Current Tamil films

K S Sivakumaran

This column features films of artistic significance so that we can appreciate the film medium in an appreciable way. In order to understand the medium better we have to place the films in a historical context and examine the social, poetical and cultural aspects of the films taken for mention. Unlike film journalism which is coverage of basically on stars and glamour and the mass appealing or box office films, film criticism which again is more literary and perceptive and writing of aspects that goes beyond the reporting of the glamour and the scintillating scenes.

Mani Ratnam

Readers might have observed that we mainly write about international films screened in festivals and of aspects relating to the understanding of the cinema. However when we come to oriental films meaning Sinhala and Tamil films we are restrained and limit ourselves to the bare essentials. In the process of development of the Tamil cinema, we had to mention some details about the forgotten stars and films in our previous columns.

Tamil cinema, as we know, is part of the Indian Film culture. Singing and dancing is an inextricably tied up with that film culture. Hindi and Tamil films are no exception.

Personally I prefer to watch a European or Iranian or a Latin American or East Asian than a South Asian film. There are many amongst us to write about Indian and Lankan popular films. The Internet gives a lot of information even on Tamil popular films made in India. However, for the benefit of Lankan viewers who are in the majority Sinhalese we need to give information on all Indian regional films to know the different cultural aspects depicted in artistically made films from northern and southern India.

When this columnist was a member of the Lankan Public Performances Board he saw a number of well -made and poorly made Tamil films and when out of it he sees Tamil films only in exceptional circumstance. To update myself what had been happening in Hollywood (the Kodambaakam region in Chennai) I gathered some information from the Internet and a few articles published locally in Tamil. This is a report for 2011.

A total of 125 films had been made beginning with Thamil Desam and ending with Raja Paattai. The strange thing is that none of the films featured the box office stars Rajini Kanth and Kamal Hassan. However the next generation actors like Ajith, Vijai, Sooriya and Vikram figured prominently in the new films. The tussle for box-office honours was fought among four films: Aadukalam, Siruthai, Kaavalan and Ilaignan. Although many films were made the successful films were far and far between. But a few among them received appreciation from serious filmgoers.

Aadukalam for instance has received 8 National Awards. Some films like Aaranya Kaandam, Vaahai Sooda Vaa, Thoonga Nagaran, Alagar Saamiyin Kuthirai, Muran, Varnam, Vengaayam, Yuddam Sei, Kulla NarikKooddam and Payanam received the attention of cinegoers with a refined taste. Some films like Theivath Thiru Magal, Avan Ivan, Vaanam, Mayakkam Enna, though they belonged to the off-beat category yet had a fairly a good run in cinemas in Tamil Nadu. Readers will remember that the tastes of the Lankan cinegoers are different to the tastes of the largely uneducated Tamilnadu film buffs. What was box-office hit in Tamil Nadu won't run well in Lanka. What had been a failure there will be appreciated here. This is primarily because of the literacy rate in both countries.

Aaranya Kaandam

Mangaatha and Go were deemed to be the most successful commercial films in India. Kaanchana, Siruthai, Engayum Eppothum, Kaavalan, Nadodikal, Samuthirakani, Poraali, Osthi were most popular commercial films. Aelaam Arivu and Velaayutham scored well. These were big-budget films we are told. Mambattiyan was a failure at box office.

The current stars, not actors, in the forefront are: Ajith, Vijai, Soorya, Vikram, Kaarthi, Simbu, Vishal, Dhanush and Jeyam Ravi .The most highly paid star besides Rajini and Kamal is Soorya, we are told. Films starring other actors like Paarthipan, Prasanth, Vijay Kanth, Arya, Maadavan, Sathya Raj and Siva were not produced last year. Anjali was successful in glamorous films. Other stars include Ananya, Asin, Thamanna, Thrisha, Sruthi Haasan, and Ritcha.

In Tamil films music and dance forms an integral part in entertaining the audience. Apart fom the maestros Ilyarajah and A R Rahman, relatively newcomers like G V, Prakash, Yuvan Shankar Raja Harris Jeyraj and Aniruthh composed some fine tunes and melodies.

Notable filmmakers like Mani Ratnam, Shankar, Bharathi Rajah and Ravi Kumar did not make films last year. However new directors like Vetti Maaran, A S Vijai, Satkunam, Miskin, K V Aananthan and Venkat Prabu showed that they are to be reckoned.

Talented dancer Prabudeva directed two films Vedi and Engaayum Kaathal but did not succeed. Murugadas and Gautam Menon just succeeded in establishing themselves. M Saravanan in his maiden film, Engayum Eppothum, showed promise.

Among the comic actors Santhanam emerged successful among Vivek, Kanja Karuppu and Vadivelu. This article gathered most details from an article written by A M Rishad.

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