Horror’s passé, directors eye Tamil games for hits

Whether it is history, language, culture, politics or science, metaphors associated with Tamil identity and pride have always found screenspace in Kollywood. Over the years, filmmakers have blended these metaphors into their films to ignite a feeling of pride among the masses. And their efforts have paid off. Kamal Haasan-starrer ‘Thevar Magan’ (1992) that spoke about caste patriarchy in the state, ‘Sangamam’ (1999) that pitched for an equal status for Tamil folk music and dance forms and ‘Kattradhu Tamil’ (2007) that spoke about the relegated status of Tamil language in modern society are a few to name.

Films on

Tamil pride games

are a recent addition to the list. Upcoming movies like Atlee Kumar’s ‘Mersal’ starring Vijay, Vijay Sethupathi-starrer ‘Karuppan’, P G Muttiah’s ‘Muthurai Veeran’, Ameer’s ‘Santhana Devan’ and ‘Vennila Kabbadi Kuzhu 2’ based on Tamil pride games jallikattu and kabaddi are slated to be released soon.

While films like ‘Ghilli’ (2004) and ‘Aadukalam’ (2011) were based on games like kabaddi and cockfight, the plots focused more on the protagonist’s passion for the sport than the issue of Tamil pride. While reports say the upcoming batch of films will cater to the latter, critics say the trend was triggered by the political unrest in the state following the death of chief minister J Jayalalithaa.

"The Supreme Court’s ban on jallikattu in 2014 forced me to question why Tamils have no freedom to enjoy their cultural game. I was also afraid that the future generation may not know about jallikattu if the ban is enforced. I started writing the script for ‘Sandhana Devan’ in an effort to record the history of the ancient game for my future generations," says director Ameer.

Critics say the jallikattu protest on Marina in January this year has been a huge influence on filmmakers.

Film critic V M S Subagunarajan calls these events ‘iconic’ and views them as mediums to connect with the audience. "Showcasing normal lives of people is boring. Filmmakers thus pepper their plots with elements like Tamil pride, sentiments or fantasy to make them more interesting," he says.

He says while socio-political issues are mostly used by filmmakers to produce box-office hits, in many cases they help build political careers of actors. "Movies based on linguistic and cultural pride act as a medium for actors to convey their ideologies and political agenda," Subagunarajan says.

Film historian Vamanan feels linguistic attachment is natural for an audience and filmmakers who have grown up watching cinema which has a pronounced dramatic, rather than visual thrust. "It’s not about putting the language first. It is about the filmgoer putting his own identity first," he says.

He says because of the political vacuum that was created in the state following the death of Jayalalithaa, the language and culture affiliation is being played up in an exaggerated manner. "These movies may potentially resonate with people who were part of the protest and have an emotional attachment to the hyped-up Tamil identity," he adds.

An array of films are being made on Tamil culture and heritage, including six on jallikattu, but would the audience be interested to watch all of them? "We have to wait and watch," says G Dhanajayan, film producer and founder of BOFTA film Institute. "There was a time when a lot of horror-comedies were being made. People chose to watch some of them that were well-made. Similarly, movies on Tamil pride games will be watched if they are really good and resonate with the people’s sentiments."

Vamanan, however, says there are chances that facts will get distorted when numbers (of movies) are more. "Exaggerated notions about Tamil pride can be purveyed and facts about the historic past get distorted in a bid to satisfy filmgoers by pandering to contemporary notions of political correctness."

Political analyst Sumanth Raman says even though the films on jallikattu are products of protest that sought to redress the injustice done to Tamils, they may not create any major political impact in the state. "In the past movies like Kannathil Muthamital and Kuruthipunal spoke about various issues related to Tamils, but their socio-political impact was negligible," he adds.

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