My liking for regional cinema, started with Marathi Movies.
My movie diet, comprised of Hindi and Marathi, with occasional servings from English and Tamil. But a change in domicile, has made Tamil (cinema) my staple diet.
Taking full opportunity of the change, I have been feasting on this new genre.
Like Marathi, Tamil provides the much needed local touch. Stories and their characters revolve around Kumbakonam, Madurai, Trichy, and if it is city- it is Chennai.
Some movies have Mumbai/ Delhi as a part of their story-line - and then, suddenly you have characters speaking Hindi ( accent or accent-less depends on Dialogue delivery of the actor) . I relish watching the obvious effort made by Directors, to switch language to suit the frame.
Another exciting experience is the performance of Non South Indian actors, acting in Tamil Movies. Milind Soman has perfectly set his boots on negative roles. Sachin Khedekar in "Maatran", came as a surprise.
My perception that Tamil movies are loud was wrong. Trimmed storylines and subtle performances co-exist with high decibel violence. Saw Ajith starrer "Vaali" yesterday, each frame had a perfect Dharmesh Darshan touch. Fine sets with exclusive furnishings- it was as if, I was watching "Dhadkan".
And then there are the stereotypes. Each time I see Senthil- (K)Goundamani on screen, I yearn to watch them in Character driven roles. This odd desire- gets stronger, as I hear more and more of ear-aching comedy from comic stars. They are good actors -but get typecasted.
I am not sure if Tamil audience wants such a change.
May be they love watching their Super Star", "Power Star", "Thala" - performing the same way again and again.
I remember seeing regional movies on DD as a kid, they were telecast on Sundays at 1.30 pm with subtitles in English. Have seen some real good movies from all languages then, including Tamil/Telugu. But now, all we get to see is south Indian movies dubbed in Hindi on movie channels. And they are really loud... Yes, a lot of bollywood actors work in south Indian movies and some have carved a niche for themselves there!
ReplyDeleteIf this post was inspired after watching "vaali", all I can say is - you have a long way to go :-)
ReplyDeleteVikram..
I haven't watched a whole lot of Tamil movies, but i do feel very connected to Tamil - having been quite a native for a very long time.
ReplyDeleteThe new genre tamil movies is like a fresh crop after decades and decades of the standard mix with macho heroes rescuing and chastising dumb heroines. I was pleasantly surprised by the recent ones like naduvula konjam pakkathat kanom (NKPK) , goli soda, soodu kavvum and pizza. Feels like Tamil cinema has matured suddenly.
ReplyDeleteTalking of bollywood actors in Tamil cinema, i was surprised to see RADHIKA APTE wasting her talent in some stereotypical tamil characters. She is such a talented artist.
ReplyDeleteLiked your perspective on the Bollywood crossovers into Kollywood.