THE '80S ARE BACK! in K-town :TOI

THE '80S ARE BACK!

K-town filmmakers are increasingly trying to cash in on the '80s craze for film subjects

M Suganth

Blame it on Billa. The success of the 2007 film, which was a remake of the Rajinikanth-starrer released in the 1980, hinted that remakes from commercial entertainers of the past could lead to box office gold. And then, in 2008, came Sasikumar's Subramaniapuram, a trendsetting movie set in the '80s that made the entire era cool for the current generation. Suddenly, almost every filmmaker directing a rural subject began to use Ilaiyaraaja songs from that time as a cultural touchstone in their films. As for the films themselves, post Billa, we got the remakes of Maapillai, Malayoor Mambattiyaan and Murattukalai over the last few years, though neither of these films could really enjoy the success of the Ajith film. Still, movies from the '80s have become the in-thing for K-Town's filmmakers today. Currently, close to half-a-dozen projects based on films from the '80s (and the late '70s) are in various stages of production in the Tamil film industry.
While Rajinikanth's Thillu Mullu is being remade with Shiva (of Tamizh Padam fame) in the lead, a remake of Vijayakanth's Sattam Oru Iruttarai is also under production. And, talks are on to remake Mani Ratnam's Agni Natchathiram with the sons of Karthik and Prabhu, the original film's heroes. In addition to Thillu Mullu, veteran filmmaker K Balachander's daughter Pushpa Kandasamy is also trying to come up with a modern-day version of her dad's 1976 film Manmadha Leelai, which had Kamal Haasan playing a womanizer. Talking on these remakes, the producer had earlier told us, "Manmadha Leelai and Thillu Mullu were trendsetters in their particular genres. The themes of the films are not time-bound and will make sense to today's audience. We will retain the essence of the theme, but spin around a new tale." Meanwhile, grapevine is abuzz that Udhayanidhi Stalin has bought the remake rights of Aan Paavam, and will have Santhanam and himself in the roles played by Pandian and Pandiyarajan. Interestingly, Santhanam's debut as a producer, Kanna Laddu Thinna Aasaiya, is said to be a modernday take on K Bhagyaraj's cult comedy Indru Poi Naalai Vaa. There are also rumours that the production house behind one of Kamal Haasan's biggest commercial entertainers, Sagalakala Vallavan, is planning to remake the film and wants Suriya to reprise the Ulaganayagan's role. In addition to these, we also have Meendum Pudhiya Paadhai, R Parthepan's sequel to his National Award-winning debut film Pudhiya Paadhai, and, Manivannan and Sathyaraj's political satire, which is sequel of sorts to Amaidhi Padai (released in the early '90s). Looks like it is back to the future for Kollywood!

HOT ON THE REMAKE TRAIL

Thillu Mullu

Sattam Oru Iruttarai

Agni Natchanthiram

Manmadha Leelai

Sagalakala Vallavan

Aan Paavam

Indru Poi Naalai Vaa

Pudhiya Paadhai

Amaidhi Padai

Aan Paavam

Indru Poi Nallai Vaa

Manmadha Leelai

Thillu Mullu

Pudhiya Varpugal

Pudhiya Padhai

Agni Natchathiram

Sagalakala Vallavan