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.
Geographically, Kerala is a strip of land caught between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats. This unique topography has birthed a visual grammar that is distinctively "Malayali." The cinema of directors like Adoor Gopalakrishnan and, more recently, Lijo Jose Pellissery or Dileesh Pothan, utilizes the environment not just for aesthetics, but for atmosphere.
Movies frequently showcase Onam , Vishu , and temple festivals (Poorams) with traditional percussion (Chenda Melam).
