Trivandrum Series: Kerala Chalachithra Academy – A Goldmine for Cinephiles – 2

Please read the first part of the blog here.

What would have been an average visit to the Kerala Chalachithra Academy turned out to be a memorable experience for me, thanks to the warmth and support shared by three of its important staff members – the then Chalachithra Academy Chairman, Prem Kumar sir, a young Librarian named  Athira, and Nithin, who worked as a project assistant.

Past Luminaries

I had just climbed up the stairs to the first floor of the academy, taking my sweet time, exploring the photos on the wall. Tribute sections honoring past luminaries made me emotional because death is often too cruel to the artists. 

I say this not just because death often steals artists at young ages, before their artistic journeys could hit their peak, or we, as an audience, could enjoy their craft or charm to the fullest, but also because it sometimes takes them right when their years or even decades of struggles were finally starting to bear fruit.

The void left by the untimely death of the legendary Irrfan Khan, or Malayalees’ very own Salim Kumar, or writer-director Sachy, still stings.  One of my close friends’ college seniors passed away due to health issues before the release of his first directorial venture. 

In Kerala, we say, “Maranam rangabodham illatha komaliyanu.”  Death, like a clown with no sense of timing or stage presence, often arrives when least expected, interrupting life’s most ordinary or even happiest moments.

A Film Meeting

Leaving the Obituary section, I approached the photo wall of Kerala State Awards Best Actress winners. Just then, Athira, the then librarian of the academy, tiptoed out of the hall and informed me, “Sorry, there’s an important meeting happening inside the library now. Could you please wait in the lounge for a few minutes?” 

I had no issue waiting at the lounge, since it hosted the photo wall of the Kerala State Film Awards – Best Film winners. By the time Athira returned,  I was staring at the stills from movies like Thanmathra, Adaminte Makan Abu, and Manhole. “They’re wrapping up the meeting. You can enter now, but please remain silent for the time being,” she cautioned. 

The introvert in me didn’t mind waiting until the meeting was over and all the staff had left the library. Compared to making a sudden entrance and momentarily interrupting the meeting, I didn’t mind waiting another day or even a week. 

I could hear the voices of some politicians and academy members discussing a film event and its allocated funds on the speakers. I opened the door hesitantly, scared they would be angry or irritated. But everyone’s initial look of surprise soon turned into a warm, welcoming smile, especially Prem Kumar sir, who gestured to “come in” with a friendly hand wave. 

Like Harry Potter in the Chamber of Secrets movie, I returned the smile and entered the library hall as noiselessly as possible, pretending I didn’t exist. I wished I were invisible or camouflaged on the wall or the bookshelf. 

Ammava!

Once the meeting was over, Premkumar sir enquired if I was a film student or researcher. When I told him I work as a freelance writer and book editor, we chit-chatted a bit about work. 

As usual, I didn’t dare to ask for a photo, but everyone at home was excited when I mentioned this encounter. Who can forget his iconic “Ammava!” in Aniyan Bhava Chetan Bhava as the character Sundaran, or his Ganabhooshan Sathish Cochin from Puthukkotayile Puthumanavalan, to name a few. 

Library 

As a forever lover of books, libraries are one of my favorite places in the world. Even in my recent good dreams, the thirteen-year-old me, clad in my navy blue skirt and white shirt uniform, with hair braided on both sides, keeps climbing the long, windy staircase to my school library. 

Dreamworlds aside, I must gush that Kerala Chalachithra Academy has an ENVIABLE collection of books on filmmaking and film personalities, classic literature, archived film magazines, film scripts, and dissertations on film studies. 

Not to forget the shelved and boxed collections of hundreds of Audio Cassettes, CDs, VHS tapes, DVDs, and about 200 legendary original film reels. Apart from movies, these storage devices also contained behind-the-scenes footage from various movie sets, film photos, movie interviews, and archived television programmes. 

I held scores of Satyajit Ray and Akira Kurosawa books in my hand, reluctant to let go. Athira, the librarian, was sorting and reorganizing a shelf at the moment. We ended up talking about almost every subject under the sun: films, career, books, travel, food, and whatnot. When I told her I had recently visited the Raja Ravi Varma Art Gallery at Palayam and was planning to visit his birthplace – the Kilimanoor Palace – she showed me a big book about him, with beautiful photos of his paintings and their detailed descriptions. 

Geographical Restrictions

Kerala Chalachithra Academy’s library section comes under the category of a ‘special library’ with geographical restrictions. This means we cannot borrow the books or films outside the building or premises. However, for an annual subscription fee of just Rs 500/- (as of 2025), we can spend endless hours in the library reading books or watching movies on the desktop.

For a fee of just Rs 2000/-(as of 2025), we could also rent the projector room and watch a movie with our friends on the big screen. Imagine organizing a 40-member, or even 20-member gang; you could watch a classic or one of your favorites on the big screen for a mere Rs 50 or 100 per head. When I visited the academy, the screening and jury selection for the Kerala State Film Awards were in progress, so I couldn’t see or use this facility.

I couldn’t help but wonder out loud why such a cinematic treasure trove remains hidden or underutilized. Upon hearing my nonstop queries, Athira introduced me to Nithin, who was handling the IIFK-related works as well as the digitization of the film archives. 

Academy’s Objectives & Functions

I asked Nithin why, despite every cinephile in Kerala raving about the IFFK, very few people know or use the free film and study resources in the academy. As an ex-IT professional, I imagined at least a hundred cinephiles from Technopark using these facilities regularly.

Nithin explained the academy’s overall objectives and functions to me: helping the Government to formulate film and television-related policies, setting up an audio-visual library and film and video archives for academic purposes, organizing film festivals such as the IFFK and film study camps, providing financial support, such as subsidies, and promotions to movies of aesthetic and social importance, to name a few. 

Obviously, driving more visitors to the academy is not a priority on their huge pile of work. But the doors of the academy are always open to the cinephile Santiagos who come in search of its treasure. 

When I asked why they can’t promote visits to the academy on IFFK’s social pages, he said they don’t do such integrated or overlapping promotions. Somehow, this conversation deviated into other film topics. I ended up asking him about even taboo topics like state censorship, the casting couch, and the credibility of awards. I loved how refreshingly honest yet hopeful his answers were.

Film Dissertations & Script

Nithin showed me the bookshelf with film studies dissertations. The academy offers a one-year-long fellowship grant to those interested in film research. There are no age restrictions and minimal eligibility checks. But the academy’s board must approve the research synopsis before the grants are allocated. Unfortunately, the last time such submissions were invited was in 2020. I hope the academy resumes this. 

Since I’m a creative writer, I asked him if the academy maintains the printed copies of all Malayalam film scripts for academic purposes. I was disappointed to learn that they only have the film scripts published in book form by any publisher due to copyright issues. As a writer-in-progress, I want at least the digital archive of all Malayalam film scripts, and regular movie recommendations, from the academy. 

Nithin doesn’t believe in must-watch movie lists, as every viewer is different and their taste in cinema is individualistic. He wants everyone to embark on their own unique journeys in search of good movies: asking a friend for their favorite movie, exploring movies from their own favorite genres, outside their comfort genres, movies from different languages, different countries, looking for the underrated gems, not just the award winners or popular ones.

When I said, as someone with only a layman’s knowledge of movies, I wouldn’t mind Kerala Chalachithra Academy social media handles being that cinephile friend who introduces me to great movies, he chuckled and admitted that they have plans to publish the digital catalogue of all movies available at the academy. I requested they also publish a catalogue of all film books available in the academy’s library. I know it would be a gem of a list.

Friday Screening

Nithin also introduced me to a WhatsApp group named ‘Friday Screening,’ maintained by the academy. They organize free, weekly screenings of award-winning and film-festival-screened movies from across the globe at Bharat Bhavan, in Thycaud. 

He suggested I join the group to get updates on the international movies screened every week. I joined the group, but since I moved out of Trivandrum soon, I have yet to attend the screenings. Hopefully someday!

Archival Storage Room 

Since I mentioned that I was only visiting the academy for the day, Nithin suggested I see the archival room also before leaving. Like a toddler who was offered a box of chocolates, I followed him to the second floor, speeding to catch up with his long strides. 

We entered a long, hall-like room where boxes full of VHS tapes, CDs, files, and photos were kept. He explained that he was digitizing all the data in those archaic storage devices. I was intrigued to see boxes full of vintage MiniDV tapes containing the videos of 60-minute episodic television programmes, and old photos of many Mollywood celebrities. 

Nithin mentioned that only about 10% of the archival contents have been digitized so far. Since they were understaffed, he had taken it upon himself as a personal project. It was difficult to get help, as others found working with analog devices a chore. 

He reminded me so much of one of my IT day friends. Both of them have a tall, lean frame and this shared love for the analog world.  I told Nithin the same, “I know someone who would have sat on the floor right next to you and finished it for you.”

Film Vault

The real cherry on the cake was the film vault. Forgive the blurred details since I’m writing this blog a year late. I remember the vault as a shuttered room. Unlit, but definitely visible; cool, but not cold. I’m sure I had the same joy on my face as the child in Cinema Paradiso when I first saw the black film reels on the shelf. There were hundreds of them. 

Maybe it wouldn’t have made any difference, but since I was in a light-sensitive area, I didn’t click any photos. Besides, for a cinephile, a film vault is a sacred space that demands respect. 

When we were small, my brother and I used to watch the Beyblade series and even had toy Beyblades to play with. In the tale, ancient beasts like dragons inhabited the  Beyblade. I felt those film reels had souls inside them, too. All the creative energy, hard work, struggle – the blood, sweat, and tears – of the thousands of people who worked on those projects were stored in those film reels, for future generations to experience. 

Visiting the vault was the best climax to the most cinematic day in my life. 

Current Reality 

Cinema is not just an artistic place but a melting pot of glamour, power, fame, money, and controversies. 

The Malayalam film industry has been producing artistic and cult movies since the 80s. However,  it took the closure of theatres during the COVID pandemic and the rise of OTT platforms to finally cultivate a global viewership and fan following for our cinema.

Though our industry continues creating great movies and has no plans to slow down, it pains me as an audience that recently Mollywood has been in the news for the wrong reasons – like the 2017 Actress Assault Case, the Hema Committee report, and the recent Ansiba Hassan-AMMA case. 

Victims speaking up about the crime is a healthy sign in any society and is definitely not what is tarnishing our industry’s face, but the actual crime, abuse, or assault is. While we continue creating magic through our films, we must also strive to become a safer workplace for all its members, irrespective of star value, power, money, gender, religion, or caste. 

I hope our film industry will become a reflection of Malayalees’ humanitarian values, not our moral lapses, and win hearts across the globe, just like our movies.

Author’s Notes

~ All content on this blog is the intellectual property of the author. © 2026 Lirio Marchito. All rights reserved.

~ This blog is part of a series exploring my travels through Trivandrum, the capital city of my home state, Kerala, in India. You can read more posts from this series here. Trivandrum | Kerala| India