POSTSCRIPT READINGS | FILMS

Wink, Grin, Baby Steps

Young, baggage-free directors are questioning the traditional Tamil-film model.
by Baradwaj Rangan

nce in a while, in a lm industry crusted with the sludge of hero-worshipping masala movies, something happens that promises to herald serious change, a cleaning of the Augean stables, so to speak. That Herculean task, this season, in Tamil cinema, appears to have been taken up by a group of young lm-makers, whose lms have no use for the conventional hero. The last time a trend was spotted in Tamil cinema, it was in the environs of Madurai, with the release of lms like M Sasikumars Subramaniyapuram, but while those lms dispensed with the all-powerful hero, they were reined in by commercial constraints, which is a confusing and diffuse term that denotes pandering to the audience in order to make the lm work at the box ofce. These compulsions, in general, include songs, ghts, teary melodrama, and (in the case of these Madurai lms) gruesome bloodletting, especially during the climax. The latest batch of Tamil lms, though, the ones that suggest a trend, are remarkable because they sniff contemptuously at these commercial constraints, choosing to trust the audiences unslaked thirst for something different rather than operating on the fear that they crave, constantly, the

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same thing. And its worked both at the box ofce and with critics. The rst signs that Tamil cinema was due for a rehaul appeared in C S Amudhans Thamizh Padam, a spoof that meticulously set about dismantling every cherished clich of the cinema of Tamil Nadu, right down to the family song capable of reuniting long-lost kin. Around this time, there was also Venkat Prabhus Chennai 600028, a story about street cricket that revolved around the most common of men, without a hero in sight. But these lms, while recognised, did not exactly pave the way for a movement. They came, they went. But now, these lms seem to be coming at us in promising numbers and numbers are important if a movement is to be predicted, if it is to be susThe latest tained. Balaji Mohans Kaadhalil batch of Tamil Sothappuvathu Yeppadi is a lightfilms, though, hearted romcom that upends the the ones that wisdom that romance is best served suggest a trend, with a side of melodrama. Karthik are remarkable Subbarajs Pizza begins like a horror because they sniff lm and then morphs into some sort contemptuously at of black comedy, thanks to a rugpulling revelation worthy of M Night these commercial Shyamalan. Balaji Tharaneetharans constraints... Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom details the travails of a man who loses his short-term memory when hit on the head by a cricket ball, while his friends rally around, pretending that there isnt an elephant in the room. (And hes to get married the next day!) Nalan Kumarasamys Soodhu Kavvum is a noir comedy about a band of kidnappers, one of whom has a relationship with a girlfriend only he can see. And Alphonse Putharens Neram is a ticking-clock thriller about a man who has to settle his dues, within a day, with a bling-draped loan shark. Some context may be necessary to explain why the success, to various degrees, of these lms is so heartening. A Hindi lm viewer may not nd this batch of lms, this movement, all that revolutionary, because over the past decade, after the multiplex boom he has seen such lms being made and released, these lms with quirky themes that defy the one-size-ts-all movie-making model. The economics of the multiplexes make this possible, because the Hindi lm-maker can hope for success even if his offbeat lm is released only in the metros across the country. He doesnt have to include, in his considerations, the viewer in the hinterlands. But regional cinema is consumed mainly by the region, and a Tamil lm-maker seeking a big success cannot afford to alienate audiences in the so-called B and C centres. At least that was the conventional wisdom, until it was disproved by these new Tamil lms. They may not have been successes on par with the big-hero blockbusters, but given their prudent budgets (as theyre shot with digital cameras), they have been hits all the same, with subject matter thats attractive mainly to A centre audiences. Some time ago, the lm-makers who were applauded for being different were those like Bala and Ameer and Mysskin and Selvaraghavan serious lm-makers with auteurist
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ambitions. But the young directors todays different brigade have their tongue stuck rmly in a cheek. Its still good lm-making its just that they dont huff and puff and labour over their scenarios to convince us that what theyre making is, well, different. These are casual (though not casually made) lms. They feel young. And thats why the all-important youth audience has embraced these lms in a big way. Of course, there are limits to what viewers will accept. Films that veered too far from the viewers comfort zone Thiagarajan Kumararajas twisty Hollywoodian noir drama Aaranya Kaandam, Gautham Vasudev Menons grisly psycho-thriller Nadunisi Naaygal havent been greeted as warmly. But like any revolutionary movement anywhere in the world, the key is to breathe and take heart in baby steps.
Baradwaj Rangan (b.rangan@gmail.com) is a film critic and Deputy Editor with The Hindu. His book Conversations with Mani Ratnam was published by Penguin in 2012.

september 7, 2013

vol xlviII no 36

EPW

Economic & Political Weekly