Since the early 2010s, a "New Generation" movement has revitalized the industry by moving away from formulaic storytelling and the traditional "superstar" system.
Keralites are famously argumentative and possess a sharp, often self-deprecating, wit. This is best embodied by the late comedian Jagathy Sreekumar . In films like Mannar Mathai Speaking (1995), his characters were not just comic relief; they were anthropological studies of the drunk, the scheming clerk, and the failed cashew businessman. The humor in Malayalam films is rarely slapstick; it is observational, rooted in the specific absurdities of Malayali bureaucracy, family gossip, and political infighting. Since the early 2010s, a "New Generation" movement
Malayalam cinema has long been a fixture on the global stage: Since the early 2010s