| Rajini
+ Kamal – Will the magic
be recreated? |
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In the corporate world, this happens
quite often. Acquisitions and mergers
that leverage the advantages of both
the participants usually create a
market leader. And, a behemoth of
a corporation that results is a mighty
advantage. The advantage is, the business
strong points of the participants
are both put together. The same logic,
one would expect, will apply the film
world. |
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| The
Precedents |
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Sometimes,
in other parts of the world,
the above phenomenon does happen.
Robert De Niro and Al Pacino
in The Heat; Tom Hanks and Matt
Damon in Saving Private Ryan;
Brad Pitt and George Clooney
in Ocean’s 11 and Ocean’s
12 – the list is very
long indeed. Some of these projects
have gone on to become blockbusters.
Closer home, Sharukh Khan and
Amitabh Bachhan have starred
in the latest sensation of Bollywood
– Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna.
The business that this movie
is expected to make, is supposedly
a new record. |
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| Tamil
Industry |
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The Tamil movie industry, quite unlike
the others, has shied away from such
unions. In spite of having fantastic
talent all around, the coming together
of such talents is almost impossibility
in Tamil. People might argue that
budget is the biggest obstacle. The
salaries of stars such as Amitabh
Bachhan and Sharukh Khan, put together,
is several times over the total budget
of most Tamil movies. |
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However,
one wonders, if that is the
case, what about the actors
who are not yet superstars?
Even an actor who is one movie
old wants to be ‘the’
hero. He gets offended even
if the heroine of the movie
is given importance. Srikanth
apparently got upset when Sangeetha
was prominently featured in
Uyir promos. The issue got even
more ugly when there were reports
that many of the top heroes
in Tamil threatened to not act
with Trisha since she had ‘undermined’
their value by making an extravagant
launch in ‘Something Something
Unakkum Enakkum’. |
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Such
silly issues often dominate the personality
driven Tamil movie industry. It makes
one wonder if there should be a mandatory
course on business strategies to all
actors. Maybe that will make them
outgrow their ego and see the value
proposition. |
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| The
Possibilities |
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A
movie that features Rajini and
Kamal, though a distant and
impossible dream, directed by
Manirathnam, will certainly
make the world take notice.
While that may involve budgetary
issues, the smaller stars can
certainly do this. Dhanush and
Simbu for example, can act in
a roller coaster commercial
thriller directed by Dharani.
Simbu and Dhanush, as the typical
Madras pasangal, will make waves
if they come together. The same
can also be said about a romantic
Ajith and an action packed Vijay
being directed by the ever-commercial
Shankar. |
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This
would again set the box office on
fire. Not just these – a realistic
possibility would be the union of
say, Kamal Hassan and Vijay or Rajinikanth
and Vikram. The scope of the story
is so wide – for example, gangster
flicks like Goodfellas and Mythological
flicks like Karnan could be remade
with such union of Mega stars. |
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The
recent success of Imsai Arasan
should be a good sign to directors
who want to deal with the subject.
The story of Karnan is always
heart-warming and offers ample
scope for two mega stars. A
Karnan in Kamal Hassan and an
Arjunan in Vikram or Vijay will
not just make waves in Tamil,
it would make the global audiences
take note. |
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When
a director with of the quality of
Kamal himself directs other stars,
say, Surya and Dhanush in a story
like Godfather or Goodfellas, we straight
away have a movie that is world class.
The same union could also be said
of the actresses.
Hopefully, Trisha and Asin, in meaty
roles, could pair up to provide an
adventure like Thelma & Louise.
Let’s hope – because that
is all that we can do. |
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