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Is Tamil cinema losing its cultural identity? In a world when Tamil Cinema is growing all the more restless in terms of rising demands for financial success are Tamil filmmakers losing the plot when it comes to maintaining a cultural identity? In days bygone when MGR and Sivaji Ganesan were ruling the roost majority of the films had a rich hero who ends up fighting against injustice and helping the poor. This trend was broken by Bharathiraja in the sense that he made movies that narrated the lives and times of rustic simpletons. The trend was healthy and many other directors followed suit. Human nature was focused upon as never before and then Cinema came to be a medium wherein innate cultural elements formed indelible facets. India is a multicultural country and the truth remains that every single State has its own rich and varied heritage. Filmmakers started projects that would appeal to the 'whole' India and so pan-Indian elements have been used to a great extent. With this view in mind remakes from one language to another was on the rise. For example, the idea of remaking a highly successful Hindi film in Tamil proved to be a wise move. The eighties saw Rajinikanth remake many Amitabh Bachchan movies that became big time blockbusters and helped pave his way to superstardom. Similarly some successful Tamil films were also remade in other languages. All these developments smelt very good for people who wanted to view Cinema as just a money-making business without any kind of artistic inclination. When it comes to big bucks sadly culture takes the back seat. Today's trend is that a number of Telugu films are remade in Tamil quite successfully. The likes of 'Jayam' Ravi and Vijay are huge beneficiaries. With all this rush for box office success the 'Tamil' identity is slowly but surely being buried with irrecoverable sand. Cheap gimmicks in the name of 'glamour', unwanted extravagance in the name of boasting one's own supposed 'talent' and nauseating heroism with stupid proportions are becoming the REAL identity of Tamil Cinema. Tamil Cinema is nothing but an arid desert when it comes to artistic endeavors. But even in this desert, a few flowers bloom. Movies that depict real human emotions in the backdrop of Tamil Culture comes as a few and far in-between oasis. Tamil audiences love these films but then they are still few and far in-between. Will there be a refreshing change that can build upon this or will the desert air bring in more dust to make Tamil culture perish forever in its Cinema?
Friday Feast at kollywood Box office
The Kollywood box office is going to have bang today with Three Tamil Films and one Hollywood film which is dubbed in Tamil. After Diwali releases today is the biggest day to release three films. The movies hitting the screens are Sundar C’s Nagaram is slated to be a grand release with 14 screens. Karu Palaniappan’s ‘Mandhira Punnagai’ is releasing in 8 screens with limited shows. Magizhchi is releasing in 6 screens. Along with these films Harry Potter 7-Part 1 in Tamil is the biggest release as it is releasing in 15 Chennai screens. Besides all the Friday releases Rajinikanth’s ‘Enthiran’ has completed 50 days and is still running with packed houses.
Friday Releases Supply Oxygen to Dhruva
As both the notable Friday, December 16, releases - Dil Raju's 'Nanna Nenu Naa Boyfriends' and Prudhvi's 'Meelo Evaru Koteeswarudu' have opened poorly, Ram Charan's 'Dhruva' has got another week of unopposed run at box office.As per trade reports, while MEK has registered insignificant numbers, the names of Dil Raju and Habah Patel managed to bring par openings for NNNB in the Telugu states. The sustainability of the film at box office however is doubtful amidst poor word of mouth.Despite good promotions, big names and sizeable premiere shows, NNNB collected a paltry $2,148 at US box office. With not so favorable reviews, it is tough for this romantic entertainer to attract overseas audiences to theatres from hereon.Dil Raju has reportedly sold this film to a prominent US distributor as part of a multi-film deal costing Rs 18 Cr. The distributor must now rely on other Dil Raju films to recover his hefty investment.Interim, after raking in around Rs 41 Cr worldwide share, Dhruva has opened to significant occupancy in its second week. We need to see how far this action thriller capitalizes on the wavering new releases.
Black Friday: A few stark details
In order to stick to authenticity in his forthcoming film Black Friday, director Anurag Kashyap and his team shot the important scene of the RDX bombs landing in India prior to the Mumbai blast in 1993 in the same village that the RDX actually landed ' Shikhadi. 'We shot in the same village of the coolies which was actually picked up by the police post blasts because the night when the RDX arrived, the villagers were paid Rs. 1000 but they had no idea what contained in those ships,' says Anurag Kashyap. The actors in the movie faced tremendous difficulties during the shooting of this scene due to several technical details. The actors as well as the crew were on boats in the ocean and there was a lot of motion sickness. 'We shot the entire night and all of us after delivering our dialogues would go and throw up every time due to motion sickness', says actor Pavan Malhotra who plays Tiger Memon in the film. Black Friday is based on the events leading up to and the investigation thereafter of the 1993 Bombay bomb blasts. The 1993 Bombay blasts left 257 dead and 1400 injured and brought into the spotlight the mafia-terrorist nexus prevalent today. Based on S. Hussain Zaidi's book on the same subject, the film takes one into the heart of the conspiracy behind the Bombay blasts and the massive follow-up investigation by giving detailed account of planning, execution and back-end operations of the same. Produced by Arindam Mitra and directed by Anurag Kashyap, the film features the stellar acting talents of Kay Kay Menon, Pavan Malhotra and Aditya Srivastava playing Inspector Rakesh Maria, Tiger Memon and police informer 'Badshah Khan' respectively. Black Friday, directed by Anurag Kashyap is ready for release on 9th February.
'Black Friday' should now open avenues for 'Paanch'
While Anurag Kashyap must certainly be jubilant with an all around appreciation 'Black Friday' and his direction in particular has got, he would now also be looking at the release of his debut venture 'Paanch'. Produced by Tutu Sharma, the film has been ready for more than 5 years but is stuck in the cans since then. First there were censors issue due to charges of excessive violence. Later even as the film won its battle with the censors, it is still lying unreleased. Industry insiders who have seen the film vouch for the fact that 'Paanch' is yet another stunning piece of art by Kashyap and has the kind of shock value that has made 'Black Friday' hit headlines. The film stars Kay Kay Menon in the lead along with Tejaswini Kolhapuri. Vishal Bhardwaj has given the music.
Raciest Friday of Bollywood
For past one month, there haven't been any big releases. Perhaps, there were quite enormous surprises that won critical acclamations and swayed at box-offices. Here starts the long queue of most expected flicks of the year making its way on the screens. Coming day after tomorrow is gonna be the raciest Friday with Drona and Kidnap hitting screens universally. Of course, these would be of the essence for the celebrities of both films. Abhishek Bachchan has brimmed up with lots of expectations with his Drona for none of his previous flicks after Guru have fetched him good credits. Jhoom Barabar Jhoom and Laga Chunari Mein Daag flunked while Sarkar Raj did moderately well at box-office. Indeed, it's a crucial flick for Director Goldie Behl, since his previous venture with Bas Itna Sa Khwab Hai dashed down his hopes. Well, getting on with Kidnap, it is more crucial since both Imran Khan and Director Sanjay Gadhvi have to win laurels by all means. Imran Khan spelled himself as choco-chap in his debut flick 'Jaane Ya Tu Jaanena' and this time he has to prove himself on different grounds. Churning out the best racy entertainers Dhoom and Dhoom 2, you can guess what Sanjay Gadhvi would be coming across right now. With both the films hitting screens on October 2 across the longer weekend, film buffs could be experiencing grand fiestas of double delights...