The Glorious 80s of Malayalam Cinema When I look back upon my childhood, I can't help but think how cinema was not only an integral and inextricable part of it, but also how it played a decisive role in fashioning my thoughts and aesthetic sensibilities. I had that rare (almost unheard of these days) kind of childhood where I was mostly left to my own devices, meaning my parents did not go crazy trying to figure out how to keep my sister and me constantly occupied and entertained; we were expected to go with the flow or get creative. Having lived with extended family right up until age 15, in a cramped two bedroom apartment in the Middle East, privacy was something of a joke and whatever little we got of it was guarded like it were sacrosanct. Our movie time from 2-4pm was sacred, as was TV time from 7 to 8pm. My dad, an avid Malayalam film lover, who enjoyed watching films on the SONY video cassette player we owned back then-walked in the door around 2pm bearing at least tw
