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Looking
back at the just ended 2010, overall it was a decent
year for Tamil films. There were brilliant indie
attempts, some dark horses rising above the ordinary,
some hyped attempts biting the dust, an intriguing
blend of commercial and art-house and finally, the
quintessential commercial potboilers minting money
proving all notions about ‘change’ completely
wrong. This was also the year that saw the release
of the most ambitious and the most expensive movie
to be made in Indian cinema – Endhiran. Variety
was the true spice of life in 2010. There was love,
sentiment, comedy, action and everything in equal
measure.
Now that I have painted a picture of how things
really looked up in 2010, here is my wish list for
2011. On what ideally would make this year better
than its previous counterpart, that would in turn
take Tamil movies one step towards attaining karma.
Why do brilliant movies have to be inspired from? |
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As much as the phrase ‘great minds think alike’
is abused, it’s also unavoidable to draw parallels
between works of great success. For instance, Manirathnam’s
celebrated Naayagan had striking similarities with Godfather.
Not only the basic plot of the movie seemed inspired,
but Kamal Senior’s makeup had resemblance with Marlin
Brando’s. Who would have thought Ameer’s Yogi
was inspired by Tsotsi until it was released? In the same
manner, Myshkin infused elements from his life and blended
it with the Japanese film Kikujiro to make Nandalala.
That brings us to this: isn’t there scope for original
Tamil movies at all? Going by the trend in 2010, movies
like Angadi Theru have proved that Tamil movies are capable
of being considered serious and worth every film festival’s
salt. Let Vasanthabalan and his contemporaries follow
his legacy.
Quality Original Content
Love, family, sentiment; is that all we have to explore?
Not precisely. Tamil literature is a treasure trove of
themes and stories of all kinds. Adapting books into movies
is still a trend waiting to catch up but there are a signs
that it will happen soon. Movies like Aanandha Thandavam
and Magizhchi were cinematic adaptations of books. Endhiran
is also inspired from Sujatha’s short story ‘En
Iniya Iyandhira’.
Same way, remakes need not be the order of the day. That’s
not to say they can’t co-exist though.
Hero worship!
It’s officially on its way out. Even by the standards
of Vijay and Ajith. All the frontline stars are getting
the jitters to flaunt their star power lest they get the
elbow from the viewing public. Even Shankar thought otherwise
when he cast Rajini. He wrote the character of the scientist
Rajini with flaws, naturally relatable with an ordinary
human being and left the superhuman things to the supersonic
Robot.
A welcoming trend this one, and going by the future projects
of our popular heroes, image building is gone for good
and let us hope it’s also given a proper burial
in the year 2011.
Songs?
The enduring song and dance numbers in our movies are
a reminder that events in our life are meant to be celebrated
/ mourned extensively. But when those songs turn into
excuses to increase a movie’s length, they pose
hindrance to its pace. If our producers and directors
wake up to the idea of letting the songs play in the backdrop,
while not necessarily making the characters prance around
in the name of dancing, songs will become a more meaningful
addition to our films.
More forums and film fests!
Chennai is a city largely deprived of film festivals and
screenings (barring the Chennai International Film Festival).
There are film screenings happening here and there but
they are unnoticeable. Suhasini Manirathnam is attempting
to bring such festivals to Chennai and we wish her efforts
bear fruit in the coming year. Let this year bring more
movies from all over the world to the city. If not for
movie buffs, let our directors enjoy them. And, get inspired!
Besides, the year is beginning with a spectacular slew
of colorful movies for Pongal. Let’s hope they are
diverse in their presentation as diverse as they are with
their actors.
Here’s to the New Year and a year of good movies!
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