All posts tagged thamizh

1. The first thought that comes across anyone’s mind when they listen to Anjana Anjana from Vandhaan Vendraan for the first time is:

Surely, that is by Harris. No?

2. There is a lyric in the song Govinda from Engeyum Epodhum which goes like this:

..kappal vaanga vandhirrupalo, chappal vaanga vandhirrupalo..

Now, was that a subtle dig at Mayawati? :)

This has been something about which I have been ranting to a few unfortunate people repeatedly for sometime now. Though unfailingly they give me both a patient hearing and a positive validation of my views everytime, I understood (in time, I hope) that they had probably heard enough of it already (from me, at least).

Nevertheless, I felt it was important to record the problem somewhere; especially considering that the off chance of my directly contributing to a positive change in this direction has virtually nullified over the years. Okay, basically the thing is this - Does Thamizh Cinema really care about our children? Personally, from the array of films that have been presented to me over the years, I really dont think so.

What really grinds my gears is the fact we have grown to adjust or compromise with this fact. It is also really sad to note that not many consider this to be a problem even.

Let me take an example - Now if I come up to someone and tell them that I felt Enthiran was probably not a film appropriate for kids and didn’t deserve a U (for universal viewing) certificate, I would be laughed at.

The film had robots, talking mosquitoes, the Superstar, breathtaking action sequences and to top it all, an adorable Chitti as the lead. Kids loved it.

The argument is sound. I am not going to deny it. A lot of kids must have had fun watching the film. True. Even my twelve year old sister did.

Now let us recollect and consider a few sequences from the film: (a) A recurring innuendo around the chief reason for man’s superiority over a robot (b) The discussion where both the scientist and Sana try to convince the robot as to why he cannot be in love with a woman (c) Sana’s seduction of the evil android at the end. In my experience again, I’d expect you to respond in two ways:

(a) Bah, Humbug! You are just narrow minded.
(b) Okay, maybe these sequences aren’t that appropriate for children but at least it is not as bad as … from …. Plus it has got these wonderful things (see above) for children which is just great.

To (a) - Yes, probably I am a Buzz Killington. But one thing to note is that I am not really against these sequences. No. I think all of them are quintessential for the plot and deserve to be there. I would be the last person who would have wanted them to be cut out. I just didn’t think the film qualified for a U with those scenes in it. As for (b), it seems that we think that the film is entirely suitable for children only in comparison and that is exactly the problem.

I can even take the liberty in saying that there are no Thamizh movies being made for children at all. Well, save a few. Pasanga was promising. Radhamohan’s films are always wonderfully packaged for the family but never specific to children - which is okay, I think. At least, there are no awkward moments at the theatre or in the living room.

I really find it horrifying though to see the kind of films that are being sold as films for the family today. Okay, I am not sure what their idea of a family is. Doesn’t the family include the kids? It seems like they gauge a film’s suitability for children just by the number of vulgar/intimate sequences in it. This is both absurd and disturbing. So, exchanges with a sexual undertone, innuendos that are assumed to be cleverly crafted, themes completely unsuitable for children and more simply go unnoticed. Just think of some random family film and see if it can be put in any of these buckets. Very few will survive. And this explanation justifies our dear SJ Suryah’s statement in 2006 when he said and I paraphrase -

Children would love New. Especially the Spiderman song in it.

Obviously, this was before the film released. No elucidation required.

The core of the problem is very simple. We neither have gutsy producers nor producers who actually care. All that most ball(s)-less jerks with deep pockets in Kollywood seem to direct their efforts at is to find and prove an inexistant formulae to make a successful film. So it was definitely heartening to see Sasikumar work hard to get a Pasanga on screen.

If people are still worried that children movies might not hold adult viewer interest, they should probably look at Disney for example. (Just dont lift scripts okay?)

In summary, I just think that we simply need more Thamizh movies made just for children. No, our kids dont have to live with what they get. They deserve more. And our Censor Board could, instead of chipping away frames worth several hours of work and effort unnecessarily, think more about appropriately rating films based on content.

I am pretty sure you would not have been convinced when you reach this part. So, who else can I call but Kamal Hassan to give a summary of this whole post and the rationale behind it.