| Director
Seeman’s and other Tamilians protest
against IIFA is long overdue. In fact
the whole regional film industry especially
from the South should have stood up to
IIFA long ago. Behindwoods reader Sharmila
Valli Narayanan explains why.
Recently director Seeman and other Tamilians
have voiced their displeasure loud and
clear against the International Indian
Film Festival (IIFA) for wanting to hold
the film awards in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Their reason is because Sri Lanka had
turned into a killing field of innocent
Tamil civilians during its final battle
against the rebels Tamil Tigers. There
are many more thousands of Tamils who
are now languishing in the refugee camps.
Slowly, stories are filtering out that
the Sri Lankan army had knowingly slaughtered
civilians and rebels who wanted to surrender.
While all the imagery of the killings
are still fresh in the minds of Tamils,
along came the news that Amitabh Bachchan,
the poster boy for IIFA was going to bring
the IIFA show to Colombo. Director Seeman
who has been a strong supporter of the
Tamil Tigers and other Tamils have protested
loud and clear so much so that Bachchan
has written in his blog that he is trying
to find a solution to pacify all parties
concerned. Commenting on the IIFA show
in Colombo, Seeman is reported to have
said, “It’s ironic that the
Bollywood film industry is insensitive
about the whole issue.”
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I am not going to argue about whether it is right
for IIFA to hold the show in Colombo but I want to
touch on one point raised by Seeman that the Bollywood
film industry is indeed insensitive – not only
to the plight of the Tamils in Sri Lanka but also
to the entire Indian film industry.
The very name of the awards IIFA is a slap in the
face to the regional film industry in India especially
the South. International Indian Film Awards should
mean all Indian films not just Hindi films. IIFA does
absolutely nothing for other Indian films…it
is merely a glorification of Hindi films where almost
the same old names are felicitated every year one
way or another. Why not call it Hindi Film Awards?
The only thing international about IIFA is that every
year it is held in an international venue where some
Hollywood stars who (not the top of the A list) are
invited to the event to give it international credibility.
And the western papers who know nuts about the vibrant
movie scene in India keep writing about this award
as though Hindi films are the only films in India.
What has surprised me is why the hell have the regional
films especially those from the South in particular
the Tamil and Telugu film fraternity has kept quiet
about this? Why have they not protested over the name
of IIFA and demanded a change in its name? Don’t
their films mean anything to the Indian cinematic
landscape? Do their films not contribute to the economy
of India? Are their films so bad that they have to
be kept a secret from the rest of the world?
I know that the Malayalam star Mammootty has spoken
out against IIFA. He should have been joined by all
others as well. If stars like Rajnikanth, Kamal Haasan,
Vijay, Ajith and Suriya (and that’s just from
the Tamil film industry) and other stars of Telugu,
Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Punjabi, Marathi, Bhojpuri,
Rajasthani, Assamese, Guajarati, Orissa – I
don’t know if I have left out any other regional
film industry; forgive me if I have – if all
these film fraternity had spoken out against IIFA,
do you think it would not have caused repercussions
not only to IIFA but also in the global press?
I am very disappointed especially with the Southern
film industry which is very vibrant and very active
for not pursuing a more aggressive stand against Bollywood’s
insensitivity to other regional films in this matter.
They should write in to every western press that repeats
the often repeated lie that Bollywood produces the
largest number of films in the world.
It is the whole Indian film industry that produces
the over 1000 films per year not just Bollywood. Andhra
Pradesh is the second largest producer of films and
has the largest domestic market for films in India.
Tamil films are the second largest Indian film market
in the world. Doesn’t all this matter to the
Indian film industry?
Imagine if all the major stars of Tamil and Telugu
were to come together and protest over IIFA? What
would be the consequences? IIFA would have to change
its name or at least acknowledge the existence of
other language films. Why is this not being done?
Don’t the rest of the regional films especially
from Tamil and Telugu film industry have the backbone
to do it? Or do they really think that the only films
that matter are Hindi films – Hindi films are
world class while theirs is just second rate? If you
have pride in the product then make a stand and shout
to the world that your films will not be ignored especially
by the Northerners from your own country!
Please remember that Bollywood is not India and India
is not Bollywood. India is the only country that has
many films industries in different languages. Shah
Rukh Khan might be the king of Bollywood but in Tamil
Nadu it is Rajnkanth who is hero worshipped to the
extent that SRK never will be; the Kamals, Vijays
and Ajiths have a fanatical following that would be
the envy of even Hollywood stars. Likewise in Telugu
films Chiranjeevi, Venkatesh, Allu Arjun, Mahesh Babu
etc can draw more crowds anytime for any function
than any of the Bollywood actors if they were to descend
to AP. It is the same for Malayalam and Kannada films.
And in the rural areas of these states, it won’t
be surprising if many of the people don’t know
who some of the Bollywood actors are. Bollywood thinks
it is the only movie industry that matters in India.
It is about time it is put in its place and reminded
that it is a part of the fabric of the Indian film
industry.
By the way, according to initial reports Mani Ratnam,
a Tamil, was supposed to have premiered his Hindi
film Raavan at IIFA in Colombo (the very idea he would
do that is shocking!) But the backlash from Tamils
has made him decide otherwise. Does anybody remember
that he also made a Tamil and Telugu version of the
movie that is hardly talked about? Does this mean
the Hindi version is the only version that matters
to Mani Ratnam and therefore he is taking it to Cannes?
So what are the Tamil and Telugu versions? Mere scraps
thrown at Tamil and Telugu viewers so that they can
lap it up and bring in the revenue which his dubbed
Guru in Tamil and Telugu could not?
If you dear reader love your Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam
or Kannada movies, then every time you see whether
in western papers or the North Indian English papers
trumpet about how Bollywood being the world’s
largest film producer, please write in and enlighten
them that Bollywood is not India and India is not
Bollywood.
Sharmila Valli Narayanan
sharmval@gmail.com
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