Tamil cinema in the doldrums
 

by Karthiga Rukmanykanthan

Tamil cinema produces abundant films to entertain and watch with fun. Quantitatively Tamil cine industry produces sufficient films to the world standard.

The question arises when comparing their standard qualitatively. Technologically the industry is rapidly developing, but is not these aspects that decide the quality of a film, it is the story, theme and the message it carries.

The actual deficiency or famine that the industry is currently facing is the monotony in aspects such as the plot and the theme. Hardly a filmgoer could completely finish watching a film these days.

As the target market is on the youth, the makers are concerned about the substances that attract the youth rather than focusing on the necessities of the plot.

Therefore the underlying theme is mostly based on 'Love'. This theme has been in existence ever since the industry initiated. Most of the successful films until now have contained this theme. It shows that these filmmakers have still not started thinking out of the box. Inventions and creations are being done but at smaller levels.

The inventions have to be made to the basic concepts of film making which is choosing a unique theme. The cine industry has to stop following a trend at a stretch. What are the factors hindering the Tamil cine industry from reaching global standard and why are they confined to these trends?

Two or more movies make a remarkable stand at the box-office every year. These movies stand out due to one or two outstanding aspects a few of the memorable films of the year are 'Chanthiramukhi' and 'Anniyan'. Although these two films had totally different messages, the theme of the film was based on 'multi-personality'. Because their screen play and story differed, both of them made a memorable stand at the box-office.

Directors and producers come up with different justifications to prove their creations for their commercial benefits. Some of their reasons to continue making commercial movies is to satisfy the youth's taste.

Youth's taste is assumed as 'masala' films depicting love stories in the campus milieu, showing fast beat songs with suitable choreography and exaggerating stunt scenes and punch dialogues to enhance the eminence of the main lead. Such films are not expensive to produce and can be produced in a short period with a reasonable profit at the end.

There are no such written rules that a film must gratify only the youth as they are the target audience. Youngsters will always welcome innovative stories with distinct cinematic aspects. If the films are made for audiences of all categories then definitely the filmmakers will be able to drive in a large amount of audiences into the cinema halls.

prominence

The cast is not chosen according to the needs of the story; the stories are chosen to satisfy the prominence of the hero. Such a filming practice brings several bottlenecks when planning the story. Such films usually will go out of track to include some scenes to criticize other reputed cine figures.

Another bad filming practice is producing films in a short period of four to five months to cut costs and enjoy their benefits. Even though this increases the amount of films produced, this reduces the quality of the films due to lack of planning. Successful movies are usually the ones which hit the theatres after a year or more of preparation.

The directors choose the story first and then the suitable artistes for this roles. Later the director has to give views about the music to the composer, suitable locations to invoke moods of the scenes and appropriate costumes to suit the character of the actors.

In most of the films these aspects are decided then and there at the spot. This will give less time to think and provoke the filmmakers to copy ideas from other films. These improper practices will lead to monotonous movies.

fantastic songs

Recently produced films contain fantastic songs with distinct music compositions and enjoyable choreography. Some filmgoers watch these films for the picturisation of these songs.

There has never been deficiency for talented music in Tamil films and never will be. The only area where the filming has to be improved is selecting unique stories that carry useful messages for audiences of all ages.

The directors and actors will create such films only if the producers perceive the interests of the audiences correctly. A liberated unification of directors and actors will pave the path to carry out films that will depict creations of progressive and open minded plots. If the producers liberate the creators, Tamil cinema will reach the global standards without any constraints.

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