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Of hackneyed heroine characters!
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There
has been no film that has been able to so effectively
mock at the traditions and clichés in Tamil
cinema like Thamizh Padam has. That is something
that each one of us should have come to know by
now. Right from the big resounding clichés
present in the story and screenplay, like the
hero turning out to be an undercover cop or the
smaller ones that were deftly mocked at in the
‘intro’ song, like the dance master
wanting to dance with the hero or credit for having
sung the song being given to the hero upon his
request – the film mocked at just about
everything redundant and artificial in our movies
and we laughed along, not minding even if the
spoof was at the expense of our favorite star,
Rajini included (remember the signature scene
from Sivaji)
While it is thoroughly enjoyable and commendable
that someone found the courage and conviction
to stand up and tell Tamil cinema that it was
funny even when it did not intend to be so, there
are certain things about Thamizh Padam that stuck
to the time honored traditions in Tamil
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cinema.
What is that, you might ask. Well, for nearly half a
century Tamil cinema has been in the habit of importing
heroines from the North and from Kerala. There have
been quite a few exports from Tamil to Bollywood too.
While speaking purely from a national integration point
of view, there is nothing but positives that can be
seen from such exchange of heroines across linguistic
barriers. But, many of you will agree that this tendency
does prove detrimental to the portrayal of the character
in question. Taking a look at the current crop of heroines
in the industry, one would realize that at least 70
per cent of them (a conservative estimate) don’t
speak Tamil with any degree of fluency. That is not
any fault of theirs’. It would be harsh on our
part to expect a Mumbai born and bred lady to pick up
Tamil in a matter of months (it would be similar to
the kind of demands that Raj Thackeray makes of non-
Maharashtrians – learn Marathi in four weeks or
leave Mumbai). But, the problem is that in spite of
severe linguistic limitations, these ladies from Mumbai
(read North India) are overwhelming favorite over local
ladies; ladies from Kerala come a close second to Mumbai
lasses. Let’s analyze in a more objective manner.
The last four major releases in Tamil were Thamizh Padam,
Goa, Asal and Theeradha Vilayattu Pillai. Three of them
were multi-heroine subjects, a total of seven heroines
and only one out of them (Sneha in Goa) knows Tamil.
Asal, a product of one of the flagship banners of the
industry had Sameera Reddy and Bhavana while Theeradha
Vilayattu Pillai did not have a place for a Tamil speaking
heroine, in spite of requiring three of them, all of
whom were flown down from Mumbai. And, the biggest disappointment
is that, Thamizh Padam, the film that was out to mock
at every cliché in Tamil cinema, too had a girl
from Mumbai (now, this seems like an unshakeable stereotype).
When a team had the courage to gimmick a Rajinikanth
scene, why couldn’t they find the confidence to
cast a Tamil speaking girl in the lead role?
Why has this tendency been so seemingly unshakeable
in spite of the glaring fact that performance is indeed
compromised? There is only one answer to this, a heroine’s
performance has become so inconsequential to a movie
(with the way scripts are written) that a cute, good
looking and glamorous girl would do, language is not
a problem. With all due respect to heroines from the
North, one cannot recall the last time when one of them
was given a real meaty character. When good female characters
are written (however rare they may be), they always
go to the ladies who know Tamil like the back of their
hand – like Sneha in Privom Sandhippom. Of course,
there is the rare exception of the non-Tamil heroines
turning out good performances like Padmapriya, Meera
Jasmine etc. But, that is more the exception than the
rule.
Yes, performance requires a solid knowledge of the language
more often than not and if we find non-Tamil speaking
ladies dominating the Tamil screen, it is because of
the kind of roles that are being written. Let’s
hope that changes soon, like we have been hoping for
the better part of the decade.
Now, for a few more clichés that female leads
are usually cast into almost every time, in film industries
across the world. It is hard to understand why…
1. In every English adventure movie, there must be at
least one lady who slows down the pace of the entire
team, keeps getting into trouble at the wrong time and
basically serves only to stretch the length of a film
by 15-20 minutes, which is the amount of time spent
by the hero in rescuing her from assorted dangers she
gets into. (Yet film makers just have to cast a lady
in such a role). Thankfully, Aayirathil Oruvan is not
one of this kind, the ladies are smart.
2. In every movie based on the Indian freedom struggle
there has to be a British lady who sympathizes with
the Indians (and it is always a lady) and also develops
a soft corner for the hero in the process, even at the
risk of antagonizing her own folk… Some of the
glowing examples are Lagaan, Pazhassi Raja and Veer.
Is such a character really needed?
Does more need to be said? Let there be better characters
for actresses. Else, being an actress won’t be
a viable career option anymore, except for the likes
of Gandhimathi, Manorama and Paravai Muniamma who cannot
be replaced. Others will find it safer and more profitable
to be models that extend their ramp walks into movies.
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