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Culture | Stories from Kerala

文化｜喀拉拉的故事

英文部分选自经济学人20240706期文化板块

Culture | Stories from Kerala

文化｜喀拉拉的故事

The rise of Mollywood, India’s more subtle film hub

印度更隐秘的电影产业中心莫莱坞的崛起

Instead of relying on big dance numbers, Malayalam movies tell stories

玛拉雅拉姆语电影更注重叙事，而不是靠宏大的歌舞戏份推动情节

To outsiders, and indeed many in the country, Indian cinema is all about masala movies. Named after the blend of spices ubiquitous in the country’s cuisine, these films feature a mix of genres, formulaic plots and larger-than-life heroes. Most of India’s highest-grossing movies—many from Bollywood, the behemoth Hindi-language film industry—can be classified as masala. But thesebig-budget, action-packed melodramas belie India’s diverse cinematic output.

在外人看来，甚至在许多印度人眼里，印度电影就是“马萨拉”（masala）电影。“马萨拉”原指印度菜中最常用的混合调料，“马萨拉”电影的特点就是风格混搭、情节刻板、英雄人物超凡脱俗。印度最卖座的大多数电影都可以归为“马萨拉”电影，其中许多是由印地语影业巨头宝莱坞出品。不过，斥巨资打造的这些动感十足的情节剧，让人忽视了印度电影作品多元化的事实。

注释：

1.Kerala：喀拉拉邦印度西南部的一个邦，濒临阿拉伯海，全邦面积为3.8万多平方公里。

2.Masala：A mixture of ground spices used in Indian cooking.

It is Mollywood which is leading the way in variety and sophistication. (The name nods to Malayalam, the language of Kerala state, where the film-makers are based.) It is arguably India’s most productive film industry: some 200 Malayalam films were released in 2023. Bollywood—which caters to around 500m Hindi speakers, 15 times Kerala’s population of 35m—produced roughly the same number.

引领印度影业复杂多变潮流的正是莫莱坞。（“莫莱坞”是玛拉雅拉姆语，玛拉雅拉姆是喀拉拉邦的语言，很多制片人都聚集在此地）。可以说，莫莱坞是印度电影最高产的地方：2023年上映了约200部玛拉雅拉姆语电影，与宝莱坞影片产出数量几乎持平。不过，宝莱坞的印地语受众多达5亿，是喀拉拉邦3500万人口的15倍。

There is quality as well as quantity, and nuanced fare is increasingly appealing to Indian audiences. “Manjummel Boys” (pictured), released in February, brought in 2.4bn rupees ($29m) at the box office, making it the highest-grossing Malayalam movie ever and the third-most successful film in India in 2024 so far. Unlike other national hits, the film’s cast is relatively unknown and its plot is unusual. The survival thriller, based on a true story, follows a group of boys trying to rescue their friend who is trapped in a cave.

莫莱坞电影质量与数量并重，影片品质精良，越来越受到印度观众的青睐。今年2月上映的《冒险之旅》（如图），票房成绩24亿卢比（2900万美金），是迄今为止最卖座的玛拉雅拉姆语电影，也是2024年以来印度票房排名第三的电影。不像其他的热门电影，这部电影的演员阵容并不强大，情节也不落窠臼。影片改编自真实事件，讲述的是一群男孩设法营救一位困于洞穴的朋友的惊险故事。

In its simplicity and parsimony—it cost 200m rupees to make—“Manjummel Boys” stands in stark contrast to “Fighter”, Bollywood’s biggest hit of the year to date. That blockbuster cost 13 times more and featured an ultra-nationalist plot, pitting India’s air force against Pakistan’s. The film also threw in a romance between Bollywood’s biggest stars for good measure.

《冒险之旅》故事简洁，风格朴实（耗资2亿卢比），和目前宝莱坞本年度最热门影片《斗士》形成了鲜明的对比。《斗士》这部大片的投资高出《冒险之旅》13倍，带有极端民族主义情节，讲述的是印度空军与巴基斯坦空军对峙的故事。该影片还锦上添花地加入宝莱坞巨星之间的感情戏。

Yet “Manjummel Boys” is no exception: there have been a string of Malayalam box-office hits of late. Of the ten highest-grossing Indian movies this year, three have been Mollywood productions. They depict fresh stories. “Aadujeevitham” (“The Goat Life”), released in March, recounts the true tale of an immigrant labourer in Saudi Arabia forced into slavery as a goatherd. “Aavesham” (“Excitement”) follows college students who become entangled with an eccentric gangster. Even “Bramayugam” (“The Age of Madness”), a horror movie shot in black and white—these days, the ultimate artistic indulgence—has achieved commercial success.

不过，《冒险之旅》并非个例。玛拉雅拉姆语电影票房近来屡创佳绩。印度今年票房前十的电影中有三部出自莫莱坞。这些电影故事情节新颖：3月上映的《山羊人生》（Aadujeevitham）讲述了一名外来劳工在沙特被奴役成为羊倌的真实故事；《激情》（Aavesham）则讲述了几位大学生与一个古怪歹徒纠缠的故事；就连《疯狂年代》（The Age of Madness）这种黑白恐怖片也取得了票房佳绩，观看黑白影片如今是极致的艺术享受。

For years, Kerala’s movies were limited to audiences within the state, but they are now finding fans farther afield. Thanks to the rise of streaming, dubbed or subtitled regional movies can reach a national audience. The trend accelerated during the pandemic, as film-starved Indians stuck at home discovered Malayalam movies for the first time. “The Great Indian Kitchen”, released on Prime Video in 2021, told the story of a housewife struggling in a patriarchal household. It was shot in one location and became a surprise hit; it has been remade in Hindi. (Bollywood has often adapted successful Malayalam stories, rarely with the same panache.)

喀拉拉邦的电影多年来只在本邦流行，而如今却有了更广泛的观众群体。随着流媒体平台兴起，带有配音或字幕的地方影片得以面向全国观众。疫情期间，这一趋势更是加速发展，因为隔离在家闹“影”荒的印度观众终于开始接触到玛拉雅拉姆语电影。《印度大厨房》（The Great Indian Kitchen）于2021年在Prime Video上线，讲述了一位家庭主妇在父权制家庭中的挣扎。这部仅有一个拍摄地点的影片最终化身黑马，还被宝莱坞翻拍成了印地语版（虽然宝莱坞经常这么干，但翻拍版往往只有形似却丢了神韵）。

What explains Mollywood’s distinctiveness? One reason is the industry’s history. Many early Indian films were based on stories from Hindu epics such as the Mahabharata; portraying deities, including the elephant-headed Ganesha, required expensive prosthetics and costumes. But Kerala’s production studios eschewed such tales, says G.P. Ramachandran, a film critic. That was partly out of financial necessity, but mostly out of choice. The industry was shaped by the literary and social movements of the state, which was a hotbed of communism in the 20th century, as it is now. Films both niche and commercial still explore social issues.

莫莱坞何以如此与众不同？一是因其电影业发展历史。早期印度电影有不少取材于《摩诃婆罗多》等印度教史诗中的故事，而要生动演绎出神祇（如象头神犍尼萨），就需要昂贵的特效和服饰。电影评论家G.P.拉玛钱德兰（G.P. Ramachandran）表示，喀拉拉邦的制片厂往往选择避开这些题材，这么做一方面是出于经济原因，但更多则是主动选择的结果。20世纪的喀拉拉邦是滋养共产主义的土壤（现在也是如此），当地的电影业自然会受到文学和社会运动的影响。无论是小众电影还是商业大片，喀拉拉邦的电影都热衷于探讨社会问题。

Another factor has been the state’s demography. Just 55% of Kerala’s population is Hindu (compared with 80% nationally). The state’s Christian and Muslim populations (18% and 27% of the total, respectively) demand content that speaks to a broad audience. Malayalam films avoid the religious tropes that have infiltrated Bollywood with the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (bjp), India’s Hindu-nationalist governing party. For the same reason the bjp has struggled to make much headway in Kerala, which has always been dominated by secular, left-leaning parties.

喀拉拉邦的人口构成也影响了当地的电影业。该邦的印度教人口只占55%（相比之下，印度全国的印度教人口占比达到80%）。当地的基督教和穆斯林人口（分别占总人口的18%和27%）需要受众更广的内容。随着印度人民党（BJP，目前统治印度、由印度教民族主义者成立的党派）的崛起，宗教主题也在宝莱坞电影中越来越多，而玛拉雅拉姆语电影则避开这些内容。人口构成也导致印度人民党在喀拉拉邦的选举中不太顺利；长期以来世俗且偏左翼的党派在当地占统治地位。

The cinema-going public in Kerala is also discerning. The state is India’s most developed and its population the most literate. Keralites take pride in their taste and film groups have proliferated since the first society was set up in 1965. Cineastes organise screenings of offbeat flicks and expose aspiring film-makers to cutting-edge techniques from around the world. C.S. Venkiteswaran, a critic, estimates that roughly 50% of all Mollywood movies are made by first-time producers, who may offer new ideas. As with independent films in the West, small budgets can prove helpful, as they force film-makers to focus on storytelling and character development rather than whizzy effects or elaborate set pieces. A study by a consulting firm in 2021 found that, compared with other regional cinema, Malayalam movies feature more humble, “people-like-us” protagonists, and far fewer antagonists.

喀拉拉邦的电影观众也独具慧眼。该邦是印度经济最发达、文盲率最低的邦。当地人对自己的品味引以为豪；自1965年当地第一家电影协会成立以来，有关电影的团体便不断涌现。影迷们组织放映非主流电影，让有抱负的制片人了解世界各地的前沿技术。影评人C·S·文基茨瓦兰（C,S.Venkiteswaran）估计大约有50%的莫莱坞电影都是由影界新人出品的，这些制作人可能会为电影创作注入新鲜的血液。与西方独立电影一样，预算少可能还有所助益，因为这会让人专注于讲故事、塑造人物，放弃花里胡哨的特效和繁复的套路。2021年一家咨询公司的一项研究表明，和其他地区的电影相比，玛拉雅拉姆语电影的主角更接地气、“和大家一样”，反面角色也明显较少。

Mollywood is not yet a potent commercial force—last year only 7% of its films turned a profit—but this crop of celebrated films shows that subtle stories can find a wide audience. India’s box office can be volatile, Mr Ramachandran points out, and Indians are unlikely to abandon their beloved masala fare entirely. In time, however, Malayalam movies may contribute to a more balanced cinematic diet.

目前莫莱坞的商业影响力还比较有限，去年只有7%的影片实现了盈利。但这些叫好又叫座的电影表明，构思巧妙的故事也大有受众。拉玛钱德兰指出，印度的票房不太稳定，印度人也不太可能完全抛弃他们热爱的马萨拉电影。不过，假以时日，玛拉雅拉姆语电影就能为铸就影坛百花齐放的格局添砖加瓦。

翻译组：

Alfredo，男，真实主义歌剧发烧友

Lee，爱骑行的妇女之友+Timberland粉

Nikolae，新手人民教师，声优探索者，乃木坂47与AKB49

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Mosy，绘本、演讲、戏剧英文教育践行者

Rachel，学理工科，爱跳芭蕾，热爱文艺的非典型翻译

感想

本期感想

Very，男，电气民工，经济学人资浅爱好者

我们很早以前就听说过一句话，只有民族的才是世界的。但在经历身边的种种时，却又有许多矛盾的地方:我们拼命建设，结果全国的城市几乎一模一样；我们拼命赚钱消费，结果想要购买的东西却几乎一样；我们拼命努力，结果目标的内容都是相同的。这些相似的追求和我们被教导的追求民族自己的特色却是矛盾了。

于是我们开始困惑了，究竟是我们在追求的，是民族的还是相互模仿的。同时我们又看到两个相斥的审美现实:民族的东西在不断受到非同民族的喜爱，整个社会却在追求非民族性的雷同的东西。可能我们会自我解释为社会的审美会有滞后或者非同民族的赞美只是个例。虽然不排除这种可能，但是如果我们静下心来扪心自问，我们是否会排斥许多老一代或者更老长辈们的凡俗礼节，我们是否会更加习惯当代年轻人的习惯，也许问题的答案就在其中。那些被继承的凡俗礼节中包含了民族的东西，当然也包含了糟粕的东西，这两者在此是一致的，这也很好理解，民族在未达到现代文明前，肯定在其礼节中融入了古代文明对于自然和世界的理解，同时也以自己的理解层次来表达。现代文明的起源并不在于我们，所以现代文明从一开始便和我们民族的特点有很大的区别，但我们民族又在某种程度上而言必然走向现代文明，所以我们民族的特点和现代文明也必然会产生冲突。不过有一点是显而易见的，最终会形成一种现代文明和我们民族融合的民族特色，这种特色对两者进行了筛选，又进行了融合新造。

我们若要强行在此分离出古代民族特色，只能有一个办法:将其隔离。因为古代民族特色必然是无法完整地留存在现代文明社会里。否则，我们只能得到改良（可能这个良字不妥）后的版本。

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