One can witness an interesting trend emerge in Tamil Cinema!!!.

For the last 3-5 years, we have seen the following:

1.       Better budgets and more spending

2.       Technical brilliance

3.       Better sense of fashion and clothing in films – again not by all films

4.       Better scripts and an effort to make good offbeat films

5.       Well– Many directors becoming actors – well opinions vary on this

6.       The unacceptable nature of bad masala movies made by so called Big Image Stars –This has been a Welcome change by the urban and semi rural people

Let us look at the Term Commercial or what people like to call it Formulistic Cinema….Ah well defined term for a film that defies logic, mass appeal to the Hero, an introduction song for the Hero, one villan who looks ugly or like a ghost, heroine for song and dance, the film revolves under one sentiment – mother, sister or a social cause whereby the hero stands by it, baseless fight scenes.

This has been the way for Tamil Cinema….where during the days of MGR , the concept of introducing the Hero,dialogues which made either a statement and or which were politically inclined were conceived.

If one looked at certain old commercial films, we could also see certain aspect which was shot real and in natural environment and also the fight sequences which were being led by the script.

The concept of Commercial Cinema changed face and looks when Bharthiraja (the man credited to have taken cinemato the real locations) came with a purposeful commercial film called 16 Vayathinila.  The 70s and the 80s witnessed two big directors KB and Bharthiraja making films which were women oriented subjects where the female character of the films had a big substantial role to play. One could also witness certain bold themes made them.

The emergence of Balu Mahendra also bore witnessed to this fact. The man who took cinema beyond our shores to the entire South Indian public. I am sure people remember the scripts, films made by him and the screenplays which played a big part.

Again all in the Commercial Framework.

One should also hear the wording or the phrase used by local people – This film is a Bharthiraja film, KB film or the great Balu Mahendra Film.

Well here comes the 90s the wording used changed the style in which cinema was made – The film is a Rajini film, Kamal film, Vijayakanth film or any other hero..

The beginning of the big and illogical commercial entertainers had started. A film was characterized by an Hero Introduction, mass kuthu songs, one slow song, one sentiment factor which was vital, well the last one being the ending was always great and the hero triumphs.

The importance of dance choreography gained importance whereby a fast number proved to have a visual appeal to the people and also made sure the film garnered a hit from the masses.

Again one man changed the way Commercial Cinema was being perceived – The Midas Man Shankar….it was the beginning of big budgets, social cause themes (well he seemed to have overplayed that card now), technicality, script importance and one big introduction – Item song number which were made to be a part of the film.

I am not writing about Maniratnam in this article as I am going to bring him into context in another article.

This was an important step made by Shankar as this marked the beginning of the end for illogical formulistic films by so called Mass Heroes.

The year 2000 began in bits and pieces where small time directors were running around with scripts where the so called mass heroes did not cater to due to their image issues. It all changed when one director out of sheer outburst starred in his own script which proved to be defining moment as the film went to receive acclaim and this began the trend whereby directors also started acting in movies.

Still the image heroes were hellbent and did not do much to respect script nor screenplay. Ameer is another director whom I would like to mention – the director of Ram and Parthiveeran.He had received awards for his films in Cyrpus and London but no one noticed it. The strange way of Tamil Cinema Industry for not recognizing awards or real accomplishment.

As always one person who was making all the noise was Kamal Hassan and the other directors decided to join the fray and voice their concerns on offbeat and good films. The land which wrote Kambha Ramayana could not write a proper script lamented Kamal Hassan.

Cheran who echoed similar feelings brought out two great films in Autograph and thavamai thavamirundhu .

The audience who are the ultimate test started feeling the need of good films and most big image films started bombing at the box office. The offbeat good films with mostly low budgets started putting pressure on the Commercial formulistic films to apply the script and screenplay a little better.

Today the perception is changing slowly whereby the producer, director and the big wide audience feels making a Commercial film is even tougher than making an offbeat film.  The best example can be put for Vijay’s films(not written in bad taste for Vijay’s fans). The film  Villu which is not worth to be written about – in short where even a big image hero like Vijay could not save the movie. I saw the movie and it had taken me back in time say by 15 years.

We still have a long way to go by making good Commercial Cinema in all aspects but we have made a good start and need to capitalize on the same. The big image heroes need to start respecting scripts and screenplays a little better and not force the director or producer to change according to their image and fancies.

IN SHORT IT SHOULD BE “KADHAIKAGAKADHANAYAGAN” WHEREVER POSSIBLE.

The South super star, known for his solicitous performances in films like Rang de Basanti, Guru, Yuva (Tamil version), R. Madhavan is all set to try his hands on a bilingual supernatural thriller; BIG Pictures upcoming film “Yaavarum Nalam”, releasing on March 6^th, 2009.

Q1.  It’s been seen that you carefully select your films when it comes to the Hindi film Industry. So, after films like Rang de basanti & Mumbai Meri Jaan, why did you choose to do a super natural thriller like 13b?

You are very right about the first part; I am very selective about the stories I do in Hindi movies. This story Vikram, the director brought to me almost three and a half years ago as a shell. We’ve worked on it form there into what it is today. Vikram and I wanted to make a film for almost 7 years ago but, we never hit upon the right subject. I always believed he was an intelligent director and I didn’t want him to become a run of the mill one. Making a film that ran more on my ability to do histrionics than his ability to direct.

 

So, when three and a half years ago he came to me with this script, I realized that this is the film that I was salivating to do and we developed it over a period of time. That’s how I selected 13B which was initially only meant to be done in Tamil but when we went to Manmohan Shetty who was just foraying into Tamil film production, he said that the film had to made both in Hindi and Tamil because it’s almost international in nature.

Q2. You’ve played so many roles and come so far in your career .Why did it take so long to do a thriller (supernatural thriller)?

Whatever character that I have played before are very special and I don’t think they’ve been formulated after some one in terms of story or the characterization. So I was waiting for a similar window in a thriller as well.

 

I was also tired of the supernatural thrillers that relied more on the sound effects rather than the actual content to frighten the audience. These films that create visuals, sounds and ghosts that would make you jump out of your seat but not really frighten you to the core where you can feel fear. I didn’t want to do that, it’s very easy to wear some fangs and have some blood drip out of my mouth and make it all happen.

 

I wanted to do a film that chills you to the spine; sort of like ‘Sixth Sense’ but this is slightly better because this one does not have any visual ghosts or gore but still frightens you.

Q3. How did you meet Vikram and how was it working with him?

Vikram was one of the few directors from the Tamil industry who spoke the same language that I did. Coming from a fairly educated background, he has assisted Priyadarshan and he is also a National gold medal winner for his documentary ‘The Silent Scream’. I had a lot of faith in him from the time we met in Chennai during a shoot and he was in a tearing hurry to start a film but I didn’t want him to start right away. I wanted him to know the ropes of it all. He was a little distraught then as both of us being so close as friends could not pull of a film together. So I told him a good film can not be made so easily and now he understands. Now we have a film that is being made in two languages and he is the only director that has shot two languages simultaneously. And also he got a straight yes from everyone (producers) involved the first time they heard the script. It’s very difficult to get that for a new comer.

Q4. Have you done a bi-lingual film before? What’s the experience like doing the same shot in two languages? That too back to back?

This is the first bilingual that I have shoot back to back. And it’s horrifying because I am very particular about the fact that my Hindi should not have a hint of Tamil and my Tamil should not have a hint of Hindi. And nobody can do this because that’s a tough call, even if now I have to blow my own trumpet, I can say I can actually do that.

 

The only other guy who can do that I would say is Siddharth, apart from that others you can make out that they are not Hindi speaking actors. So that was the paranoia I carried through out the film. Thus I made sure there was an entire different cast for both languages as much as possible. Normal scenes were ok to do; we would do Tamil first so that the others could understand and replicate the same in Hindi.

 

But then there were scenes which only involved me like the climax, where I am just ranting and raving like a mad man and it all has to make sense because it’s not easy to switch between two languages. So my biggest victory was to pull that of as cleanly as possible. 

Q5. Vikram tells us that the main protagonist of this film is the television set. Your comments?

That’s absolutely true because that’s what we wanted to project. If there is a hero in the film that’s the TV and the heroin would be me as that’s the way the story goes. That’s how we positioned it, so it was never meant to be the hero comes out victorious in the end kind of film. It was meant to frighten you, it was meant to intrigue you and meant to make you think twice and that’s what it does so if I have to be the heroin in the film so be it.

Q6. Tell us about your role in 13b.

I can tell you how the story came about and goes with the synopsis of the film.

 

‘In today’s world of unrelenting pressures of challenged survivals and super fast lifestyles, one of the main sources of relief, information and entertainment is the TV. So much so that it has moved up from its modest position as just another appliance in everybody’s household, into one that determines the power equation in a family. In fact it’s easy to identify the hierarchy of a family depending on who controls the remote control.

So what happens if suddenly the TV realizes its power and decides to exercise control? What happens if instead of showing you the facts it shows you what it wants you to see? What happens when Manohar, the hero of the film realizes that’s exactly whets happening to his family who just moved into their new house, 13b?

 

Now the TV has become such an omnipresent thing, more like a companion who they can’t live without. So we thought that what if the TV takes over your life and used that as the premise. Thus you can’t make out whether the TV is the hero or the villain in the movie.

Q7. What’s the chemistry with your co-star Neetu Chandra like, considering you were working with her for the first time?

 It was not the hero-heroin equation in the film so it was not about my chemistry with Neetu Chandra; it was about my chemistry with the TV. But it was fun working with her, she is very enthusiastic about the film, she did a great job in the film and so were others like Poonam delhion, Sachin Khedekar who have brought another dimension to their characters. So it worked out in a great way for us.

Q8. Do you believe that 13 is an unlucky number? If so, how intimidating it is to have the 13 factor as a central theme of your film?

I am not particularly superstitious. But I have to tell you it has been really strange. Every 13^th day of shoot there would be some disaster and we’d have to cancel the shoot. On the 13^th of every month the weather would play havoc with our shooting. There would be torrential rains or we would not be able to record. It played a huge role, things became so eerie, may be we became jumpy and started taking out meanings but it was really strange. There was no way we could shoot at 1300 hrs, because some disaster would strike. So we would start shooting at 12.55 pm and then resume at 1.55 pm.

Q9.  Any scary incidents you and the crew members had while shooting the film? 

I would rehearse with Vikram and PC before the entire unit would start coming in. By and large it used to be only three of us on that huge set. So I came in early one day because there was this one scene which was very important where I am supposed to see the TV turn on in the middle of the night. So I was rehearsing for that thinking that Vikram and PC are in the same vicinity. I didn’t know that I was the only guy. So I continued rehearsing the scene and kept asking that is the scene fine and ok and someone kept saying that it was a good or this ones better etc. And I could not see them as they were not in my eye line. So after some time when I got the scene right I walked out of the set I saw Vikram and PC coming in. I could not figure out till date who was there nodding and saying it was a great scene. And when I asked them they denied and said that don’t mess with me but then I confirmed with the production guy and he also confirmed that they had just walked in. So that was really weird.

 

Q10.  Do you believe in the supernatural phenomenon the film deals with?

I certainly believe in the theory that we have projected in the film that for a positive force to exist there has to be a negative force. So if there a god and a fairy there is an opposite negative force and if we go to a place like temple where we go to pray for a positive energy there has to be a place where it pours negative energy. So I believe that negative existence has to be there.

Q11. Have you had any personal experiences that are spooky or eerie that makes one think of the supernatural?

Yes I remember very clearly on the eve of one Christmas my wife and I were sleeping in the bed and she got up in the morning and said we’ve got to stop abusing nature those were her words. So I asked what happened and she said I had a horrible nightmare. She said that she believed that we had cut all trees and she was sitting in our house and she saw the whole sea rise up like the huge mountain and engulf the entire city she was in.

 

And she continued that she could feel the death and destruction and the  last thought was that how much we have abused nature. So I consoled her and told her that it’s called SUNAMI, as I had read about this long time ago. And the next day was charismas and I was suppose to go to the shoot and I was on way when she called me up and said its not spelled as SUNAMI it’s spelled as TSUNAMI. I said ok maybe and asked her why, what happened? And she said well it just hit Chennai. And I was supposed to shoot on the beach that day and she asked me to come back. So I believe as far as my wife is concerned that she saw something so clearly.

Q12. Do you know anyone whose birthday is on Friday the 13^th of Feb or March this year?

No but that would be eerie.

Q13. Do you know anyone who lives at a 13B?

No but I think I got to start looking out for it now.

Q14. Vikram tells us that post working on this film, the number 13B or 13 keeps finding him. He spots it randomly on a daily basis. Any such occurrences with you?

This is happening only with Vikram, I am trying to consciously avoid it. This is happening more predominantly with Vikram. And he clearly thinks that these are signs. So now that the film is releasing on the 6^th of March we are trying to avoid the 13^th  I guess?.

 

Q15. Generally a scared expression is best when you’re caught off guard.. How do you manage to get the right face even after knowing the whole story and after several takes?

 

I am not a method actor or anything; I just go by my instincts. I kind of project for example that if I am dragging an animal up on the stairs how would I react. I wouldn’t like to be too close to it and also have a strong grip on it. So I think I go instinctively on all my scenes relating to a life experience.

 

Q16. When were you exposed to stuff like ghosts or demons etc? Most kids are told ghost stories or frightened with monsters in the dark... Did you have stories like that as a child?

My parents were very particular that I would not hear these stories. Our society is such that we dwell on negative stories. That’s not very good for the kids because they do get nightmares and get scared. So I would really recommend parents not to expose their kids to fear so early in life. I was unlucky as I was made to listen to these stories by maybe maids or nannies. So I would be afraid of the dark sometimes when there is really no need to be.

Q17. Do you read thrillers (Alfred Hitchcock)? Did you read such content as a kid?

Not a fan of the reading.

Q18. What are your favorite Thrillers, any supernatural thriller that really spooks you?

Sixth sense was a brilliant film and freaked me out. Omen and Exorcist also. But I am not a big fan of The Saw and films like that which show allot of gore... that’s not my kind of entertainment.

Q19. Thrillers are generally seen as a one time watch. Do you think 13B is the same, or would it be something people can go back to over and over again?

It’s like sixth sense. I could assure you that no one  in the theatre would have the gumption to get up and say I don’t want to see or tell me what is going to happen next. I think till interval the kind of intrigue that we end up creating is at par or better that any international film that I have seen. That’s why I would like to come back and see if that I have been lied to in the first of the film. Then you would realize that there is a connection with every scene in the second part and for academic purposes people would see that it’s finely tuned and see that all the answers are there in the first half. So, yeah you’d want to watch it again to figure it out.

 

Q20. What’s the kind of audience (age etc?) you anticipate for this film?

I don’t think there is a barricade. I think it will get the U/A certificate because of the supernatural and horror. But by and large I think anyone who is of legitimate age would enjoy the film.

Q21. Any instances with Harry (the dog), that were particularly interesting?

I love animals I always had a pet since childhood. And I am part of PETA. I get really upset if they are treated badly. As far as the dog in the film is concerned he was more of the star on the sets than I was, it was fun and he was an obedient dog and well trained too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A heart to heart rendezvous with Vikram K. Kumar where he talks about his next directorial venture; BIG Picture’s supernatural Thriller ‘Yaavarum Nalam’ and his passion for films. Vikram who has won a national award for his short film 'Silent Screen' has been an assistant director to the applauded filmmaker Priyadarshan. Two films old Vikram has also directed a Telugu film 'Ishtam' (produced by Ramoji Rao) and a Tamil film 'Alai' with Simbu & Trisha.

 

1. What is 13B all about? How do you describe the film as its director?

13B is a supernatural thriller. It’s a story that is never been told before. It took me almost two years to write this script and the outcome is above my expectations so much so that I can proudly say it will be considered amongst the best supernatural thriller so far.

 

2. What made you cast Madhavan in the lead? How do you describe his character, Manohar?

My film is a bilingual so I needed an actor who was not only at par performance wise but also someone who was comfortable with both Tamil and Hindi. I had to shoot the Tamil version and the Hindi version simultaneously, Maddy (Madhavan) switched between the languages without rehearsals making my task simpler and faster. And the story of the film progresses along with the Manohar (Maddy’s character) and I could not have asked for a better actor than him to portray this role.

 

3. There were rumors about Kareena being paired opposite Madhavan in the film, is that true? Did you approach her? Why did you choose Neetu finally?

No. No, not at all (laughs off). Kareena was never even considered forget about approaching her.

And as far as Neetu is concerned, I saw her film Traffic Signal and thought she acted really well. But most importantly Neetu is very versatile in terms of her looks. She can look a glamorous dame and a simple, down to earth house wife, both at the same time. That’s what her character Priya is all about in the movie.

 

 

4. Will the music of the film also be bilingual? How easy is it to work on music for a thriller? How was it working with Shankar-Ehsan-Loy?

Yes the music is also going to be bilingual. The composition is the same for both the versions but they have totally different lyrics.

There were no such challenges as such but the main difficulty we faced was selecting tracks which would appeal to both Hindi and Tamil audiences. And Shankar-Ehsan-Loy has done a wonderful job at composing and creating a perfect sound track for this bilingual film.

5. Why did you choose to mark your Hindi debut with a supernatural thriller than a commercial masala film? Do you think the era of formula films is over?

You can see these Hollywood super natural’s being dubbed in Indian languages and working out really well. Horror is not a niche genre and even my film is an out an out commercial film made for all, even kids would enjoy it as it’s not over the top scary.

As for Masala films, I believe that they are the face of the Bollywood. They can never go out of fashion and will always be one formula that never fails if made tastefully.

6. What are your favorite supernatural thrillers? Did any particular film/director inspire you while making 13B?

I love watching supernatural thrillers and watched all the classic ones. But 13B is an original creation and not been picked up or inspired by any Hollywood film.

7. How superstitious are you? Do you believe 13 is an unlucky/superstitious number as stated in your film's title?

Not really and 13 as a number in a way fascinates me and comes out as an interesting factor. I don’t find anything unlucky or scary about the number but I find it spooky. Since the film has started the number has somehow become a part of my everyday life and I pray it eventually proves to be lucky.

8. While shooting thrillers, many times the cast and crew experiences strange incidents, did you meet with the same?

 Noting that I remember of. We never really had any horror experiences but the funny part was that almost halfway through the film there were lot of news pieces and articles that me and my crew members started coming across which become quite regular. I wish I could have incorporated few of those interesting ones in my film.

9. What is your next project after 13B? What kind of a film are you looking forward to directing next? Any dream cast?

 There are seven to eight stories that I already have in my hand which are ready to be taken to the next step. I love experimenting so for me by the time I am 60 years, I would want to have made everything, some Masala flicks, couple of action packed films, few comedies and a handful of children films. Also I wish to work with all the good actors this country has to offer.

10. You have worked with Priyadarshan, who is known for his comedy but recently did a supernatural thriller himself, Bhool Bhulaiya. Did you exchange any notes? Did he share some tips?

Well Bhool Bhulaiya was a mixture of humor and supernatural somewhere which is a tough combination to achieve. And Priyadarshan succeeded beautifully to achieve that. Unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to see him in the past one and half years to discuss all this.

11. How was it collaborating with BIG Pictures? How much of the creative liberty you got working with them?

For a director it can not get any bigger than BIG Pictures. With all the finance meltdown happening worldwide, BIG was more than cooperative and there was all the freedom I needed to make my film the way I wanted it to be. They are a bunch of fun and creative people who I would feel honored to be associated with at any given time.

 

12. What are your hobbies apart from making good cinema?

I write all the time, stories, scripts, dialogues. Sometimes there is this just one perfect line that leads me to a story and that makes my day.

And one more thing; let me tell you if I would not be a director I would have been a chef. I a home trained cook but I relish cooking and I do that in my free time for my family.

Satyait Ray has received Academy Honorary Award (A special Award for the contribution to the World Cinema, in 1992). This award has been given to the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Walt Disney, Robert Redford, Warner Bros, Deborrah Kerr among others; so i guess that makes it really special.

Bhanu Athaiya shared an Oscar with John Mollo for the movie "Gandhi" (1982) in Costume Design category. She won it, whereas Ray was awarded.

The music maestro A R Rahman has become the first Indian composer to scoop 2 Oscars for his music in "Slumdog Millionaire". He got his first Oscar for Best Original Score and second for Best Original Song "Jai Ho..."

Resul Pookutty won the Oscar for best sound mixing along with Ian Tapp and Richard Pryke for "Slumdog Millionaire".

A.R made every Indian proud by winning Oscars last night. We would like to congratulate Slumdog team for its great achievement.