BEHINDWOODS COLUMN

When the Tamil Nadu government announced that Tamil films with Tamil titles would ensure entertainment tax exemption to the producers, many doubted whether such a move will serve its purpose - promote Tamil. Contrary to the popular opinion, this rule does serve a purpose. Some interesting Tamil titles released, because of the rule, over the past few years are Aaranya Kaandam (Jungle chapter), Enthiran (Robot), Kumki (the name given to trained Indian elephants), Ko (King), Maryan (Immortal), Muran (Paradox), Nirnayam (Assignment), Nugam (The Yoke), Samar (War), and Va (Quarter).
 

Sivaji’s ‘Vaaji Vaaji...’ song, penned by Kaviperarasu Vairamuthu, had some untainted Tamil words such as Aambal and Mavval. In Sivaji’s audio launch, the master lyricist said, “Aambal is a second century Tamil word. It means lilies. And, Mavval means jasmines. I thank director Shankar for his approval of the words, for helping the words reach millions of Tamilians.” Even, director Shankar's upcoming movie name 'Ai' has many meanings - beauty, king, guru, astonishment, and vulnerability.
 

That is the power of Cinema - it can be a great medium for language conservation, only if the makers give a little consideration to it than a ‘What’s in a name' attitude. This Friday, we have another two added to this puritan Tamil titles list: Vallinam and Thegidi. From the titles, their devotion to our language is evident.
 

Vallinam, produced by Aascar Films, stars Nakul, Mrudhula Basker, Atul Kulkarni, Jagan and Anupama Kumar in the central roles. It is directed by Arivazhagan of Eeram fame. The movie is a sports thriller set around the life of a basketball player. S Thaman has delivered music and Bhaskaran has helmed the camera.
 

The hard consonants of Tamil alphabets are given the name Vallinam. However, it literally translates to Bravery (Vanmai) + Race or Species (Inam). The movie, reportedly, is a story about an underdog team, and game, that fights the odds to emerge winners. The title seems to be a perfect fit to the milieu.
 

The other release, Thegidi, starring Ashok Selvan, Janani Iyer and Jayaprakash, is directed by debutant P Ramesh. The movie is produced by the face and purse of new age cinema CV Kumar’s Thirukumaran Entertainments. In a press release, the makers of the movie said, “The twist and turns that a detective comes across in his job that unravels the fact behind series of murders forms the storyline.”
 

Thegidi means dice, gambling, fraud and deception. About the intriguing yet interesting title, we contacted the director of the movie P Ramesh. He said, “Thegidi was chosen to stir a kind of curiosity among the people. We fit Thegidi’s meaning as a dice, and started the project. But, on further research, we found that the word has a lot of meanings. And, coincidentally our movie can be related to the word’s every meaning.”
 

The makers have succeeded in reaching the title to the masses. We wish them all the best to reach the movie as well.
 

Mithun
Follow @Mith_Si