If you are a Tamil cinema lover, you will understand the perception that “Kollywood has lost its plot.” From varied genres of romantic, drama, action, village, family, defense, war and horror and much more, it has now been drastically narrowed down to violence, revenge and mass action majorly. This can be seen with both pros and cons starting with the point that audiences are looking for a “no nonsense” story.
The flow of Tamil cinema
But dating to the current scenario, post Covid, time has again changed and audience’s perception of the film has also changed.But if you look deep into the recent past, it is only a handful of films that are relatable and more of action films that delve into violence and revenge.
Consumption of content
Is the emergence of new platforms the reason for this? While theatrical release was primarily the only platform for people to enjoy content, the production was slower and it had multiple layers of restriction attached to it. With many OTT platforms now, it has allowed many directors to explore and make experimental films, churning out content much faster and the consumption culture has been varying from time to time.
“You have the biggest film industry hands down”:
Hollywood actor Daniel Caltigarone who made his debut with Pa Ranjith’s ‘Thangalaan’ that starred Vikram as the lead mentioned the content on OTT today is very mundane and inferior when it comes to storytelling. “The Indian film industry has everything.Kollywood has such amazing filmmakers and Indian media is huge and there are incredible actors. You have got everything that makes you number one in the entertainment industry, but, is it put into right use? I don’t think so. I am a Netflix and chill guy, yes, on my day off I would love to hold a popcorn in my hand and watch ‘RRR’ and ‘Sarpatta Parambarai’, but these films go through a huge process for me to enjoy. Otherwise, the content that comes on OTT isn’t that great, I just run it in the background for some sound as I don’t want to be alone. These OTT and digital platforms have already ruined the English (Britain) film industry and more or less the west has also lost its roots to filmmaking. Indian cinema still has the chance to make wonders and win Oscars and that cannot be done with the OTT content produced,” Daniel Caltigarone shared.
Exclusive: Daniel Caltagirone On Thangalaan, Breaking Stereotypes And The Future of Indian Cinema
Time, music and content evolution
Kollywood has obviously evolved over the decades and multiple changes such as growth in terms of technology, production value, diverse narratives has caught on in the first place. However, the loss of original essence is reflected in the dissatisfaction of the audience. Just taking the films ‘Leo’, ‘Jailer’, ‘Maharaja’, ‘Vikram’, ‘Raayan’ among the recent releases, had similar or contradicting stories that were serious. But what exactly led to this? Was it the audience choice or did time change the way we watch content?
“I will choose ‘
Speaking to ETimes, Trade analyst Sreedhar Pillai said that not all films are focussed on action and violence. He said that the recently released movies ‘Vaazhai’ and ‘Lubber Pandhu’ are excellent and they are off beat contents that are performing well. “Kollywood has a tradition to have big hero films that have blood, revenge and violence because it requires mass masala. The top 5 heroes have an unsaid format to work on to make it a commercial hit because it works amongst the mass audience. The low-budget films are doing a good business with both theatres and OTT and we cannot narrow it down to only revenge and violence sustained in Tamil cinema to make it big,” he said.
He added, “The formats have to change and if you ask me that if there is a film like ‘Ghilli’ today that is made, it might not be a super hit as the audience’s mindset has also changed and how commercial they want it is also changed. If you ask me, I prefer ‘Ghilli’ over ‘GOAT’ and I would not say that ‘GOAT’ is the best ever film of Vijay that is made, and that is just my opinion.”
“I thought people would not enjoy a light-hearted film anymore.”:
The Tamil film ‘Thiruchitrambalam‘ was released in 2022 and the movie is a light-hearted comedy romance drama. Directed by Mithran Jawahar, it stars Dhanush and Nithya Menen in the lead roles and it is the same film that fetched the actress the National Award for Best Female Actor. The director said, “Trends keep changing every decade. In 1996, when Ajith ‘Kadhal Kottai’ was released, there were many films with similar titles that had ‘Kadhal’ in the name and were of the same romantic genre. Audience was attracted to it too much. But later their need was changed to action or something else. When I made ‘Thiruchitrambalam’ in 2022, I was skeptical and doubtful.”
Releasing a light-hearted romantic film at the time when ‘KGF’ and ‘Pushpa’ were peaking at the box office was not a choice the director freely took as he was worried about the reaction of the audience. “I was confused if the audience would enjoy it. But later I realised I should not underestimate them,” he added.
Thiruchitrambalam – Official Trailer | Dhanush | Sun Pictures | Anirudh | Mithran R Jawahar
The commercial quotient
Change is something constant and the change in trend is very common in cinema and it changes every generation. Answering the question that is it because actors don’t want to repeat working on the same entertaining genre that they had previously done to make it more commercially appealing, Sreedhar Pillai explained that time makes a lot of sense and quotient. “‘Ghilli’ was released in 2004 and it was one of the best commercial films that was made at the time. It has a powerful villain, a perfect story, best songs and nothing could beat it then. But it has been 20 years now and audiences are exposed to more cinema and they want more than just a ‘Ghilli’. Vijay was an emerging mass actor at that time and it made sense to do something like that then,” he said.
Rukshanth, a general audience speaking to us explained why he as a movie buff does not get excited with the exuding violence quotient in the movies. Rukshanth explained, “As a fan of every movie that is released in theatres, I would want to see a lot of different genres. Now taking the big hero films, to show a mass elevation and larger than life stories, many opt for violence thinking that only it can show the actor in limelight, which is a very uncertain way to keep the audience hooked.”
The big budget or the bg hero films focus on justice, social causes and equality and or either caste oppression, the small budget films still bring critical acclaims.While many still love films like ‘Jailer’ and ‘Raayan’, there are some audience who feel that they have watched enough gory on screen and are hoping for more films like ‘Mozhi’, ‘Good Night’, ‘Kalakallapu’.
