KOLLYWOOD'S URBAN MAKEOVER

KOLLYWOOD'S URBAN MAKEOVER

A young breed of directors in Kollywood is catering to Gen Y and Gen X, as CT finds out

Sunayana Suresh

Tamil filmmakers are looking beyond the rustic locales of Madurai and Theni and searching their own backyard for stories. With a rise in the number of Chennaibased filmmakers, Kollywood has of late seen a steady increase in movies that chronicle urban life.
While last week itself saw the release of two such films, there are more on the cards. Sample this: upcoming films like 3, Panithuli, Kadhal 2 Kalyanam and Oru Kal Oru Kannadi too will show audiences a slice of city life.
As a result, Kollywood's getting a makeover of sorts, with characters depicting urban roles. Balaji Mohan, the filmmaker who did the recently-released Siddharth-starrer, says, "It always comes as a package. Earlier, when films like Paruthiveeran and Subramaniapuram released, many others followed suit. It always takes a bunch of filmmakers to bring about the wave."
Natty Kumar, who has directed Panithuli, is one of them. He says, "We chose to focus this film on the life of a software engineer because this is what the young Chennai crowd most identifies with. We have had makers like Gautham Menon and Mani Ratnam, who showcase shades of urban life. But these are sporadic representations. The audience is aware of the urban lifestyles, even in the small towns. But, only a few films touch upon this aspect."
The year's first blockbuster, Nanban, showcased the young, trendy side of life and more and set to follow suit. Talking about why the audience laps up such 'urban cinema' Milind Rau, who's directing Kadhal 2 Kalyanam, says, "With Hollywood films beind dubbed into Tamil, the sensibilities of the audience have changed. They are more open to urban concepts. So, urban cinema is taking off."
Affirming the same view, Balaji says, "Audiences in Trichy or Madurai can relate to the urban views of love and relationships just the same way as the audience in Chennai." An added bonus to this fresh, young take on subjects is also because the directors come young and understand the target audience.
Rajesh, who has the Chennai-based Oru Kal Oru Kannadi readying for release, says, "The fact that the film industry is driven by students as an important chunk of its audience is one of the major factors. They are exposed to technology and the Internet, which makes it a challenge to cater to their fast-paced lives. This is one reason why there will be more such young takes on films and it is a trend that's here to stay."

A still from Kadhal 2 Kalyanam

A still from
Panithuli

A still from Oru Kal Oru Kannadi