One thing I've noticed always when movies are being discussed, is a good movie gets discarded completely by a lot of critics because originality is missing. What's worse, the director gets bashed up because a script isn't original. The latest movie in this bandwagon, with respect to Tamil cinema, I've noticed, is Mayakkam Enna, which has a strong semblance to A Beautiful Mind. I do not get the point of bashing the director up for that. For one, I could see both movies in their own light, and they hold their own proud place under the arclights!
Firstly, something which many people do not understand is, direction is about making actors act. It is NOT about writing a new script! Therefore, a copied or used script does not make an individual a bad director! PERIOD. In Indian cinema, for some reason, story and screenplay is intricately associated with direction. Gone are the days when directors were given adulation for just their director's touch, now a director is blamed for using stories, and sometimes even other factors. K.Balachander, a director I admire totally, and so will every Tamil movie buff who enjoys quality cinema, was one who could make get the emotions out of even a stone. I was particularly impressed with this line in Wikipedia which said, over the 70s, into the 80s, Kamal Haasan played De Niro to Balachander's Scorcese. KB and Kamal were an actor-director combination par excellence, because KB knew what exactly he wanted out of every frame, and there was no way sure as hell, that Kamal could goof up on even a single expectation of KB's. If only he did something different, it tended to be better than even expected! Testimonies in time stand Apoorva Ragankal, Aval Oru Thodarkathai, Varumaiyin Niram Sigappu, Avargal, Manmadha Leelai, Maro Charitra, Ek Duje Ke Liye, Unnal Mudiyum Thambi among others. Well, many of these scripts were inspired, some of them heavily, and a few of them remakes too, but each one of them stood out, and are considered strong pillars of Tamil cinema. For the fact, Kamal's biggest role, Velu Nayakar in Nayakan, though is based on Velu Mudaliar of the Bombay underworld, is a strong strong base in part of Don Vito Corleone, the Godfather! Another of his roles which won him a lot of acclaim, Avvai Shanmugi was almost a direct rip-off Mrs.Doubtfire, but nevertheless, he kicks Robin Williams' portrayal of the role. Getting back to KB, Thillu Mullu, widely considered one of Tamil cinema's best comedies, was a remake of a Hindi movie Gol Maal, but KB made it the way he wanted to see it, and it is by far a more successful venture than the original.
Again it is not that I am against the concept of having new storylines in cinema. It is definitely a necessity for any industry to stay running. But, it is unfair to outright disown somebody because his body of work isn't completely original! I mean, I'd prefer someone like A.L.Vijay whose movies are almost always inspired from some other film, but does a very good work with the direction, rather than someone like Perarasu, whose films are always original, but heaploads of bullshit, which doesn't give me any excitement to watch.
P.S: One of my posts these days definitely has to be about how I've totally started liking the kind of cinema Dhanush does. Simbu, though very talented, now has loads to learn from his rival, seriously!
Firstly, something which many people do not understand is, direction is about making actors act. It is NOT about writing a new script! Therefore, a copied or used script does not make an individual a bad director! PERIOD. In Indian cinema, for some reason, story and screenplay is intricately associated with direction. Gone are the days when directors were given adulation for just their director's touch, now a director is blamed for using stories, and sometimes even other factors. K.Balachander, a director I admire totally, and so will every Tamil movie buff who enjoys quality cinema, was one who could make get the emotions out of even a stone. I was particularly impressed with this line in Wikipedia which said, over the 70s, into the 80s, Kamal Haasan played De Niro to Balachander's Scorcese. KB and Kamal were an actor-director combination par excellence, because KB knew what exactly he wanted out of every frame, and there was no way sure as hell, that Kamal could goof up on even a single expectation of KB's. If only he did something different, it tended to be better than even expected! Testimonies in time stand Apoorva Ragankal, Aval Oru Thodarkathai, Varumaiyin Niram Sigappu, Avargal, Manmadha Leelai, Maro Charitra, Ek Duje Ke Liye, Unnal Mudiyum Thambi among others. Well, many of these scripts were inspired, some of them heavily, and a few of them remakes too, but each one of them stood out, and are considered strong pillars of Tamil cinema. For the fact, Kamal's biggest role, Velu Nayakar in Nayakan, though is based on Velu Mudaliar of the Bombay underworld, is a strong strong base in part of Don Vito Corleone, the Godfather! Another of his roles which won him a lot of acclaim, Avvai Shanmugi was almost a direct rip-off Mrs.Doubtfire, but nevertheless, he kicks Robin Williams' portrayal of the role. Getting back to KB, Thillu Mullu, widely considered one of Tamil cinema's best comedies, was a remake of a Hindi movie Gol Maal, but KB made it the way he wanted to see it, and it is by far a more successful venture than the original.
Again it is not that I am against the concept of having new storylines in cinema. It is definitely a necessity for any industry to stay running. But, it is unfair to outright disown somebody because his body of work isn't completely original! I mean, I'd prefer someone like A.L.Vijay whose movies are almost always inspired from some other film, but does a very good work with the direction, rather than someone like Perarasu, whose films are always original, but heaploads of bullshit, which doesn't give me any excitement to watch.
P.S: One of my posts these days definitely has to be about how I've totally started liking the kind of cinema Dhanush does. Simbu, though very talented, now has loads to learn from his rival, seriously!
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