No wonder the 1970s and 80s are thought to represent ‘the golden age of Tamil cinema’, during which filmmakers such as K Balachander, Bharathiraja, Balu Mahendra and C Rudhraiya gave us path-breaking, female-centric movies like Aval Oru Thodarkadhai, Avargal, Thanneer Thanneer, Aval Appadithan and so on.
These films that featured female protagonists in strong roles, weren’t only critically-acclaimed, but also commercially successful. A sudden lull in such subjects followed during the late 90s, but are they back now? A clutch of ambitious projects — like Nayanthara’s Maya, Jyothika’s 36 Vayathinile and Trisha’s upcoming Nayaki, bear testimony to it. Directors like Sripriya and Lakshmy Ramakrishnan have also tried to break the mould, with movies like Malini 22 Palayamkottai and Ammani respectively.
Even Dhanush’s next production Amma Kanakku, which is an official remake of Nil Battey Sannata, falls under this cateogry, and stars Amala Paul and Revathy in crucial roles. With Women’s Day coming up, there is no better time to take a closer look at this!
Says Lakshmy Ramakrishnan, “In cinema, the importance of women is pretty much defined by the mindset of none. When I do a film, I do it with all my heart. I usually don’t believe in exaggerated box office figures. Also I don’t aim for any awards. Women filmmakers have more responsibility in bringing about a change in society that everybody wants to see.” She adds, “The truth is that heroine-oriented films here rarely get enough screens or a decent run at the box office. The market is flooded with hero-based films.”
However, Lakshmy also quickly points out that it all depends on the way one markets the film, irrespective of the genre it belongs to — “The day everyone makes an effort to flock to theatres and appreciate such movies, then we can see equality in the industry.”
Filmmaker Madhumita, who made Vallamai Thaarayo shares an incident — “I narrated a script to a popular hero from the neighbourhood state sometime ago. He loved the script but he didn’t want a woman to direct him!” she laughs and questions, “Do all women directors have to make women-oriented films? Why can’t one just be a filmmaker? I don’t want the film to be looked at as a ‘woman-made product’, but just a movie!”
Director Mohan Raja of Thani Oruvan fame admits that we do have a culture of hero-worship here and says he would love to direct a woman centric subject in future. “In fact, I am planning to do a film, which will have the industry’s top three heroines. The script is half done, but I don’t know when I’ll complete it,” he says. Raja adds, “It’s about how strong your content is. Filmmakers should retain their own style and strive to bring up on a change of attitude among the audience — by deviating from the conventional formula. In fact, there’s market for heroine-centric films, if the subject is good. I think that actresses are pretty open minded these days and are willing to do challenging roles.”
According to Arun Vaidyanathan of Achchamundu Achchamundu fame, the biggest challenge is to make quality films without getting boxed into one’s own identity. “It’s not easy. Tamil cinema has been going through a churn in the last two years,” he muses. The director also feels that the world of arts is a liberal zone, but the society is still not — “We are struck with the usual junk, but filmmakers like me keep pushing the envelope.” But he also added that the trend is changing gradually. “The routine masala have taken a bashing despite the big stars’ association with them.
Some new genres are creeping in, thankfully. Though I welcome the trend of making women-oriented films, I believe that films should have dignified heroines,” he tells us citing Kalyana Samayal Saadham as an example. He goes on, saying, “Take Kamal Haasan’s Sathi Leelavathi for example. It was a commercially successful film with solid roles for actresses Kovai Sarala, Heera and Kalpana. For me, a good film has to balance everything.”
