayalam films were of soft porn genre. In March 2000, Kinnarathumbikal, a low budget softcore porn film starring Shakeela was released. It was a major commercial success, grossing ₹4 crore at the box office against a budget of ₹12 lakhs. The film was dubbed in more than six Indian languages. Its success triggered a series of similar low budget softporn films being produced in Malayalam cinema. There was also a flooding of soft porn Malayalam films in the market starring Shakeela, which led to what was known as Shakeela tharangam (the wave of Shakeela). Around 57 of the total 89 films released in 2001 belonged to the soft-porn category and Shakeela featured in many of them. During the Shakeela wave, many of her old films were dusted off and re-released, including Telugu and Tamil films. At one time, posters with Shakeela's half-naked body, a single name, and a large Adults only emblem were widespread in Kerala. According to film expert Darshana Sreedhar Mini, during the Malayalam film industry crisis of the early 2000s, the success of Shakeela films became critical to the industry's survival because her presence insured revenues and, hence, the survival of film employees. Shakeela became well-known throughout the country as the Pan Indian face of soft-porn. Also, many of her films were well-known outside of Kerala and were even dubbed into many languages including Hindi. With lower production costs and poorer quality than mainstream films, the Malayalam B-grade films dominated a significant portion of the market, with considerable production. Many theatres, which faced shutdown survived only because of the arrival and acceptance of such B-grade films and the market was flooded with many B-grade films. The actresses such as Reshma, Maria, Sindhu and Alphonsa, who all came along with or after Shakeela became the integral part of the industry. Shakeela's film Rakshasarajni (2001) even competed against Ravana Prabhu and Rakshasa Rajavu, starring Mohanlal and Mammootty respectively, and became successful at box office.

Decline and end

The introduction of internet services and the mobile phones in India negatively affected the Malayalam softcore porn industry. The general perception of the viewers also started to change after 2003. The familiar body and usual antics of the actresses acting in B-grade films started to get dull for the audience. The directors of such films did not make efforts to bring new actresses into this field and make them successful. As a result, the production of such films slowly stopped. Because of the repetitive story backgrounds, the audience also started turning away from such films. With the availability of free videos and images on online media, buying video cassettes for watching softcore porn also became less common habit. The state censor board and the mainstream Malayalam film industry also took some measures to stop the production of low quality B-grade films. Between 2005 to 2007, the release of B-grade films were limited. Although some producers made a few feeble attempts to resurrect the sector between 2007 and 2010, none of these films were able to garner the required response and performed relatively poorly at the box office.

Concept, characteristics and criticism

Malayalam soft porn films restructured and modified the functional framework of the hero and heroine. In the mainstream movies of India, the hero is normally the central to the plot. Reversing this premise, Malayalam soft porn films functioned using female starlets as the main attraction. The hero, and even the concept of the hero, are replaceable in these films. Most of the mainstream films of that time showed heroic masculinity and completely muted the agential role of women. In Malayalam B-grade films, on the other hand, male roles in the films were functionally supplementary. The heroine and her sexuality are at the heart of the film and every other character is insignificant. Aside from physical preferences, the majority of the women in these films are stereotypically placed in situations where the heroines are shown to be at least 25 years old, on the verge of their prime, and in desperate need of sexual intimacy. The heroines underwent a significant shift in appearance in these films. They were dressed in skimpy shorts and tops that exposed a large section of their midriffs as well as little but noticeable areas of their cleavage. These films had a obsession with emphasising physical features of the women. In one of the most famous scenes from these movies, a spinning totem was placed on the heroine's navel and she moaned in pleasure as the totem's movement appeared to tickle and please her. The female body's midsection was the subject of another prominent obsession in these films. Malayalam and Tamil actress Revathi had criticised this concept of B-grade films. "Why are we so obsessed with women’s bodies anyway? When we talk about sexism, we keep talking about the same things. What we need is gender sensitization of everyone involved with the film industry… not just scriptwriters or directors or lyricists or actors… But everyone. Only then will we get change"; she said.

Aftermath

Even though the Malayalam film industry no more produce any softcore porn films, video clips and images from the old Malayalam B-grade films are still one of the main earner of porn websites in India. Terms such as Mallu Aunty and Mallu Chechi are among the popular search terms in these websites. Shakeela's character types are referenced in popular erotic comics that portray married female characters as the target of sexual fantasies, such as the controversial Savita Bhabhi and Velamma. In August 2022, Yessma, which is touted as the first ever Malayalam OTT platform to exclusively stream adult content was launched.