There was a time when Malayalam movies meant adult movies: Ram Gopal Varma

Ram Gopal Varma reflects on the evolution of Malayalam cinema, noting its transition from a time when it was considered ‘adult movies’ to its current highly praised status. In an interview with Galatta Plus, Varma reminisced about the past when Malayalam films were avoided due to their explicit content compared to other industries.

"All it takes is a few unexpected films coming rapidly one after another, and it will change the entire thing. When I was studying Engineering in Vijayawada, we avoided Malayalam films because they featured more explicit content than any other film industry,” RGV said.

He acknowledged that there were good films in the industry back then, despite earlier misconceptions, and attributed some of the negative perceptions to distributors' choices.

Ram Gopal Varma said that he liked the controversial movie ‘The Kerala Story’ very much. The director said that this is the best film he has ever seen and after watching the film he called the crew and talked to them.

“I am happy with the film ‘The Kerala Story’. It's one of the best movies I've seen in years. After watching the movie, I spoke to the director (Sudipto Sen), producer (Vipul Amrutlal Shah) and actress Adah Sharma. Another movie of theirs was released. I didn't know about that. Everyone ignored that movie," said Ram Gopal Varma.

Varma also praised the controversial film ‘Animal,’ directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga. Despite criticism for misogyny, ‘Animal’ was commended for its success on a relatively small budget without VFX. The film, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna, and Anil Kapoor, was made with an investment of Rs 100 crore and earned more than Rs 917 crore.

Varma also revealed an anecdote about a Telugu superstar who personally funded the continuation of a show when his own film faltered. It was mentioned that the actor also made a payment to a corporate company in Mumbai to support this effort.