A Bengaluru Huduga’s Tryst with Tamil Movies
"Macha, come da! We'll go watch Chamak." "No da. Wait for one more week. We'll go watch Sketch. The trailer is kadak. I'm not watching Chamak and all." "Maga.. But you stay in Bengaluru and choose a Tamil movie over a Kannada movie. What ra macha?" "Macha, I don't want to watch a movie without a strong storyline and the ones whose slapstick humour makes me want to slap the director."
It was a cold morning on the 23rd of July, 2016. My family had decided to watch ,'Kabali' in Rex Theatre on arguably the most famous street of Bangalore- Brigade Road. Everything was going fine until I saw cosplayers impersonating the look of Rajnikanth in the film. The original jet black hair of the cosplayer was dyed in white colour. He was also wearing a grey blazer coupled with a grey waistcoat to amplify the look. Those lennon glasses had a tint of grey to complete the look. Fans' associations were sporting Kabali T-shirts, each one being different from the other.
I wondered if I was transported to Satyam Cinemas in Chennai. Such was the frenzy that you could hear the famous monologue which was seen in the record-breaking trailer at every nook and corner of the crowd.
It was then that it dawned upon me that there is a huge market for Tamil Movies in Bengaluru. We can attribute a myriad of reasons for this thirst Bengalureans have for catching a good (Tamil) movie in theatres.
Fans.
The ability to make even an ordinary movie into an extraordinary movie is the responsibility of fans. Rajnikanth rightly calls them as,'Vaalavaikum Deivangalana Rasigar Perumakkalae'.
As previously stated above Rajnikanth, Kamal Hassan, Ajith and Vijay enjoy a strong clout here. Even veterans of the Kannada Film Industry including Dr.Shivarajkuamar, Kichcha Sudeep, Darshan and Puneeth Rajkumar have loyal fans around here. We can define loyal fans as the people who make even a below average movie a hit. People flock into theatres for a movie devoid of a strong storyline and logical stunt sequences. They want to watch their star beat up the baddies by breaking no sweat. These people have got their money's worth when the hero starts walking towards the camera in slow motion accentuated by the ear-splitting background score.
An underlying fact is that cinema is a unifying medium. For an over-worked Tamilian residing in Bengaluru for better job opportunities, watching films like Vedhalam or even a Lingaa is a stressbuster. It transports the person to his childhood days when he used to cheer for Ajith and Rajnikanth with his friends and family. For a salesman who is busy jaunting around from door to door, talking to 'prospective' buyers in a language alien to him, cinema provides him entertainment and the comfort of curling up in a well-cushioned seat in an air conditioned hall.
Demography.
Another obvious reason is the distance between Bengaluru and Chennai(360 kilometres by road) or rather Bengaluru and Tamilnadu(A meagre 40 kilometres). Not just from Chennai, but Bengaluru has migrants from almost every state of India justifying its tag as the Most Cosmopolitan city of India.
Bengaluru also has these hamlets which are predominantly filled with Tamilians. Srirampura and Austin Town are good examples of such hamlets. The reason why tamil movies perform so well in Bengaluru can be attributed to these hamlets.
As a college student, I have observed that people show the same amount of enthusiasm for both Kannada and Tamil movies. This has mainly got to do with the fact that the movies Kollywood has been churning out these days. Movies like Vikram Vedha managed to pull crowds even in the third week of its release.
Another important fact is that the Thala-Thalapathy fever is slowly catching up in Bengaluru. There as so many fans' associations that print huge posters of their revered stars and place them near the movie theatres which air those movies. A case in study is the cult hit, 'Mersal'. With strong opposition from many political outfits, the movie managed to become a hit worldwide grossing roughly 250 crores. It even caught the ire of a few Pro-Kannada outfits which called for banning the movie in Karnataka. Then the 'Thalapathy Veriyans' had to intervene to clear out the misapprehensions. Even with these obstacles, the movie was a treat to watch(For those who hadn't watched Apoorva Sagodharargal).
Movies that work and the ones that don't.
After the release of the Kannada movie titled,'Mufti', rumours were rife that Dr. Shivarajkumar has forgotten to dance and that he should make way for newcomers who can dance better than him. In his next movie, the cult classic ,'Tagaru', he broke the shackles by dancing in a way you would not expect of a man who is 55 years old. That performance in a single shot spanning around 15 seconds was enough to silence his naysayers.
A similar feat was done by Ajith when he was trolled for being fat in the movie, 'Vedhalam'. He buffed up for his role as an officer serving in the anti-terrorist squad in the film, 'Vivegam'.
As expected in any industry, once a star is established people will flock to the theatres irrespective of the storyline of the movie. It does not mean stars deliver movies without any preparation. As seen in the aforementioned examples, stars punch above their weight if the character appeals to them.
'Aruvi', which is an off-beat movie created headlines down south. It managed to pull crowds due to online movie reviewers going gaga over the film and word of mouth of course. This movie did not encourage skin show of the lead actress. It did not even have a well established name of the film industry in its crew.
In Sandalwood, 'Ondu Motteya Kathe'(Story of an Egg), managed to perform well at the box office even though it had a bald actor in the lead. The only sort of publicity the movie received was that it was being produced by Pawan Kumar(Director of U-Turn). It managed to do wonders and people across all ages gave rave reviews for the film.
This shows that people are ready to accept quality(read class) movies alongside commercial(read mass) movies.
Apart from a few parameters, Kollywood and Sandalwood are essentially the same. It can be said with conviction that the former has always had a pan-indian reach whereas the latter is still moving at slow but a steady pace to achieve that amount of reach.
Kollywood has enjoyed such a great reach because of its veterans like Rajnikanth, Kamal Hassan and Madhavan amongst others who acted in Bollywood movies during their prime. You also have to consider the fact that movies like Shivaji The Boss, Endhiran and Vishwaroopam released in Hindi and Telugu apart from the original Tamil version. Maddy has been part of the Tanu Weds Manu franchise and has earned himself the sobriquet, 'Chocolate Boy', by playing convincing characters in popular remakes as well as originals.
Sandalwood is left far behind in this race. Even though theatre groups like Neenasam, Rangayana and Benaka are very active and put up stellar shows in auditoriums, it looks like there is not much quality to enter into the foray of Bollywood. Kichcha Sudeep has strided towards Bollywood with the, 'Phoonk' franchise and the critically acclaimed, 'Raktha Charithra.'
Sandalwood has always played a sidekick to other South Indian film industries. Unless they take lessons from them by experimenting with different genres, encouraging new directors and make less number of commercial movies, Sandalwood will soon catch up with the other 'woods' of the South.
Written by Nitin M
As previously stated above Rajnikanth, Kamal Hassan, Ajith and Vijay enjoy a strong clout here. Even veterans of the Kannada Film Industry including Dr.Shivarajkuamar, Kichcha Sudeep, Darshan and Puneeth Rajkumar have loyal fans around here. We can define loyal fans as the people who make even a below average movie a hit. People flock into theatres for a movie devoid of a strong storyline and logical stunt sequences. They want to watch their star beat up the baddies by breaking no sweat. These people have got their money's worth when the hero starts walking towards the camera in slow motion accentuated by the ear-splitting background score.
An underlying fact is that cinema is a unifying medium. For an over-worked Tamilian residing in Bengaluru for better job opportunities, watching films like Vedhalam or even a Lingaa is a stressbuster. It transports the person to his childhood days when he used to cheer for Ajith and Rajnikanth with his friends and family. For a salesman who is busy jaunting around from door to door, talking to 'prospective' buyers in a language alien to him, cinema provides him entertainment and the comfort of curling up in a well-cushioned seat in an air conditioned hall.
Demography.
Another obvious reason is the distance between Bengaluru and Chennai(360 kilometres by road) or rather Bengaluru and Tamilnadu(A meagre 40 kilometres). Not just from Chennai, but Bengaluru has migrants from almost every state of India justifying its tag as the Most Cosmopolitan city of India.
Bengaluru also has these hamlets which are predominantly filled with Tamilians. Srirampura and Austin Town are good examples of such hamlets. The reason why tamil movies perform so well in Bengaluru can be attributed to these hamlets.
As a college student, I have observed that people show the same amount of enthusiasm for both Kannada and Tamil movies. This has mainly got to do with the fact that the movies Kollywood has been churning out these days. Movies like Vikram Vedha managed to pull crowds even in the third week of its release.
Another important fact is that the Thala-Thalapathy fever is slowly catching up in Bengaluru. There as so many fans' associations that print huge posters of their revered stars and place them near the movie theatres which air those movies. A case in study is the cult hit, 'Mersal'. With strong opposition from many political outfits, the movie managed to become a hit worldwide grossing roughly 250 crores. It even caught the ire of a few Pro-Kannada outfits which called for banning the movie in Karnataka. Then the 'Thalapathy Veriyans' had to intervene to clear out the misapprehensions. Even with these obstacles, the movie was a treat to watch(For those who hadn't watched Apoorva Sagodharargal).
Movies that work and the ones that don't.
After the release of the Kannada movie titled,'Mufti', rumours were rife that Dr. Shivarajkumar has forgotten to dance and that he should make way for newcomers who can dance better than him. In his next movie, the cult classic ,'Tagaru', he broke the shackles by dancing in a way you would not expect of a man who is 55 years old. That performance in a single shot spanning around 15 seconds was enough to silence his naysayers.
A similar feat was done by Ajith when he was trolled for being fat in the movie, 'Vedhalam'. He buffed up for his role as an officer serving in the anti-terrorist squad in the film, 'Vivegam'.
As expected in any industry, once a star is established people will flock to the theatres irrespective of the storyline of the movie. It does not mean stars deliver movies without any preparation. As seen in the aforementioned examples, stars punch above their weight if the character appeals to them.
'Aruvi', which is an off-beat movie created headlines down south. It managed to pull crowds due to online movie reviewers going gaga over the film and word of mouth of course. This movie did not encourage skin show of the lead actress. It did not even have a well established name of the film industry in its crew.
In Sandalwood, 'Ondu Motteya Kathe'(Story of an Egg), managed to perform well at the box office even though it had a bald actor in the lead. The only sort of publicity the movie received was that it was being produced by Pawan Kumar(Director of U-Turn). It managed to do wonders and people across all ages gave rave reviews for the film.
This shows that people are ready to accept quality(read class) movies alongside commercial(read mass) movies.
Apart from a few parameters, Kollywood and Sandalwood are essentially the same. It can be said with conviction that the former has always had a pan-indian reach whereas the latter is still moving at slow but a steady pace to achieve that amount of reach.
Kollywood has enjoyed such a great reach because of its veterans like Rajnikanth, Kamal Hassan and Madhavan amongst others who acted in Bollywood movies during their prime. You also have to consider the fact that movies like Shivaji The Boss, Endhiran and Vishwaroopam released in Hindi and Telugu apart from the original Tamil version. Maddy has been part of the Tanu Weds Manu franchise and has earned himself the sobriquet, 'Chocolate Boy', by playing convincing characters in popular remakes as well as originals.
Sandalwood is left far behind in this race. Even though theatre groups like Neenasam, Rangayana and Benaka are very active and put up stellar shows in auditoriums, it looks like there is not much quality to enter into the foray of Bollywood. Kichcha Sudeep has strided towards Bollywood with the, 'Phoonk' franchise and the critically acclaimed, 'Raktha Charithra.'
Sandalwood has always played a sidekick to other South Indian film industries. Unless they take lessons from them by experimenting with different genres, encouraging new directors and make less number of commercial movies, Sandalwood will soon catch up with the other 'woods' of the South.
Written by Nitin M
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