VISITOR COLUMN

Hero jumping out from a moving cart, flowers showering in screen, a slow motion shot with dramatic music, songs in Switzerland and climax in a sand quarry/car shed/mill.
 

This was the most predictable compilation or so called formula of yesteryears Tamil cinema.

Yesteryears? Yes, yesteryears.
 

Vijay, Ajith, Suriya, Karthi, Vishal and so on were lining up films which were centered on this action premises with a dose of sentiment and comedy.
 

While some of them were run of a mill box office hits, later the audiences started rejecting these movies not because of their lack of content which was always an issue, but because of their similarities.
 

Failing to capture the changing demands has always been an issue in all the movie industries.
 

While it is no doubt that the audiences are waiting for a path breaking movie in every place including Europe, Iran and elsewhere, in India at least in south, the audience have observed cinema in their household as a culture rather than an art.
 

The fact is while it is imperative to hold the audience attention for 2 odd hours; it is insignificant for a movie maker on what kind of approach he chooses to do so.
 

Novel, cynical or traditional, anything and everything will work here. While there is and there will always be a colossal cry amongst the movie going civil society! that the stardom, hero worship, songs, foreign location, punch dialogues and male dominated scripts should be done away forever, the odds are less for such a change. Even if the change happens, out of one such odd, the sole source of that change would be audiences and definitely not movie makers and reviewers.
 

Tamil industry is going through a détente phase.
 

There have been few very good debuts and surprises since last year in Tamil cinema. These movies successes stand on their own merits without any doubt. However, what followed are unprecedented spinoffs of similar movies with village milieu and low budget claptrap. 
 

On the other hand there has been a load of mass budget movies with star cast and item numbers and same old story from the old schools of film industry. Few films were surprise hits and others were laid to rest in peace.
 

The Détente I referred earlier has started between school of tradition and school of contemporary. While the contemporary school has the support of bloggers, critics and weird writers, the traditional movies are dearer to print and TV media.
 

In a crossover attempt, almost all the absurd movies made by contemporaries are being supported. A movie without star cast, budget and songs are classified as world class.
 

Siva, Sivakarthikeyan, Santhanam and Vimal, do you find any similarities between these names. Yes you very well do. While the current slapstick claptrap will be short lived, it is interesting to see that the star cast movies releasing this year have created no kind of hype and expectation. While the industry thrives on biggies for businesses, the low budget movie mania which once defined Bengali and Malayalam cinema has started in Tamil industry with a bang.
 

The trend may be short lived if the industry churns out same kind of slapstick in the name of low budget humor, the new comers should take this as a challenge and learning while venturing in to a new project. An opportunity like this comes once a decade.
 

There have been few hit and misses on past few decades whose movie were trend setters yet the trend vanished like a bubble burst. The village oriented stories detailing their day to day life with their language was one of its kind when Paruthiveeran and Subramaniyapuram released. Yet many films which followed that trend were a disaster. Agathiyan, Parthiban, Athiyamaan were amongst the few who attempted for a change during their times. Yet no trace of them now.
 

Yet directors like K.S.Ravikumar are still very much in the business and are promising jockeys for any producer. One has to accept and understand the fact that movies made in other countries cannot be and should not be compared with ours, for we are a vibrant, fun loving and colorful society, where movies are bound to be this way.
 

You may take a call by questioning the logic of a hero fighting against a corrupted society single handedly which is utter foolishness. However, for a layman like me he is living my dreams by singing songs with lungi in the middle of a road and fighting villains who would have attempted a rape on a moving bus. This may be foolish but it’s fantastic and feels good.
 

I will be on the first seat to watch any good movies including Aaranya Kaandam. But I would argue that Lock stock and smoking barrels was a smarter version than this inspired piece. I place Baadshah above Aaranya Kandaam in terms of appeal.
 

Movie in its art form can travel any distances in Europe and yet be liked by those audience. Themes like illicit affair of Mom and son, Homosexuality and Jew’s holocaust to name a few.
 

Yet in Tamilnadu a famous writer who stays in zero degrees has named Nee Thane Yen Pon Vasantham as movie with pedophile theme. That’s funny since he has named Aaranya Kaandam as the best movie Tamil cinema has produced so far.
 

It is healthy to have a trend where low budget movies coexist with the biggies, however bloggers should avoid the cliché of praising some undeserved rip offs simply because they are low budget and song presentations. Movie industry evolves around its society. Any attempt to reverse, change or oppose this would be fatal for the creators. Because challenging the traditional style is one thing while all together rubbishing the 100 years of cinema and pretending to be savior of audience is another.