Are grandparents vanishing from Mollywood?

Philomena’s fiery portrayal of Anapaara Achaamma in Godfather and Thilakan’s loving uppupa, Kareem ikka of Ustad Hotel are ever etched in Mollywood history.
Those roles broke down boundaries as far as grandparent characters were concerned. With several actors and directors complaining that the new generation movies do not have enough space for grandparents, we take stock of the situation on this Grandparents Day.
Theevram director Roopesh Peethambaran, who belongs to the current crop of filmmakers, agree that the scope for grandparent roles in movies now are on the decline.He attributes this to the subjects that are now being selected.
“Personally I think a lot of films have come out in the last two decades that have explored most of the family-based issues. There is nothing new that can be done,” he says, adding that every script has its own demands.
Supporting Roopesh’s stand, Balachandra Menon, who is making a comeback to direction says that grandparents are ‘the face of the past.’ “Earlier we have tried telling stories that explored the collective family system and sharing of problems. Right now sharing is limited to the walls of social networking sites,” he says. However, his latest release comes with the tagline that it would be bringing the golden era of grandparents and parents back.
Shortage of actors to play such roles has also been cited as one cause. Godfather’s co-director Siddique, who depicted an elderly Anjooran through NN Pillai in a powerful role says, “Right now we have a sudden scarcity of such actors who could play these characters. A lot of people who used to own those characters passed away, leaving a huge void.”
Director Jeethu Joseph, whose My Boss had Valsala Menon playing grandmother to Dileep, also agrees that these days a grandparent character is something rare. “After watching the movie, a noted actor told me it was refreshing to see such a role in a film after a gap,” he says.
On the lack of elderly characters such as Madhu’s role in Karyasthan in the recent movies, Jeethu opines that when you tell the story of urban characters with a micro-family concept, there is no space for a grandmother or grandfather. Adding to Jeethu’s opinion, movie critic CS Venkateshwaran says that the thematic terrain of the current filmmakers does not involve joint family or neighbourhood unlike in the past.
“Now movies are youth centric and the stories unfold at campuses and IT parks where there are no room for old people. Secondly, the revenue model of the film has changed. Earlier, family audience were targeted, but now the thrust is more on the youth,” he says, reasoning it's natural that grandparent roles are becoming scarce. While there aren't many characters offered to actors who play grandparents, they still cherish such roles and the love they received.
Actress Valsala Menon recalls that the grandmother roles in Olympian Anthony Adam and Ennu Swantham Janakikutty gave her immense popularity. “I have enjoyed my stint as reel grandmother, as in real life I cannot spend time with my three grandchildren.”
Kaviyoor Ponnamma, recounts that the last time she played a noted grandmother’s role was in Nandanam in 2002. “It was Raju's (Prithviraj) first film and I knew him from his childhood and consider him like my grandchild. So working in the movie was easy,” she says. The actress, who has two grandchildren in real life, also cherishes her mutassi role in Padmarajan's Thinkalaazcha Nalla Divasam.
Despite finding less screen space now, many filmmakers including director Siddique is positive that grandparent roles will make a comeback in the future. The Godfather director points out that his last release Bhaskar the Rascal had Janardhanan playing a strong role as grandfather.
“Movies had showcased pure and true relationships through grandparent roles. Whatever is true will always find its way back in cinema. Everything else is just temporary,” he concludes.