A movie that becomes a hit or a flop cannot be the only guideline for declaring your worth. The correct method would be to judge by its content and storytelling style, I mean script and script. Without these, the very purpose of making a movie would not be adequately served. More than two hundred films are released each year and their quality:quantity ratio does not seem very convincing. No one would have imagined that we would be delivering such mediocre movies compared to the black and white period.
With the disappearance of the legends of the Shivaji Ganesan era, Tamil cinema has shifted its focus from script-oriented films to for-profit films, with a few exceptions. In the 1960s and 1970s, movies used to have a solid script and we could see the actors move with passion and it was like seeing ourselves on the screen. This is missing in today’s movies. Or we get inspired by a Hollywood movie (or even Korean movies) or remake from other languages, but we never inspire people all over the world to follow us. Even the name Kollywood (a word that’s not even in the dictionary) is inspired by the west. We still love our Tamil movies, thanks to our limited exposure to Hollywood.
Right now, Tamil cinema is in a cast with a pre-defined template that specifies the obligatory number of songs, fights, comedy, love and sentiment in a movie. And we call it the “perfect mix” for a blockbuster. Apparently, the actors also got into this mold, which becomes a sure bet for success. So the directors stopped trying and stuck to what the public wanted. In Kollywood, each actor is associated with certain types of roles. There are massive, romantic heroes, action kings, etc. Therefore, an actor is repeatedly forced to choose a role according to fans’ expectations of him. Our actors are very talented. They are much better at criticizing them than we are, but it is the expectation of their fans that prevents them from trying out different characters. So who do we blame? fans? actors? directors? I would say all of them, in the same order. A movie has to be coherent in the first place. If it’s a comedy movie, then it must be a complete comedy delight. If it’s a thriller, it should be full of twists and emotions. I don’t understand the need for a romantic song in a thriller or fight scenes in comedy movies. No more unnecessary songs unless the situation demands it and in general we don’t want to see more 2 hour 40 minute movies. This template-based movie concept has to change.
The reason there aren’t many futuristic movies is that directors don’t see a future. Except for some passionate directors who put their soul into their movies, other directors think that making movies is a profession. Making movies is an art and if one turns it into a profession then we lose that magical charm found in the movies of yesteryear. A director needs to visualize the outcome of a movie, which is really important as he creates a roadmap for his team and motivates them. A director needs a lot of courage to project such visionary ideas. There are a lot of compromises a director has to make to satisfy a lot of people along the way and when he looks back, the movie might have been a little different than what he intended to create. Thinking, making a movie, and sticking to your subject requires a different kind of courage, one that only some directors have. A director needs guts to stay true to his script and not change based on the hero’s image or the fans’ expectations. If this small change is made, I’m sure the quality will increase by leaps and bounds.
Today, a movie’s opening week success depends on extensive marketing by the movie’s promoters. They flood TV channels with trailers that contain only good scenes from the movie. Fooled by the trailer, we walk to the theater to find the real story. And that’s how distributors make money in the first week. I can’t blame them, they are pure business people. They are doing their job and consequently even directors have to stick to their job which is to create quality movies and not worry about profits and initial sales. In general, everyone has to stick to their jobs and try not to stick their noses in.
There have to be movies like Kahaani and Arundathi that are heroin oriented. It’s about time we didn’t use our ladies just for songs and romance. Directors need to write scripts for these talented ladies to show their skills. Making an Indian movie is more difficult than Hollywood movies because of the very existence of the sophisticated masala factor in every frame. Directors need to focus on a single story effectively. Even the stunts in Indian movies look very unrealistic and supernatural. Simply put, both Indian and Hollywood movies have the same theme, the good guys fighting the bad guys, the good guys trying to save the nation, with few fights and few kisses. But the way to get it out as a package is different. It means the method of conveying the same message in a gift-wrapped box. If you take movies like Xmen, harry potter, they might be illogical, but that’s fantasy. Although it’s illogical, Westerners know the knack of presenting the dumbest things in the world and still get away with it with huge applause from the audience. It might be all with the presentation. Even if we fantasize, it would still contain songs, fights and the main ingredient “masala”.
I feel devastated when the Tamil public stands up and applauds characters like superman, batman or any man. Actually, we don’t envy them but it makes us wonder when such a standing ovation is going to happen to our actors. I’m sure our writers are very talented at thinking outside the box, but they are redirected by the hero image which, in turn, is redirected by their fans. How long are we going to keep watching mass masala movies, which don’t have a quality script? Also, it’s about making the audience educational enough to accept the creativity of the directors. It is the very fear of not being accepted by the audience that is keeping many talented directors from innovating their screenplays and screenplays. As long as the audience doesn’t change their perspective and accept all kinds of good movies, the quality won’t improve.
People are busy fighting who is the next superstar but they are not worried about the future of Tamil cinema. We can’t beat but we criticize Sachin, we can’t lead but we make fun of our Prime Minister, all we can do is talk within the four walls in front of the TV. Salman Rushdie once quoted the Indian film industry as “Epico-Mythico-Tragico-Comico-Super-Sexy-High-Masala-Art”. So complicated and so true! Thank you for adding the word “Art”, sir.
We need to change, for them to change and make better movies.