An Interplay of Narrative and Culture in the Biopic: Celluloid

Abstract

Biopics have a distinguished history in Indian film. It's interesting to note that Dadasaheb Phalke, who also directed and produced the silent film Raja Harishchandra (1913), was responsible for India's first full-length motion picture. The Bollywood and regional cinema industries both celebrate biopics. However, the Malayalam film industry has not fully explored the potential of biopics. There are just nine movies created in Malayalam that may be classified as biopics. The movies classified as biopics in Malayalam include Swathithirunal (1987), Pazhassiraaja (2009), Yugapurushan (2010), Makaramanju (2010), Celluloid (2011), Ennu Ninte Moideen (2015), Clint (2018), Captain (2018), and Aami (2018). The audience's impact is one of the factors contributing to the low production numbers of biopics. This paper aims to compare the biopic, Celluloid, by the Malayalam film director Kamal and distinguish the different paths taken by the director from the general conventions and themes of modern biopics to turn the biopic into the massive success it is.