Best Malayalam Films From Recent Times

It seems like there has been a renewed interest in Malayalam cinema off late owing to the successes of films like 'Drishyam' & 'Premam'. I consider the period 1980-1995 to be the golden age of Malayalm cinema and what followed after that was a period characterized by very bleak mediocrity. That time-period coincided with the utter dominance of the two stalwarts, Mohanlal & Mammootty, in all areas of the industry including the creative process and the writers/directors took backseats as films were tailor made for them to 'Perform' in larger than life roles. A bi-product of that was the creation of fans associations and the intense competition between the two sets resulting in the making of some really bad films. It is not fair to just blame the two stars and their asshole sets of fans for the fall in standard since there was also a dearth of talent in all other areas of the industry to accentuate the situation.

Things are beginning to change and a generational shift is well and truly happening. Even though some people are calling this to be again a golden age for Malayalam cinema, I am bit more cautious and would class it just as a recovery from the doldrums. The films that gets noticed and mentioned by non-malayalees are the big box office successes and as is often the case, much better films goes under the radar. So here is a list of what in my opinion are the best Malayalam films from recent times, which I define as post 2010...

1. Angamaly Diaries (Lijo Jose Pellissery)
2. Maheshinte Prathikaram (Dileesh Pothan)
3. Maayanadhi (Aashiq Abu)
4. Ozhivudivasathe Kali (Sanal Kumar Sasidharan)
5. Akam (Shalini Usha Nair)
6. Njan Steve Lopez (Rajeev Ravi)
7. Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum (Dileesh Pothan)
8. Sexy Durga (Sanal Kumar Sasidharan)
9. Monsoon Mangoes (Abhi Varghese)
10. Munnariyippu (Venu)
11. Chaappa Kurish (Sameer Thahir)
12. Vedivazhipadu (Shambhu Purushothaman)
13. Neram (Alphonse Puthran)
14. Aadu Oru Bheekara Jeeviyanu (Midhun Manuel Thomas)
15. Annayum Rasoolum (Rajeev Ravi)
16. Kammattipaadam (Rajeev Ravi)
17. Idi (Sajid Yahiya)
18. Munroe Thuruthu (Manu)
19. Veettilekkulla Vazhi (Dr. Biju)
20. Lukka Chuppi (Bash Mohammed)
21. Rakshadhikari Baiju (Ranjan Pramod)
22. Premam (Alphonse Puthran)
23. Shutter (Joy Mathew)
24. Double Barrel (Lijo Jose Pellisery)
25. 1983 (Abrid Shine)  
26. Drishyam (Jeethu Joseph)