Is it a usual press article to have a controversial title to garner more views/ TV program to induce more TRP's, none either.I believe some other names would have garnered more views than this title.Let me clarify this thing:I love this director and his movies, they have changed the face of tamil cinema for some time and Indian cinema of late, increased the budget size of tamil movies, widened the market of tamil cinema, brought cutting edge technology to kodambakkam and have made many superheroes of ordinary guys.
Wiki says the following-Shankar was born on August 17, 1963 in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, India to Muthulakshmi and Shanmugam. He completed a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from Central Polytechnic College Tharamani, before entering film industry.
So why the title?
Most of the directors who have come from their gurus have followed the path set by their guru directors in the style of film making,Director Bala from Balu Mahendra,Vetrimaran,Ameer from Bala,Sasikumar from Ameer,many have followed/aligned themselves to the philosophy of their gurus, its but a coincidence that they go to the style of filmmaker which they agree upon or mould themselves to that category.Bala could have made commercial potboilers had he tutored under K S Ravikumar, but we would have lost gem of tamil movies like Sethu,Nanda,Pithamgan.This guy our blog post hero, tutored under SA Chandrasekar who had his own way of making movies,this guy broke the mould and entered the filmdom with his first movie-Gentleman.
Next was Kaadhalan, which established dancer Prabhudeva in his unforgettable role and SPB as unconventional dad, it had all his usual elements,Vadivelu comedy track,Rahman+Vairamuthu combo and technical brilliance,it was a love story told in the backdrop of politics.Movie had a good run at the box office.
Then came the landmark-Indian which fetched Kamal his National Award, movie was grandeur at its best, Kappaleri Poyachu song had over a thousand junior artistes and movie also had pre-independance footage-all the usual elements and movie was a blockbuster and dealt Corruption in India in its very own way. After this was this guy started to hike the budget for reason that money was available.and there is where I thought of this blog title.
Jeans, this did not have a good run like his previous movies, For a song, seven wonders were shown.I mean to ask when you have a plot to show seven wonders or the story goes there-fine but why do you go to seven wonders only for the reason that you have a producer giving money.Amritraj who produced the movie never returned to producing any Indian movie after this- could be due to logistical/financial issues.you had a twins story happening in USA, and Miss World as an actress in this role, movie did not do good and dint even have any message, of course it had all his usual technical finesse at its best.Jeans was a thumbs down from a person who gave memorable movies like Indian,Gentleman.You expect a centum from a guy who scored 95 and not 60 marks.news was that Ajith was approached for this role.
Then came the blockbuster only of one of his movies produced by him in his own directorial ventures-Mudhalvan.Rajini was approached for this role but fate had to happen with Arjun who did a memorable role and movie was a hit.Songs+Scenes+Comedy+Action everything in right proportions and dealt a blow to governance issues in our country.Here in started experiments with songs, where huge sunflowers and yellow paint was used for a song, it provides immense employment to junior artistes and sceptics are that if the producer is there to finance the movie and movie runs what the heck, but with this same money, 5 good movies could have been produced.1-2 crores is spent on such lavish sets and songs which when combined could provide financing to many small budget movie.I meant to ask if the movie warrants such expensiveness- its completely acceptable when you have a scene involving a dinosaur in a Jurassic Park you cant but have a crocodile, spend on it, but when your story is a romance angle between here and heroine why do you bring a dinosaur.
Then happened Hindi Nayak which was a flop over there and then Boys movie.The movie was so ahead of the times but it had all usual youth elements and captured the state of the youth correctly.But the movie did not have a good run at the box office unlike his previous ones.It drew ire from parents and society which expected socially sensitive movies from him.One great thing about Shankar's movies is that even movies which are not hits tend to be good technically and not that bad either.They suffered at the box office for no fault of this guy who tend to overwork and over deliver in his movies.Hardworking and does tremendous amount of research in his movies.
Then happened Anniyan,Sivaji,Endhiran and Nanban.So why do I find fault?.Anniyan was an brilliant movie about multiple personality disorder and catapulted Vikram in the big league.There were some unwarranted scenes where a mountain was painted,roads painted for a song.Why do you fret over only small scenes when the overall end product is so good,Yes all of his movies are so good.This 5-10 crores which are overspent is not ordinary money and could go in production of atleast 2 good small budget movies.Return on Investment for Shankar's movies is all but going to be the same sans the expensive songs, but we get 3 good movies at the same cost.Rumors were that real Mercedes were used during Endhiran stunts and close to 1 crore was wasted on 3 cars, I am not sure whether its true but if its true, then its really bad.Endhiran had lots of graphics and the movie needed it and yes such money is needed to hike the quality output of the movie.
I least expected a guy of Shankar's stature to do remakes for here was a guy who thrived so much in original screenplay and movies of his own.But kudos to the guy who took it as a challenge and proved everyone wrong, and if not for bus, here you had fully painted train.Phew......you had a glass bus in Kadhalan made by Thota Tharani for a song which costed 10lacs during that time.
Interesting locales have been shown in songs-Guggenheim Museum in Spain, Asku Laska song, Oru Koodai sunlight song, Yes tamil movies and songs have historically been on expensive sets/foreign locations for no reason whatso-ever why you sir when your story is so very different and meaningful than others?
All izz well Shankar(except the expensive songs:))
