There
seems to be a new trend that
has been haunting Indian cinema
nowadays, the dilemma of killing
characters. My cousin sister
hardly ever watches Tamil films-
having it in her genes maybe
to criticize everything about
Tamil films (even Vaaranam Aayiram
failed to impress her), so I
was surprised when I found out
that she was pretty hooked to
Venilla Kabadi Kuzhu when she
had watched it last year. However,
when she discussed the ending,
she threw me a bewildered look,
and I couldn’t find any
explanation as to why the director
deemed the best way to end the
story is by killing the main
character. Venilla Kabadi Kuzhu
is just a mere drop in the sea
as far as killing characters
in Tamil films goes in recent
years. What exactly started
off that trend, I am not exactly
sure of- it should be either
Paruthi Veeran or Subramaniapuram.
Blood and gore or nativity has
been the only two subjects ruling
the roosts for all the successful
Tamil films for the past two
years or so (I’m excluding
typical commercial fares i.e
Ayan out of the equation). Probably
only Eeram, Vaaranam Aayiram
and Unnaipol Oruvan could be
classified as good hits which
didn’t have blood, gore,
and nativity as their subjects.
And it seems whenever such subjects
are being discussed, even at
a mile’s radius, a sound
conclusion is reached that someone
at the fulcrum of the story
has to die at the end, or something
violent should happen.
These films seem to give a false
idea that violence is very much
part of the Tamil Nadu lifestyle.
I am still fresh from my trip
to India, and I have seen plenty
other stories that can be told
rather than beating around the
same bush again and again. It
is a cruel world out there,
people die. This line describes
what ‘good’ movies
out there is doing nowadays,
and to add to that- they simply
coat it as
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
reality. Kill someone, and chop, you have
realism. Show blood, you have realism. As
much as movies have to be realistic, one
does watch movies to induce hope as well.
Paruthi Veeran wasn’t a movie glorifying
violence, but rather a movie that depicted
so accurately the consequences of violence.
But that same motivation doesn’t exist
behind all the other movies being relased
after that, they are good works, but they
seem to thread a very misleading formula.
Firstly, you should never have a formula
to make a good movie.
The greatest recent example would be Delhi
6, where the whole story judgement seems
to balance itself on why the main character
wasn’t killed at the end of the movie.
Killing Roshan doesn’t make Delhi
6 a masterpiece, neither does keeping him
alive makes it a disaster. Killing someone
alone doesn’t elevate a work to masterpiece
status. The biggest concern for me in this
aspect is that once again, Tamil producers
are showing an unerring tendency to make
a ‘formula’ out of everything.
If we already have formulas for commercial
Tamil films, now even movies trying to be
different have a formula about them as well.
So much so that Yogi came across as being
such a predictable movie in my eyes, and
also demotivated me from watching Renigunta.
I do not deny that this reality exists,
but you can’t point to one end and
claim that it is ‘the reality’.
Reality is not something you can ever achieve
as a whole in making films- films are afterall,
works of fiction. You need reality in films
because you would want the audience to relate
to your story, but at the same time, he
film must be able to send out a message,
a useful message to the audience. Watching
Paruthi Veeran, according to what I read,
made a Madurai goon change his ways after
realizing the consequences of his actions.
Now that is what movies should achieve.
These others movies do not do the same.
Fairytales are no crime, a bit of fairytale
is needed if you want to seed hope in the
eyes of those who are watching.
This trend is not only unhealthy, but it
is dangerous to entire psychology of viewers
and also makers. If you see a youth slashing
someone else and claiming he did it because
they do it in the movies as well, then do
not be surprised.
There seems to be an universally accepted
pessimism when movies like this are being
churned out. It all boils down to the same
Slumdog Millionaire argument maybe- movies
are making pornography of poverty in India.
What we are seeing here is pornography of
violence and knife-wielding goons, cold
men with a thirst for blood. Do not mistake
me; I did not support India’s attack
on Slumdog Millionaire. But Tamil films
seem to unable to shake off the rust and
move on. The coin on the table is not being
turned over; it simply remains there, with
only one side of it being exposed. I’m
not saying no to movies like Subramaniapuram
or Yogi, but it would be nice if these movies
come out in occasional intervals in line
with movies such Unnaipol etc. Why do we
have to wait so long to get a Unnaipol Oruvan
while movies like Yogi are coming thick
and fast? Isn’t there a serious lack
of balance here?
Everything that I had said here varies from
different spaces of arguments, it’s
difficult to piece them altogether and single
out a main argument. But I guess my question
at the end of the day would be simple- why
so much pessimism? Why is pessimism becoming
realism?
Let’s show us some light at the end
of the tunnel. We all know there are plenty
of dark tunnels, but there is some light
at the end of it as well.
Let’s go for Oli, not Irul.
Cheers,
Ram Anand.
ram.observer88@gmail.com
|
