Tamil Cinema and the elusive 1000-crore benchmark – Conclusion

Part 3

This is the conclusion to the article which is an opinion piece on why Tamil cinema has not managed a 1000-crore release to date.

The effect of negative reviews

A really good film ought to be impervious to negative reviews – it ought to have the resilience to withstand even the harshest criticism through the strength of its product.

Sometimes, as in the case of films like Indian 2 and Kanguva, it is a self-inflicted handicap, as not enough thought has been given to its screenplay, with screenplay writers often erroneously believing that general film audiences will happily swallow anything on film, even if there is no adherence to logic.

In other cases, it is because some creators are way ahead of their audience. The failure at the box-office of films like Kamalhassan’s Anbe Sivam and the harshly negative reactions of audiences to Soori’s Kottukaali is simply an indication of how far audiences need to go.

One cannot stop the average film goer from commenting on social media on his/her experiences of a film. There is, however, a disturbing trend of late where totally unqualified people are now being employed by media houses to write reviews, often showing their lack of knowledge of the medium in their reviews. A basic understanding of the language of film and an ability to understand and interpret visual metaphors ought to be the prerequisites of anyone reviewing movies. Instead, many online reviews reveal limited knowledge of films and film language by the reviewer.

One of the cardinal sins of these “journalists” is their open bias towards and against actors. This results in ridiculously exaggerated praise of the film or intense personal attacks on the cast or director of a film – depending on the reviewer’s personal preferences.

Finally, the issue of haters has to be something that is unique to Tamil cinema. There are those who attack every aspect of a film and declare it a “disaster” hours after the screening of the first show. There are those who take to social media platforms to gleefully report on a film’s shortcomings and failures. These are the kind of people who celebrate the failure of a film simply because they have a personal issue against the lead actor or some other key figure in the film. That kind of primitive thinking is hurting the film industry as a whole and must be discouraged.

Respect for the different crafts in a film

The days when a single name followed “Story, screenplay, scripting, editing, lyrics, music, cinematography and direction” on screen are hopefully over, but the effects of that mind-set are still impediments to the film industry.

Directors are so keen to append their names to story, screenplay and scripting that they forget what an intricate task each aspect is. It is time for people to ditch their egos and to employ specialists to assist them in these key aspects of film-making. If this were done more often, there would be no need for a movie to be trimmed a week after release. The issue of verbal and visual verbosity in films has long been an embarrassing handicap. Even good films like Meiyyazhagan and Maharaja had scenes that needed trimming. The pace of most films could definitely be better and it takes very tight control at the helm to ensure that the running-time for each film is the optimal one.

Marketing

With few exceptions, the publicity posters of Tamil films are bland and unattractive. The Hindi film industry has always been at the forefront of attractive packaging and advertising of a film. Look online for Tamil posters of Veera Dheera Sooran or even Amaran, and then look for Hindi posters for the same film and see the amount of planning that has gone into the design of the Hindi posters. Most Tamil posters consist of a single still of the lead actor or lead pair, regardless of how many other big names there are in the cast. This casual attitude to marketing is evident in how long it took the Tamil industry to start making trailers for films. Apart from improving poster designs, there needs to be innovative approaches to marketing films – not just in India, but also in overseas territories.

My wish list of what to ditch from current Tamil Cinema

1. The use of slow motion is outdated and is being overused. It should be eradicated completely.
2. The use of a narrator or voice-over narration is extremely lazy writing and must stop. This information needs to be incorporated into the screenplay.
3. Stop using films as part of a propaganda machine: Show some respect to the craft and to audiences.
4. A narrative dominated by a single character is not a good narrative. Develop all characters equally.

 

Conclusion

Given the prevailing factors, it does seem unlikely that a Tamil film would cross 1000-crores in the near future, but one should ask whether that benchmark is even a means to measure the success or otherwise of the film industry. Rajinikanth’s 2.0. holds the current record, but is by no means an indication of the kind of films emanating from Kodambakkam. A cursory look at the current Top 25 films will show that the list is dominated by commercial or masala films, with Amaran being the notable exception. For me, this means that Kodambakkam has been unable to give a mass entertainer that appeals to non-Tamil audiences and is therefore not a reflection of the state of the Tamil film industry. This does, however, highlight one point; that the industry needs to up its game, and the only way to do this is through self-correction or harsh criticism. Since the former is not happening, this article is fulfilling the latter.

My criticism of the Tamil industry is to ensure that it takes its rightful place in world cinema. Our stories, values and aesthetic levels ought to see us become the world leader in world cinema. That goal will remain a dream unless we take a brutally honest look at ourselves and our films.