Fairy tale movies in tamil

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Topic started by Miss Chennai on Mon Mar 21 19:58:02 2005.

Why aren't Fairy tale movies no longer made in Hindi/Tamil cinema. Even in hollywood, movies like Scorpio king, Harry Potter are welcomed by the fans. But why is Tamil cinema not making movies like "Alibabavum 40 thirudargalum" or "Maya Bajaar"? I'm sure fans response for these kinda movies will be over-whelming. What do u guys think?

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Responses:

From: ramraghav on Thu Mar 24 0:34:17 2005.

The way I see it there are at least 2 reasons:

1. Funds
2. Mental outlook - Unlike the West, people in India (atleast TN) are still reasonably sane and rational. It is difficult to convince them to accept irrational themes like magic, fantasy, ghosts, vampires etc; and what is not accepted, will not sell.
From: oohlala on Thu Mar 24 7:33:29 2005.

Ram,
I guess Little John is a kinda Fairy Tale...
From: madhu on Thu Mar 24 10:40:10 2005.

Hi !

what do you mean ? Almost all the current films are having stories like fairy tales only... So.. we don't need separate fairy tale films.. thats all !
From: P_R on Thu Mar 24 12:05:50 2005.

The last fairy tale I remember seeing is a Telugu dubbed movie. Quite enjoyable. It starred Chiranjeevi and Sridevi, as a goddess.
The Tamil title was 'Kaadhal Devadhai'.
From: m_23_bayarea on Thu Mar 24 17:51:37 2005.

Those movies can't have the Dappangoothu songs, which is the current trend to break even for producers.....
From: ramraghav on Thu Mar 24 22:16:04 2005.

Hi All
Making a movie is quite different from making a genre of movies. I see some people have named one-off's; the point is a whole genre of irrational movies can not be sustained in our place.

Hollywood has sustained itself on irrationality for several decades (it still does; the only money makers are from this genre). Does anyone seriously think the same will happen in TN?

From: slperson1 on Fri Mar 25 12:14:04 2005.

Quote:

Hi All
Making a movie is quite different from making a genre of movies. I see some people have named one-off's; the point is a whole genre of irrational movies can not be sustained in our place.

Hollywood has sustained itself on irrationality for several decades (it still does; the only money makers are from this genre). Does anyone seriously think the same will happen in TN?

Quote:

2. Mental outlook - Unlike the West, people in India (atleast TN) are still reasonably sane and rational. It is difficult to convince them to accept irrational themes like magic, fantasy, ghosts, vampires etc; and what is not accepted, will not sell.

You two are not watching the same tamil movies the rest of us see. There is RARELY any logic in a tamil movie. So fairy tales can easily be made into tamil when dumbed down to the audiences level. I think the audience in TN cant comprehend the difference between fairy tale and real life, if they actually think like the above two quoted people.

I think they should do the Disney movie Alauddin in tamil. That could work well.

From: oohlala on Fri Mar 25 18:53:57 2005.

Indian cinema industries are mainly targeted on Adults and thats the main reason y there r less movies for children.But then also v can see some fairy tale movies the latest one "Abracadabra(rite???)"staring Prabhudeva...
And there is nothin about funds as we can witness 3d(mydear kutty chatan) movies in tamil in early 80's.

From: Miss Chennai on Fri Mar 25 20:28:56 2005.

ramraghav wrote:

Unlike the West, people in India (atleast TN) are still reasonably sane and rational. It is difficult to convince them to accept irrational themes like magic, fantasy, ghosts, vampires etc; and what is not accepted, will not sell.

I'm still wondering that if people can accept movies of the likes of Vijay/Vikram who constantly dish out masalas with 5 fights, dapan kuthu songs, punch dialogues and larger-than-life portrayal of their characters thus making a joke of the audience intelligence, then why not the same people accept the so called "irrational" fairy tale/mayajaalam kind of movies?

ramraghav wrote:

Making a movie is quite different from making a genre of movies. I see some people have named one-off's; the point is a whole genre of irrational movies can not be sustained in our place.

Hollywood has sustained itself on irrationality for several decades (it still does; the only money makers are from this genre). Does anyone seriously think the same will happen in TN?

I agree with this point. This is the reality though.

From: Miss Chennai on Fri Mar 25 20:31:27 2005.

oohlala wrote:

Indian cinema industries are mainly targeted on Adults and thats the main reason y there r less movies for children.

Good point. Also, I guess in the west even the adults enjoy kids movie like harry potter, spiderman etc. but in India adults don't seem to enjoy kids movie... Has something to do with attitude!
From: ramraghav on Wed Mar 30 22:20:21 2005.

Ž��

Logic vs. Rationality: Its actually a fundamental difference in definition. Logic (or the lack of it) is what serves to explain the cause of an effect. Rationality (or the lack of it) is what is (or can be) explained to any convincing degree of reason.

My point is (and has been) that 'fairy tale' movies lack rationality, not logic. When rationality itself is absent, where is the question of logic?

As for the Superstars and Supremestars and all the other stars that shine in our local sky, and the movies they involve themselves in, I believe it can be truthfully said that though they lack logic, they do not lack in rationality.

Stratoshperic and submarine fighting scenes do not imply irrationality: they only show half-baked incomplete logic.

Besides, please remember that the fundamental concepts in our movies are based firmly on solid ground reality; this is more than can be said of the only movies that actually succeed in Hollywood.

Also, in my first reply I had stated I could think of 2 reasons; I now present a third (though this one is probably part of the second itself): culture.

People watch movies for either of 2 purposes: entertainment and/or education. And, people can appreciate these two aspects of a movie only if they can identify themselves with the events portrayed therein. Thus, the culture of the people depicted on screen becomes essential to the appreciation of the movie by the public watching it.

Ghost movies run in the U.S. beacuse their culture teaches them to accept the existence of the subject matter i.e. the ghosts themselves. As a consequence, the audience identifies with and appreciates the movie. For functionally equivalent reasons, the same movies would not be recieved well in our place.

Atleast, thats my belief.

Any dissensions?
From: Kumar on Fri Apr 1 3:02:53 2005.

Well, I agree to a certain extent, ram. There are ghosts stories and folklore within the the Indian culture. The issue is how are stories like these to be made into films. The reason why Hollywod films of this genre do well is because the filmakers (director, producers, actors, etc) take themselves andthe movie seriously. I saw an interview with Bryan Singer, the director of the X-men movies. He basically said that he took the 'world' of his film, the X-men, very seriously. That's why many Hollywood movie based on comic books do well; good story lines, great actors, excellent special effects.

Years ago, Tamil movies like Maya Bajar and Pattanathil Oru Bootham, were great fun to watch. Then there were some attempts at Hollywood type scary movies, like Yaar, and another one of Radhika as a ghost who just would not leave her ex-lover. But I also remember movies where ghosts were just people in white sheets, or women in white saris, long hair and golusu.

"JAL JAL JAL JAL JAL JAL......"

Recently,'Shock' attempted to re-introduce horror. Good attempt.

No effort was made to make these movies seriously. Same applies to devotional movies. The Telegu dubbed movie, Amman, had pretty good special effects. The rest that followed, XXX Amman, YYY Aman, ZZZ Amman (fill in the blanks with anything you like) were crud films with cheap effects.

(Special mention to movies featuring typing snakes and stenographer monkies: Prabhu, I'll never forget this, pa, never).

I suppose what I'm trying to say is, film makers need to make an effort with these kind of movies if they want to make them accepted and profitable. I believe there is a market out there for movies like these.

From: P_R on Fri Apr 1 4:29:20 2005.

ramraghav wrote:

Ghost movies run in the U.S. beacuse their culture teaches them to accept the existence of the subject matter i.e. the ghosts themselves. As a consequence, the audience identifies with and appreciates the movie. For functionally equivalent reasons, the same movies would not be recieved well in our place.

Completely disagree. You mean to say that belief in ghosts is stronger in the US than India ? It's just that it is a lot of hard work to get somebody to get scared (almost as much hard work as getting them to laugh)

As Kumar said it's a qn. of effort. If the guy who made the Child's Play saw 'Vaa Arugil Vaa' he'd wish the doll the doll attacks him first and end his misery. They really expect us to get spooked by hysterically cackling, uncombed women draped in white ? (I grew up on a steady diet of Raasaathi Varum Naal etc.)

Anybody recall early SunTV's Nishagandhi that was aired with the disclaimer that 'cardiac patients keep away'. I guess they'd've died from having their intelligence insulted than anything else. C.K.Saraswathy holding a lantern was their spookiest best. On the other hand Naga's first round of Marmadesam made nice viewing.

I recall from I.S.Johar's q&a column in Filmfare:
Q: Why do Hindi filmmakers not make horror films ?
A: What else do they make.

Kumar wrote:

film makers need to make an effort with these kind of movies if they want to make them accepted and profitable. I believe there is a market out there for movies like these

Completely agree.
Heard Kamal recently bought the rights for a Spanish film, about time travel. Hmmm....smell the brew !

From: ramraghav on Fri Apr 1 18:51:49 2005.

Kumar, I agree with your observation but not your analyais thereof. You correctly stated that M.B. and ��ʽ�� were well recieved. The cause for this reception, as I see it, was not simply because they were well made but rather because they were one-off non-thought provoking wholesome entertainers. They were meant to be, and indeed were, taken as entertainers with no educational value. And, such one-off non-thought provoking wholesome entertainers will continue to be well recieved. No more, no less.

��, as you yourself said, was a good attempt. And, a movie with that concept after a long time.

The question is, can such movies sustain continuos momentum to constitute an entire genre in our society? My answer remains 'no'.
From: Kumar on Mon Apr 4 18:38:26 2005.

Ram,
Fairy tales and fantasy movies can hardly be taken as "thought provoking". They may have moral themes, but the main focus of these kind of movies are the fantasy aspects, things that are not the norm. Maya Bajaar and Pattanathil Oru Bootham were pretty well made at for that era. They were entertaining. MB had devotional themes, P.O.B was a comedy and had the classic good vs evil theme.

When I say that producers need to tak these movies seriously, I meant it in production wise. Good acting is needed here. Most devotional and fantasyTamil movies (or dubbed ones) have crassy acting. There's always the demon who, after a puff of smoke, will appear, ala jump-cut editing, with his hands on his hips, and while facing the camera will bellow:

"HA HA HA!! Naanthaan Chanda!! Naan oru pisasu!! HA HA HA!!!!"

Andava........

Compare that to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, where everything was taken as if it existed in history.

"We don't have that kind of budget", you might say. Or do we? Tamil film makers will spend heaps on travelling to places like Turkey, Holland, Australia, US, U.K, etc, for just 3 minutes of song footage. That's where the money goes...into song scenes.

"""The question is, can such movies sustain continuos momentum to constitute an entire genre in our society? My answer remains 'no'.""""

I can see where you're coming from. But, I have hope that this genre will slowly gather momentum before becoming part and parcel of Tamil cinema. It may take a little longer, and the market may be smaller than the masala production line, but it has the scope of establishing itself.

From: Kumar on Mon Apr 4 18:42:04 2005.

Prabhu Ram wrote:

If the guy who made the Child's Play saw 'Vaa Arugil Vaa' he'd wish the doll the doll attacks him first and end his misery. They really expect us to get spooked by hysterically cackling, uncombed women draped in white ? (I grew up on a steady diet of Raasaathi Varum Naal etc.)

Anybody recall early SunTV's Nishagandhi that was aired with the disclaimer that 'cardiac patients keep away'. I guess they'd've died from having their intelligence insulted than anything else. C.K.Saraswathy holding a lantern was their spookiest best. On the other hand Naga's first round of Marmadesam made nice viewing.

I recall from I.S.Johar's q&a column in Filmfare:
Q: Why do Hindi filmmakers not make horror films ?
A: What else do they make. Smile

Please stop, machi! You're killing me.

From: ramraghav on Thu Apr 7 23:01:32 2005.

��
�� Ţ�� ɧš
'I can see where you're coming from.'
From: Kumar on Fri Apr 8 2:33:23 2005.

Hi Ram,
When I said I understand where you�re coming from, I was responding to this sentence.

ramraghav wrote:

The question is, can such movies sustain continuos momentum to constitute an entire genre in our society? My answer remains 'no'.

I can understand why you question if such movies can maintain this momentum. Currently, these movies are made few and far between; pretty random actually. Hence your 'no'. There aren't many producers and directors willing to take this subject on.

I just hope (and believe) that more of them do venture out of their comfort zone. They just need to make these movies with a bigger budget and more conviction.
From: P_R on Fri Apr 8 10:34:59 2005.

Soopper's 'Adhisayappiravi' can be classified as a fairy-tale right ?
Similarly the Goundamani starrer 'Lucky-Man' (dir:Pratap Pothen)
Anything more recent ?
From: ramraghav on Mon Apr 11 21:56:00 2005.

Hope Miss Chennai does not mind this hijack of her original thread: how would you all want to discuss the presence/absence of history-based movies in Tamil cinema?
From: Badri on Mon Apr 11 22:13:52 2005.

Before the hijack happens, let me put in my two cents...

Movies like The Mummy or the Scorpion King made more money in India than they did in the US. Which means, our people actually lap up anything to do with curses, and monsters and mythological stuff, if presented properly. I even remember reading a news report to that effect. While some of these special effect fantasy movies have been miserable flops in the US and elsewhere, they have been great revenue generators in India.

Therefore there is every chance that if a "fairy tale" movie is produced intelligently in Tamil, it can become a hit. Unfortunately, our directors and producers think a few horribly mangled computer graphics and a cheesy story line makes a fantasy. When they give it a professional approach, it will suceed as well as any other genre of movie.
From: Kumar on Mon Apr 11 23:16:20 2005.

Bingo, badri! You hit the nail on head. If Hollywood fantasy/horror movies can do well in India, then there is scope for the Indian (and particularly Tamil) film industry to make such films...with a good budget, cast and SPFX.

OK, now what about historical movies.......
From: ramraghav on Mon Apr 11 23:44:54 2005.

Historical movies - this is one category that hardly ever fails to make money in the US. The biggest cast, capital and revenue are unfailingly produced by this genre year. And this, with hardly any un-loaned history to write about. Imagine the potential history-based movies can unleash in Tamil cinema.

Oflate Hindi movie makers are experimenting with proto-historical movies based on the Independence struggle; any venture based even remotely on the subject of history would surely be welcome by the Tamil public, right?

Consider the possibilities..........Silappadhigaram, Manimekalai, Ponniyin Selvan...........
From: Badri on Mon Apr 11 23:50:54 2005.

Didnt I hear some news about Ponniyin Selvan being taken up? They could come up with a trilogy, like LOTR!!

Maybe it is just me, but I hardly think there are very good actors left to take up some of those roles. I can somehow always picturise Sivaji Ganeshan, despite his overacting, in one of those roles - but a Vijay or Ajith or Danush????

It is going to be an uphill task simply to find a suitable casting!!!
From: Kumar on Tue Apr 12 0:11:51 2005.

That's right. The current horde of young actors are NOT actors- they're 'hero' wanabees, with the exception of a few. The actors of yesteryear, Sivaji, Gemini, Muthuraman, Nambiar, Manohar, etc had that capacity and talent to tackle historical roles.

Of late, there have been some attempts. (Yes, Bollywood has taken that step already.)Barathi was a good attempt. Hey Ram can fall into the category of 'proto-historical'. Rajini's Sri Raghavendra can fall into this genre, although it was a devotional film as well.

But as ram said, the possibilities are great; we are not short of topics.

I don't know if I should be still eagerly waiting for Maruthanayagam, but I hope this comes to fruition. And yes, I've also heard something about the idea of Ponniyin Selvan asa movie being floated.
From: Badri on Tue Apr 12 0:20:08 2005.

Kamal can try his hand at it...he has the talent enough to. But he cannot make it a one-man army.

As you said, the heros and villains of yesteryears like Sivaji or Gemini...maybe even namma Yem Gee Orr! and Nambiyar...but none of the current gen can fit into any of those roles! But who knows, a diligent director might find the suitable cast for it.

We are not short of topics, that is for sure. With a history like ours, we can do wonders. But I only hope they don't take up a good story and screw it up with cheesy acting!

And what about viewership? Would Senthamizh dialogues find popular appeal once more? After years of being fed the "va machi" and "enna mame" type of lines would an "Arase, ottranai kaiparrivittom" find an audience?

You'd probably have a bunch of college guys getting out of the movie hall saying, "Enna machi, onnume purila! Inna basha pesaramba?"
From: ramraghav on Tue Apr 12 0:21:30 2005.

Ponniyin Selvan.......are you guys serious? That would make my day. Any idea who's behind it?
From: Badri on Tue Apr 12 0:23:57 2005.

Or am I confusing it with AM Rathnam & Radha Mohan's Ponniyin Selvan?
From: jaiganes on Tue Apr 12 0:34:41 2005.

someone's making ponniyin selvan as an animated movie as well. Go to thatstamil.com for more details
From: Kumar on Tue Apr 12 0:45:32 2005.

I read the below article, which was written sometime back; Kamal had the idea of making Ponniyan Selvan into a TV series. I'm not too sure if he's still toying with the idea. Not exactly a movie, but a start nevertheless.

http://www.india4u.com/kollywood/kamal.asp
From: Badri on Tue Apr 12 0:50:44 2005.

That is not a bad idea! In fact a novel like PS would be better handled as a long series than just a movie. Of course, if it had to be made a movie, it would have to be done like LOTR.

The article you provided says Kamal wanted Mani Ratnam to direct the series...I feel Kamal would do a good job of it himself! Although of course, detractors would be quick to accuse him of narcissm again.
From: ramraghav on Tue Apr 12 0:53:01 2005.

Hey remembered something.........I have a pdf of the entire conversation b/w manohara and his father (in the senate). �ȿ��Ȣ� ��ը�� ؾ� �� . Any takers? All you need is a pdf reader.

As for acting - Vikram wasn't bad in Pithamagan, was he? What about Madhavan in Kannathil Muthammitaal? Younger blood? Bharath and Jeeva. Older? Endrendrum Kamal. Udhavaakaran? ��Ţ �� ¡� Rajini.

There's no dearth of topics on history.......just initiative. Maybe we'll soon hit up on initiative too. Besides, cinema being a form of mass-media, it serves as an important educational platform - a good way to teach and remind ourselves of our glorious history and culture.
From: Kumar on Tue Apr 12 1:28:13 2005.

Vikram is indeed a good actor. Surya is also capable, I feel. I must say that although I don�t participate in the �Vijay and Ajith� war, I was pretty impressed wit Ajith�s role in Sharukh Khan�s �Asoka�. So if he actually makes an effort, he can b pretty good. Madhavan�s role in Ayutha Ezhuthu has convinced me that this man is a formidable actor. And if Rajini took a break from his stereotype Superstar roles, he can be a damn good actor for a historical movie. As for Kamal�.the name speaks for itself.

But let�s not forget the other actors who are good; they may not be �heroes�, or �heroines�, but have great talent and can take on leading roles.
Pasupathy, Nasser, Prakashraj, Deli Ganesh (imagine all of them in one movie!)
From: ramraghav on Tue Apr 12 1:29:16 2005.

Guess you missed the king of the last lot - Raghuvaran

From: Badri on Tue Apr 12 1:30:54 2005.

Kumar wrote:

But let�s not forget the other actors who are good; they may not be �heroes�, or �heroines�, but have great talent and can take on leading roles.
Pasupathy, Nasser, Prakashraj, Deli Ganesh (imagine all of them in one movie!)

Now, you are talking! Yes, that is what we need. A galaxy of the very best...Cha, if it were in our hands, ponniyin selvana oru super duper hitaa nambale thayar panniduvom pola irukku!

From: Kumar on Tue Apr 12 1:43:35 2005.

Ram, you're right. Raghuvaran should be on that list.

Aaahhh badri, if only, if only........

I used to have these "casting sessions" with my friends when we talked about possible movie plots, historical and mythical.
From: Badri on Tue Apr 12 1:44:44 2005.

Quote:

I used to have these "casting sessions" with my friends when we talked about possible movie plots, historical and mythical.

What, you too? Man, you are too uncannily like me!
From: Kumar on Tue Apr 12 1:48:53 2005.

Are you my long lost twin?? Ithu "Uthama Puthiran" kathai maathri irukkey....
From: Badri on Tue Apr 12 1:51:09 2005.

Oru family pattu paadina everything will become clear!!

Anyways, sorry for the digression...

By the way, you still haven't said anything about how the audience will react to an onslaught of senthamizh should new historical movies were to be produced.

Can hardly expect Kunthavai to speak colloquial thamil (with an il) now, can we?
From: scorpio on Tue Apr 12 1:59:11 2005.

Hmmm.. but the real challenge is find actresses with 'kodi idai' who wouldn't look like bloated pumpkins in historical costumes!!

Can't imagine Jo, Meena, KR Vijaya, Srividhya etc etc in raja-rani costumes!!
From: Kumar on Tue Apr 12 2:22:35 2005.

[quote="sbadri99"]Oru family pattu paadina everything will become clear!! quote]

NAALAI NAMATHEEYYYYYYYYY...............

Well, in old historical/devotional movies, actors spoke in Senthamizh; that�s good. But they also acted like they were in a stage production or Thiraikoothu. They made declarations, rather than spoke the script, i.e raised voices, loud, dramatic. (at this point, I must say that this was part of the magic of such old movies and this method of acting was suitable for that era). This is just my theory: maybe the audience will be OK with Senthamizh if it was spoken normally, and if the actors acted normally. Just think about Virumaandi (as you can tell, I�m still stuck on this movie). The actors in this movie spoke like everyday people would. So a whisper is a whisper, crying can be done softly, etc. Just apply the same method to historical movies and the audiences may be more receptive. Just a theory though.
From: Badri on Tue Apr 12 2:27:08 2005.

Illa pa...I am not the "thiruvizhala kaanamapona" twin!!!

So you mean, if the actors act instead of overact, they can carry the show? There may be something there, whaddyaknow!
From: jaiganes on Tue Apr 12 2:37:48 2005.

Vinu Chakravarthy, Vadivukkarasi, Delhi Kumar(Mettioli father), Sathyaraj, Vijayakumar are some other actors who can speak good Thamizh and fit for any thamizh historical. Also there is Magic Lantern and Koothu-p-pattarai from where heavy talents can be imported for such a project. Remember, Koothu-p-pattarai and magic lantern actually staged "Ponniyin selvan" as a 3 hour drama sometime back. It had Nasser as Aditha Karikaalan.
From: Cinefan on Tue Apr 12 2:42:37 2005.

Speaking of historicals,it would have been interesting to see the kind of dialouges Kamal would have used in 'Maruthanayagam'.A pity we did not get a chance.
From: Kumar on Tue Apr 12 2:42:45 2005.

""So you mean, if the actors act instead of overact, they can carry the show? There may be something there, whaddyaknow!"""

Yup, that's pretty much it. Dude, am leaving right now. More later.
From: Kumar on Wed Apr 13 0:33:47 2005.

Just to continue from yesterday, the whole language thing should not be a barrier. Has anyone seen the dubbed version of 'Asoka'. This is what I'm talking about; the film was made in this era and the dialogue suited it very well. Compare that with, say, 'Raaja Rishi' (I know, I know, not really a good comparison, but there's a point here...). RR was done in the 80s but the acting method and dialogue delivery was akin to older movies (your Karnan, Sampoorna Ramayanam, etc). The great old-timers, Sivaji, Nambiar, Manohar, etc, were belting it out.

Next, budget. Once again, if producers can use heaps of cash to send the crew overseas for 3 minutes in a song sequence, the I think they can channel that money into a major historical production. Costumes have to be real. In many older movies, especially in crowd or war scenes, you can tell that the costumes are just 2 pieces of cloth haphazardly stitched together by some guy and a sewing machine. We need more authentic stuff. Research should be done (like in Hey Ram). Then, sets, lighting etc. The internal of palaces in Raaja Rishi and other older movies look like they were lit by fluorescent tubes. Years ago, in the 90s, I saw a Malayaalam movie set centuries ago. The lighting was great. Internal shots were dark and only lit by flames, oil lamps and candles. Pretty impressive.
From: ramraghav on Thu Apr 14 14:20:23 2005.

anaivarukkum puththaandu vaazhthukkal
From: ramraghav on Thu Apr 14 22:12:26 2005.

Hey Kumar I concur. The priorities of financial management seem to have changed completely. With stuff gone to the dogs, its Show thats stealing the show (actually Tamil films are still far better in this respect than the Hindi ones). What springs to my mind is this guy P R Panthulu (or something like that) who produced numerous B/W movies on Tamil culture. Need someone like that now.
From: Kumar on Fri Apr 15 0:06:44 2005.

Hi Ram, Puthaandu Vaazhtukkal!

ramraghav wrote:

What springs to my mind is this guy P R Panthulu (or something like that) who produced numerous B/W movies on Tamil culture. Need someone like that now.

Thanks for replying; I see you are one of the very few that's not participating in the CM vs MX pit fights. Anyway, who is the P R Panthulu? Did he make old period and devotional movies?

The older movies did allocate a large sum of the production budget on sets of historical/period movies. Movies like Chandralekha is proof. Even later movies like Raaja Raaja Cholan, Karnan, V P Kattabomman (pretty good costumes for the British), and the likes had good production value. Somewhere down the line, things spiralled down. Movies with Brits had side actors with heaps of make-up slapped on their faces and an ill fitting blonde wigs. Disco music during the 1940s ala Maaveeran , war scenes where 'soldiers' smiled and started into the camera while fighting.

Meanwhile, Hollywood is rediscovering historical/period movies and are making big budget productions. Note that the popularity of such movies faded at one stage in the U.S. This whole genre had to be 'reintroduced' to audiences, but made with a big budget, and great acting and directing (Gladiator, Master and Commander, The Last Samurai, and the forth coming Kingdom of Heaven).

Kamal is one of the few who dared to spend in Hey Ram. Some guys in Bollywood are doing the same; Asoka, Lagaan and Amir Khan's upcoming Mangal Pandey movie.

What Tamil producers need to do is make a big budget period movie and market it like the dickens to re-ignite interest in such movies.
From: ramraghav on Fri Apr 15 0:21:23 2005.

HI Kumar
The CM vs. MX fight: How can I comment w/o seeing either movie?

P R Panthulu (if I remember the name right) was the producer of a string of period/devotional movies: I can immediately think of Thiruvilaiyaadal, Kattabomman, Thiruvarutchelvar but I am certain there are many more.

The 'period' films in the US are not period films really - they are only interpolated/extrapolated misfits of what they assume/interpret as historical happenings. I prefer to call them imaginative entertaining propaganda.

Asoka..........ah thats best forgotten. Really was it anything more than sleaze masked as history?
From: ramraghav on Fri Apr 15 0:25:17 2005.

Oh, and add Karnan to the Panthulu list
From: Kumar on Fri Apr 15 0:52:59 2005.

[quote="ramraghav"]

The 'period' films in the US are not period films really - they are only interpolated/extrapolated misfits of what they assume/interpret as historical happenings. I prefer to call them imaginative entertaining propaganda.

quote]

Ahh, but isn't history just that. In many instances, historical events are based on assumptions derived from anthropological studies, mixed with folklore, etc. Either way, my taking Hollywood movies as an example is to draw attention to the production quality and budget.

Yes, Asoka may have been a bad example. Good production in terms of sets, etc but wasted on a weakish plot, with elements of Bollywood masala.
From: Querida on Fri Apr 15 1:05:16 2005.

well here's another good reason why such movies (senthamizh or not) would do well: I have no idea what the story of Ponniyan Selvan is! I'm sure in a time where alot of kids live out of india and miss out on all this could get what their parents have no time or memory for... hmm just a favour can anyone fill me in about the story....just a link or something cause i would like to know
From: P_R on Fri Apr 15 14:01:37 2005.

Historicals is off-topic but before we get chided for digression I thought I'd say this:
Kannadaasan produced 'Sivagangai Seemai' where the Brits talked English not the Durai style Tamil of Kollywood fame. The movie flopped. Well, they can be two separate sentences but those kinda things put risk-takers on the defensive.

Coming back. I think our most recent fairy tale was Nasser's Devadai (with IR's underrated gem 'Oru Naal andha oru naal')
From: Kumar on Sun Apr 17 18:47:44 2005.

Hi Prabhu. ust to let you know, ram did bring up the topic of including historical/period movies in this thread. It was a sort of a unanimous decision, or a usurp, depending on how you see it. So if it's OK with you, we can discuss these genres Interchangeably. See below.

ramraghav wrote:

Hope Miss Chennai does not mind this hijack of her original thread: how would you all want to discuss the presence/absence of history-based movies in Tamil cinema?

Yes, Devadhai may have been the last fantasy movie created. Valiant effort by Nasser. Although the last scene was a little..ummm....indescribable. Once again, it needed a bigger budget, and perhaps some fine tuning with the story and script.

Well, judging from some of the threads on Chandramukhi, it seems like this film may fall into the fantasy category, what with ghosts and possessions, etc. Yet to see it (it may take awhile as Brisbane does not have cinemas playing Tamil movies); has anyone here seen it yet? Prabhu? Ramraghav?
From: Querida on Sun Apr 17 20:29:56 2005.

I just saw it today, it definitly falls into the supernatural category...relying on usual beliefs about these things and of course having a loophole
From: Kumar on Sun Apr 17 20:38:16 2005.

Querida,

In your honest opinion, is Chandramukhi a step forward towards the direction of making fantasy movies more popular, as per the postings here?
From: Badri on Sun Apr 17 20:42:46 2005.

Ghost movies were somehow never part of a fantasy! Perhaps they are too pedestrian to be considered part of the fantastical?

Typically though, movies about ghosts and possessions fall under the Horror genre, so even if CM (haven't seen it, mind) does contain elements of those, maybe it should fall under horror (although going by the comments and feedback on the movie, it is to be classfied as a comedy...or better still, that great catch-all that we have invented, masala)!
From: ramraghav on Sun Apr 17 20:53:19 2005.

Is CM something along the lines of Baba?
From: Querida on Sun Apr 17 21:04:36 2005.

imho no not a step forward for fantasy movies...definitly a masala that tries to include everything Badri...but the suspense kinda encompasses it and is the main tale...if it seriously weren't some well known headliners and suspense it would be the same old story...if this were a movie by any other actor I don't think it would have made such a commotion....when the superstar is helping you his full 'rep' follows...right? Well faith always is the hope in supernatural horror no? But this is not strictly religious faith themed...like Baba trying hard not to spoil it for ya guys that's why im being all round-about hope it's not annoying...
From: P_R on Mon Apr 18 8:02:12 2005.

Hey Chandramuki ? Ok by definition it is a 'fairy tale'but not quite in the spirit of this discussion, no pun intended!

Kumar wrote:

Is Chandramukhi a step forward towards the direction of making fantasy movies more popular
Uhm...to me it doesn't look to be the one that be the big push. In fact I'd be surprised if it can push itself far enough
From: Sanguine Sridhar on Mon Apr 18 8:07:09 2005.

Fairytale...yeah one film ...ahhh ya "Magic magic" came couple of years ago..some 3d animation film.
From: Querida on Mon Apr 18 19:14:21 2005.

what about that attempt at an alien movie with Arun Pandian?
Anyone watch ET-esque Koi Mil Gaya, was it any better?

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