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‘Thiraipaarvai’: The fading charm of film
criticism!
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Sundays
are crazy! It starts when you switch on the TV.
For an avid film buff, Sunday is perhaps the only
day when you can catch up with all that is happening
in the film world. Watch the new songs, get to
know how the films are doing at the box office,
get to see some good impartial reviews and maybe
decide which one of the movies you want to catch
in theaters. But, is that happening right now?
No, would be the obvious answer. Yes, we do get
to watch the latest songs on TV. But, the other
two things mentioned above (i.e finding out box
office performances and getting impartial reviews)
is just not happening. There are programs that
tell us about the latest box office standing and
there are also the 'Vimarsanams' that turn out
without fail. But, are they impartial and unbiased?
Quite the opposite.
Over the years we have had many effective and
honest (apparently) film based programs that told
us about hits, flops and also gave us concise
reviews; ones that would tell us whether the movie
was worth watching in theaters. I |
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guess
that many of you would have been great fans of 'Madhan's
Thiraipaarvai', a weekly feature that reinvented Tamil
cinema criticism. The forthrightness and honesty with
which movies were reviewed just a few years back was
so heartening to see. They served as the quality control
factors of the film industry and actually helped the
good movies gain mileage. I would say that the current
health of Tamil cinema (it is not at all bad) has a
lot to do with the slow but sure process of unbiased
and objective criticism that was instilled by the likes
of Madhan.
But, free and fair criticism through the media needs
the right environment; one of zero interference and
(to a certain extent) a bit of irreverence towards names
and reputations. That environment, sadly, no longer
exists in Tamil media. That is exactly why we see a
critic and analyst of Madhan's caliber relegated to
a chair judging 'tomorrow’s directors' instead
of giving pertinent opinions about today's films.
What happened to the free and fair environment in Tamil
media? The answer is simple. To evaluate a film and
be candid about its run at the box office you need someone
who does not stand to win or lose anything from the
success or failure of a film. But such a person cannot
survive within the two giant media houses in Tamil Nadu
at the moment. The reason - the two big media houses
are also the two big production houses in Tamil cinema
at present. Result- contorted box office reports, brash
overstatement of success and absolute indifference to
the films produced by the opposing camp.
At the moment, there are three ‘Top 10’
ratings in Tamil cinema. One shown by channel A which
prefers to put all the productions of X on top one after
the other in the order of release date. The other rating
is by channel B which puts all productions by Yand Z
(not in order of preference) on top. It goes without
saying that A ignores films by Y and Z while B pretends
that films by X do not exist. The third and final rating
is the ‘real’ one which gets lost or suppressed
amid all this noise.
One cannot really blame them either! If I was a producer
as well as a media baron, it would be hard to resist
the temptation of ‘power marketing’ my movies
through my channel. Trailers, songs, promos and whatnots
every five minutes. Now, that would be ethical. But,
if I began running Top 10 features that kept my movies
on top even months after their release and also stopped
including other producers’ movies on the rating,
no matter how they are doing; that would be unethical.
The irony of the matter here is that the two media houses
involved in this are not inexperienced fledglings in
the field. They practically brought satellite television
to the south. Definitely, they know that what is being
done is wrong and we know that what is being done is
wrong and in all probability, they know that we know
that they are wrong. Then why would they carry on with
such practices which only ruins their credibility and
turns people off from channels and rating programs.
It is not easy to venture a guess. It is either a big
three-way battle between production houses for supremacy
in Tamil cinema and they are going all out – ‘All
is fair in love and war’. Or it is a simple matter
of premium footage not being exchanged between production
and media houses which would enable either of them to
include each other’s films on their ratings. Now,
you cannot expect a first class channel to run ‘Top
10’ features without having footage from the movies
concerned. Either way; if this goes on for too long,
the ultimate loser will be Tamil cinema.
It is said that the symptom of a healthy democracy is
a free, fair and independent judiciary. A just society
is one where media is free to bring out the truth. Now,
cinema is not a matter of national importance or societal
justice. But, for those who love Tamil cinema and are
concerned about its growth and health, the free fair
criticism and transparent rating culture must return
soon. Sure, the production and media houses in question
are also doing a fair bit to promote Tamil cinema; making
huge investments, breaking new grounds in publicity
and also supporting small but good films in finding
their way to theaters. In their individual capacities,
they are doing wonderfully well. But, the battle between
them might just be strangulating Tamil cinema’s
quest for excellence.
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