New Delhi, May 3 -- Dileesh Pothan and Lijo Jose Pellissery, Rima Kallingal and Aashiq Abu, Syam Pushkaran, Don Palathara. I had barely heard of these names seven or eight years ago, and never imagined they would become part of my cultural landscape. Then, around covid time, the floodgates opened. Since then, my closest engagement with contemporary films has been not with Hindi or English or "world" cinema but with the new Malayalam wave- thoughtful, whimsical, often unpredictable and detour-laden films that erase the distinction between "mainstream" and "serious".

To gradually feel my way around this world, making little connections between the oeuvres and career arcs of this or that actor, screenwriter, cinematographer or director, was...