Perhaps the most defining feature of Malayalam cinema is its commitment to social realism. This stems from Kerala’s unique history of social reform movements, high literacy, and early 20th-century communist mobilization. Filmmakers like John Abraham, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, and Shaji N. Karun emerged from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and the Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad (KSSP) movement, bringing a neo-realist, politically conscious aesthetic. Their films tackled issues often taboo in other Indian cinemas: caste oppression (Aravindan’s Kummatty ), the plight of the landless (Pavithran’s Uppu ), the hypocrisy of religious institutions (Adoor’s Mukhamukham ), and the violence of state and feudal power.