Cinema, the Reflection of Contemporary Life – Apropos to Malayalam Movie 'Sandesham'

Cinema has always been a medium of entertainment, and also it reflects the socio- cultural, political realities of the contemporary time. Films capture the pulses of the society through stories, characters and dialogues offering valuable insights into the collective consciousness of a society. Malayalam cinema, is the epitome of realism and socio-political sensitivity. Several films produced in Malayalam evoke the political and social life of Kerala, and one among them is Sandesham (1991), is directed by Sathyan Anthikkad and written by Sreenivasan, the finest reflections of contemporary political satire of Malayali life. The state of Kerala has been the breeding ground of Communism long before 1957, here is the first elected Communist Government in the world. This paper delves into the contemporary life and political affairs of Kerala in the 1990s.