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The big test

Shobha Warrier

A still from Sasanam. Click for bigger pic!

Tamil cinema has never been known for experimental excesses. But efforts are on to change that, at least on the part of the National Film Development Corporation.

The stories in Tamil cinema, however dramatic in content, however slick in backdrop, have rarely beyond the themes of love and revenge. And that is what NFDC hopes to change.

Of course, the Corporation was set up just to develop and promote artistically-made films, which otherwise would have had no backing. To its credit, it has encouraged films by both raw as well as established names, the big ones including Satyajit Ray, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Shyam Benegal, Shaji Karun, etc. Such films have helped NFDC make some profits, when their films figured in international film festivals and were telecast on foreign television channels.

While the mainstream films made in Kannada or Bengali or Malayalam were not as technically sound or nationally acceptable as those in Tamil Nadu, but they all made their point in experimental cinema.

Charu Hasan directing IPC 215. Click for bigger pic!

Of recent times, musicians and art directors from the Tamil industry have been contributing a lot to the Indian film scene, in fact more than the people in any other language. But artistic recognition still eluded them. One film that did win a national award, Marupakkam, was made by the veteran Malayalam film-maker, K S Sethumadhavan. And that film too was an NFDC production.

And now, NFDC is coming up with two more movies in Tamil.

Shooting for one of them, Sasanam, directed by J Mahendran (of Uthirippookkal fame) is over, and the film now lies on the editor's table. And the other, IPC 215, directed by Charuhasan, is nearing completion.

While Sasanam has a big star cast, boasting names like Arvind Swamy, Gauthami, Ranjitha, etc, IPC 215 is a low budget NFDC production with unknown actors -- other than veteran actor Jayashankar -- playing all the major roles.

NFDC deputy general manager Parameswaran said of Sasanam, "It isn't that NFDC produces only films that have no stars in them. In Rudaali, we had Dimple Kapadia. Madhuri Dixit too acted in an NFDC production. In Ambedkar, there was Mammootty playing the title role too.

"The fact is, most famous and established stars like to act in this kind of film once in a while. See, they know that if they want recognition, they have to act in our kind of film. But we can't, and don't, give them the kind of money they get from commercial productions," he says.

A still from Sasanam. Click for bigger pic!

Parameswaran says the NFDC just aims to produce good films.

"We describe a film as good from the audience's point of view and not from the film-maker's point of view. In the films we produce, we look for a good story and a balanced treatment with no exaggeration of events and sequences. We want our films to communicate."

While the general impression is that NFDC productions don't get released at regular theatres and are usually non-profitable, the truth is that they have a success rate of 35 per cent in terms of returns. Commercial films in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu have a success rate of only 15 per cent.

A still from IPC 215. Click for bigger pic!

Sasanam is about a unique custom prevalent in the families of the Nattukkottai Chettiars. If a family does not have a male member, they don't hesitate to adopt even a grown up boy. The story is about the entry of a young woman and her grandmother into the happily married family of Arvind Swamy and Gauthami. The young woman gets pregnant with the hero's child but the complications start only after the main heroine's death.

There are even songs and dances, but of the classical variety, Bharat Natyam and Kuchipudi, since the young woman is a dancer. IPC 215 though runs a more experimental line, with no extras in for the public. It will be more interesting since it lacks big star names and since there is little or no compromise in its treatment.

NFDC plans to release both movies at regular theatres, like any other commercial film. This, says Parameswaran, to find out how the people of Tamil Nadu will react to them.

It could be a shock to some Tamil film lovers who have made a habit of films with songs, dances, melodrama, violence and a moralistic message planted at the end to assuage any guilt there could be.

Commercial film producers argue that their formula films are for entertainment alone and so cannot be clubbed along with other creative work like painting or sculpture.

So it is indeed a big test for NFDC, to see if the Tamil filmgoer could want beyond what they've been getting to date. And Parameswaran has his fingers crossed.