Once upon a time, something happened to someone in some place. This might be the basic outline of any story regardless of the medium in which it is told. But when the box office success of a Tamil film is measured -be it a short or a feature film - besides the role of actors, director, and music, it is a solid screenplay that matters the most.
"The narratives of most movies fall into the three-act structure of introduction, mid-point, and climax, which is a format that seldom changes. But, what matters is how efficiently a director uses the times slots to tell the story," says filmmaker Ram D, who directed 'Mundasupatti'.The Tamil short film was later developed into a feature film.
Though short films can be remade into feature films and vice versa, the grammar of both genres varies significantly. G Dhanajayan, film producer and founder of BOFTA film institute, says some directors fail to understand the grammar of short films, which eventually gives them trouble while penning the screenplay. "For a filmmaker there are budget constraints and the need to appeal to an audience, which likes masala movies, while planning the screenplay," he says.
Film critic and cartoonist Madhan seconds the opinion, saying filmmakers need to up the emotional quotient (EQ) to make the script appealing.
Expectations are riding high on short filmmakers who make feature films as they often produce divergent films. Films with genres like crime-comedy, political-satire and romantic-thriller along with complex screenplays were delivered by short film directors like Karthik Subbaraj and Nalan Kumarasamy.
But, making a short film long is not easy. In short films experimenting with a screenplay and technical elements are done at ease owing to a niche audience and creative freedom. But directors while turning it into a feature film find it difficult as they have to expand the narrative, deal with more characters in the plot, have the ability to convince the producer and look after the commercial aspects as well.
Despite the popularity of hero-centric scripts, avant-garde 'Aaranya Kaandam' (by films like Thiagarajan Kumararaja) have been successfully experimented from time-to-time in Tamil cinema. The film with stunningly unpredictable story and a screenplay was the first in Tamil to be made in neo-noir genre. Iconoclastic filmmakers of this genre break the principles in a screenplay and explore non-narrative forms in filmmaking, which has paved a way for postmodern Tamil cinema.
But 'Aaranya Kaandam' is an exception. Feature filmmakers have a greater space of responsibility as the genre doesn't always give space for experimentation. "It is almost impossible to employ guerrilla filmmaking in feature films as the film has to pass various radars like censor board, unions, and budget. Besides, it can't be self-indulgent as it caters to a wider audience,” Dhanajayan says. Filmmaker SU Arun Kumar, however says he doesn't see much of a difference when short filmmakers make feature films.
"Making short films is a learning process. Only a few get to learn from their movies and other assistant directors learn through observation. What you learn from your previous movies and how smartly you handle your crew, screenplay and actors is all that is required," he opines.