Malyalam Superstar Dileep Began The Year On a High

Dileep began the year by pulling off a coup that effectively made him the most powerful player in Malayalam cinema. He is ending it on the lowest note of his life, as he prepares to stand trial for a heinous crime

- Cithara Paul, Anirudha Karindalam & Nirmal Jovial

In the late 1980s, a new form of standup comedy began to pull in crowds in Ker-ala. Its performance called for a well-lit stage and half a dozen microphones, either hanging from the roof or fixed to height-adjustable stands. The performers were all men, in dhotis and loose kurtas, their mops fashionably combed and faces luxuriously talcumed.

They opened the show by imitating sounds of wind and percussion instruments, a crude form of beatboxing. They would then perform comedic sketches, laced with innuendos and double entendres. At the end came the pièce de résistance: mimicking the voice and mannerisms of politicians and movie stars.

The success of this ‘mimics parade’ (mimicry was the ‘art form’ and mimics parade, the process) was measured on a harsh scale of 1. It would be either a grand success, with a raucous audience begging for an encore, or a total flop.

By the early 1990s, mimicry became so popular that some of the artists entered the more respectable world of movies. Siddique, who was part of the first mimicry troupe in Kerala, would later direct Salman Khan in the blockbuster Bodyguard.

Siddique had been part of Kalabhavan, a Kochi based studio established in the sixties and run by a Catholic priest called Fr Abel. Kalabhavan was primarily into organising concerts, and mimicry artistes were initially employed to provide comic relief between gigs. But, as audiences began to demand longer interludes, the canny priest sensed an opportunity and formed the first professional mimicry troupe.

For aspiring mimics, Kalabhavan was what The Globe had been to thespians in London. By the mid-1990s, those lucky enough to enter Kalabhavan were assured of opportunities in films, as many of its alumni had become big names in the industry. There was actor Jayaram, writer-directors Siddique and Lal; and actor-director Cochin Haneefa, to name a few.