 Is Tamil Cinema losing its cultural identity? In a world when Tamil Cinema is growing all the more restless in terms of rising demands for financial success are Tamil filmmakers losing the plot when it comes to maintaining a cultural identity? In days bygone when MGR and Sivaji Ganesan were ruling the roost majority of the films had a rich hero who ends up fighting against injustice and helping the poor. This trend was broken by Bharathiraja in the sense that he made movies that narrated the lives and times of rustic simpletons. The trend was healthy and many other directors followed suit. Human nature was focused upon as never before and then Cinema came to be a medium wherein innate cultural elements formed indelible facets.  India is a multicultural country and the truth remains that every single State has its own rich and varied heritage. Filmmakers started projects that would appeal to the ‘whole’ India and so pan-Indian elements have been used to a great extent. With this view in mind remakes from one language to another was on the rise. For example, the idea of remaking a highly successful Hindi film in Tamil proved to be a wise move. The eighties saw Rajinikanth remake many Amitabh Bachchan movies that became big time blockbusters and helped pave his way to superstardom. Similarly some successful Tamil films were also remade in other languages. All these developments smelt very good for people who wanted to view Cinema as just a money-making business without any kind of artistic inclination. When it comes to big bucks sadly culture takes the back seat. Today’s trend is that a number of Telugu films are remade in Tamil quite successfully. The likes of ‘Jayam’ Ravi and Vijay are huge beneficiaries. With all this rush for box office success the ‘Tamil’ identity is slowly but surely being buried with irrecoverable sand. Cheap gimmicks in the name of ‘glamour’, unwanted extravagance in the name of boasting one’s own supposed ‘talent’ and nauseating heroism with stupid proportions are becoming the REAL identity of Tamil Cinema. Tamil Cinema is nothing but an arid desert when it comes to artistic endeavors. But even in this desert, a few flowers bloom. Movies that depict real human emotions in the backdrop of Tamil Culture comes as a few and far in-between oasis. Tamil audiences love these films but then they are still few and far in-between. Will there be a refreshing change that can build upon this or will the desert air bring in more dust to make Tamil culture perish forever in its Cinema? |
Archive for August, 2008
Friday feature Tamil Cinemas identity crisis
Sunday, August 31st, 2008Harris Jayaraj moved to tears in reminiscence of…
Sunday, August 31st, 2008
 Jeeva envisioned ‘Dhaam Dhoom’ and when he was in Russia scouting for locations, a particular spot appealed to him and as a result he wanted a song sequence involving ‘Jayam’ Ravi and Lakshmi Rai there. He had spoken to Harris Jayaraj in detail explaining the emotions involved. Everyone present there was enthralled with the man’s passion to filmmaking. Days later, the song was taking shape and Jeeva was no more. The song titled ‘Sagiye’ has lyrics about memories and that was directed at the talented cinematographer and director. The whole crew felt the loss when they went over to the place Jeeva had finalized to film the song. The voices of Bombay Jayshree and Krish were just perfect too. Recounting this after ‘Dhaam Dhoom’ stormed theaters this week, Harris Jayaraj was moved to tears as memories of Jeeva flooded his mind. It can be recalled that all of Jeeva’s films had Harris Jayaraj’s music and all of the song have gone on to become chart busters. Jeeva had been quite responsible in the music director’s career growth. Watch Star Talk – Director Jeeva |
It’s Yuvan’s birthday!
Sunday, August 31st, 2008
 Son of legendary music composer Illayaraja, Yuvan Shankar Raja has claimed his own rightful spot in Tamil filmdom with some path breaking compositions. The young man from the first family of Tamil film music celebrates his birthday on the 31st of August. Introduced through the film ‘Thulluvatho Illamai’ Yuvan proved to be refreshingly different as he churned out numbers that youngsters of Tamilnadu could relate to and in the process ended up simply adoring it. Yuvan has come to be in constant demand by many frontline directors and is expected to be in path-breaking form in the coming years. Yuvan’s songs in the film ‘Saroja’ are making waves right now and the film will be releasing early September. Indiaglitz wishes Yuvan Shankar Raja a very happy birthday! Listen to soul-stirring, thumping and melodious songs of Yuvan on raaga.com |
Snikitha Next big heroine?
Sunday, August 31st, 2008|
The girl in the yellow saree who swayed her hips and danced away to glory for the song ‘Kathazha Kannala’ in the film ‘Anjathey’ appears to be on a mission to become a successful heroine and not just an item girl. Well, her dream is being realized in ‘Nandalala’ a film directed by Miskin where the beautiful Snikitha plays heroine. Sources say that it is a performance oriented role and might very well propel the actress to dizzy heights. She also features in the Ragava Larencce starrer ‘Rajathi Raja’ as one of five leading ladies. However she would be shown in prominence as she is donning the challenging role of an innocent girl. After the popular peppy number in ‘Anjathey’, she was flooded with many offers to do item numbers. But she has refused them all as she is sure of excelling in lead roles in upcoming projects. ‘With the release of ‘Nandalala’, my proficiency in acting is sure to win acclaim and accolades.’ says the actress. |
Meera Jasmine felicitated with Kerala State Award
Sunday, August 31st, 2008
Despite the unofficial ban on National Award winning actress Meera Jasmine from the Kerala Artiste’s Association, the actress is currently in high demand in the Tamil, Telugu and Kannada film industries. The actress was shooting outside of Kerala but made it a point to be in Tiruvananthapuram to receive Kerala’s Best Actress Award for the film ‘Ore Kadhal’. The talented actress collected the award from Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandhan. The unofficial ban on Meera Jasmine has been imposed because she usually came late to the sets and kept stalwarts like Mohan Lal and others waiting. Interestingly Meera collected the award from the Kerala Chief Minister after he arrived at the venue two hours late. Another point to be noted is that Mohan Lal, Jagathy, Sreenivasan and Lakshmi Gopalasamy didn’t seem to find the Kerala State Awards ceremony important enough for their presence. |
‘Dhaam Dhoom’ opens big in USA
Sunday, August 31st, 2008|
Cinematographer Director Jeeva’s last film ‘Dhaam Dhoom’ has opened well with rousing receptions in the United States of America. This is the first time a ‘Jayam’ Ravi film is doing so well in the States. After the film opened, Bharath Creations, the distributors for USA, have asked for four more prints to satiate the expectations that the film has generated. ‘Dhaam Dhoom’ is quite successful in retaining audience interest throughout and world-class cinematography, re-recording and art direction have helped the movie immensely. The movie has also been successful in garnering advance bookings. ‘Dhaam Dhoom’ is very clearly on the priority list of Tamil audiences in USA this long Labor Day weekend. Another factor for this incredible response is that this is Jeeva’s last film. The ace cinematographer-Director had captivated audiences with his earlier films ‘12B’, ‘Ullam Ketkume’ and ‘Unnale Unnale’. Watch ace cinematographer director Jeevas very last interview .moments to cherish for a lifetime .let us remember him at his very best. |
Filmmakers to help spread aids awareness
Sunday, August 31st, 2008
 The World AIDS Control Organization has now joined hands with some Indian film-makers of repute, Santhosh Sivan, Meera Nair, Vishal Bharadwaj and Priyadarshan to help spread awareness about AIDS through films. The former three have already teamed up to produce projects dealing with AIDS, which were funded by “Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation”. Priyadarshan will be directing a similar social interest film soon with Mohan Lal in the lead role. Shooting for the film is expected to commence soon in Mumbai. This project would positively be an effective move to capitalize the popularity of filmdom for a social cause. |
P. Vasu loses hair as barbers’ protest
Sunday, August 31st, 2008
 Director P Vasu has clarified that he had not shown barbers in a bad light in ‘Kuselan’. In a statement following protests by hair-dressers in front of his house on Friday, Vasu said, ‘ it was shocking to see a segment of barbers protesting in front of my house’. Normally anyone who indulges in protests would ask for explanations before protesting. P. Vasu said that the barbers did not ask for any explanation. He urged them not to take Vadivelu’s character seriously as it was added for the humor element and so cannot be taken seriously. The director referred to his earlier films like Chandramukhi and Uzhaippali where he had projected laborers in a big way. A group of unhappy barbers, claiming to owe allegiance to the Hairdressers Employees Association on Friday laid siege at the house of director P Vasu at Royapettah. In the film ‘Kuselan’ Pasupathi and Vadivelu played the role of barbers in which Rajinikanth appeared as an actor himself. Vadivelu is shown to ‘capture customers’ using violent methods. The members of the Hairdressers Employees Association had said that the film showed them in a bad light and announced that they would hold a demonstration in front of P Vasu’s house. However, they were not given permission by the police. Over 250 members of the association tried to gather in front of Vasu’s house and shouted slogans against him and the movie. Soon senior police officials rushed to the spot and detained the protestors in a marriage hall nearby. |
‘Abhiyum Naanum’ music album soon
Sunday, August 31st, 2008
 Moser Baer is producing a film titled ‘Abhiyum Nanum’ in association with Duet Movies. ‘Abhiyum Nanum’ is directed by Radha Mohan and the story is about the bond between a father and daughter. Prakash Raj plays the caring father while Trisha has been cast as the daughter. Plans are on to launch the film’s audio at a function which will have Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, his daughter and Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi as the chief guests. Vidyasagar has scored the music. Radha Mohan had earlier directed films like ‘Azhagiya Theeyae’ and ‘Mozhi’ before. ‘Mozhi’ went on to become a big hit and fetched several honors for Radha Mohan. |
‘Dhanam’ in town from September 5
Sunday, August 31st, 2008|
Sangeetha is eagerly awaiting the release of her next venture ‘Dhanam’. It is the story of a Devadasi, a system which was prevalent in some parts of Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and other places in the country. Sangeetha plays a prostitute, who is driven by circumstances to take to the world’s oldest profession. Produced and directed by G Siva, ‘Dhanam’ has musical score by Ilayaraja. ‘My role in the film is devoid of glamour. All credit should go to cinematographer Jeeva for creating the right looks. It was a terrific learning experience doing the film. “I am not keen on doing controversial roles. I am not behind fame or money either’, Sangeetha said. She says the movie which features Prem, Girish Karnad and Ashish Vidyarthy among others has come good. |
