No discussion of culture is complete without humor. Malayali humor is dry, situational, and often highly intellectual. The late actor Innocent built a career playing the Manavalan (the greedy, cowardly, but oddly lovable uncle) whose dialogue is peppered with hyperbolic Malayalam proverbs.
Reflections on film society movement in Keralam - Taylor & Francis
The seeds of cinema in Kerala were sown long before the first cameras arrived. Traditional art forms like (temple shadow puppetry) familiarized local audiences with the concept of projected images accompanied by music and storytelling.
Many classics are based on the works of literary giants like Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, M.T. Vasudevan Nair, and Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai.
