UPO:
The change is complete |
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Unnaipol
Oruvan going great guns in Chennai
city; collects over 20 lakhs
at a single Cineplex within
four days of its release. These
are really handsome figures,
though not record breaking by
any standards. There have been
many movies over the past that
have shown far better collections
in their initial days at theaters.
For example, Unnaipol Oruvan
might not able to match the
figures netted by Dasavatharam.
But what makes these 20 lakhs
special are that they have been
earned by Unnaipol Oruvan, which
was hardly considered a candidate
for great success. Of course,
we all had great expectations
from the movie because it came
from the stables of Rajkamal
and had Ulaga Nayagan Kamal
Haasan in the lead with Mohanlal
for company. We knew that it
would be a class offering with
a deep impact, because many
of us were aware of and had
seen ‘A Wednesday’.
But, like many other class offerings
of the past, there was the fear
that box office success might
just elude this thoroughly deserving
product.
This fear is not without reason.
There have been many Kamal masterpieces
that have been quite universally
acknowledged as high quality
cinema but failed to leave any
impression at the box office.
Think about Hey Ram, Anbe Sivam
or any others that belong to
this category. The thing about
such films was that they seemed
to make it to theaters only
because they featured Kamal
Haasan. In his absence, such
stories and films would never
have been made, leave alone
finding theaters to release.
It was as if |
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good cinema had its place in the hearts
of Tamil audiences but not on the big screen
for any long period. The big screen always
belonged to true commercial entertainers
which had all elements to regale our minds
in around 3 hours.
Now, Unnaipol Oruvan perhaps marks the crescendo
of change that has begun in the reception
of films that are of the ‘other’
kind, driven by elements that are non-commercial.
There has been the odd film over the years
that has kept breaking predictions to achieve
box office success, like Cheran or Bala
products. But, they were far and few in
between and could be counted only as exceptions
rather than as the rule. 2008 seems to have
changed things from that position. Now,
a film that chooses to stick to an honest
and story driven form of narration is far
more likely to find acceptance a few years
ago. Counting Subramaniapuram, Pasanga,
Naadodigal, Vennila Kabaddi Kuzhu, all in
the span of 12 months, we have to accept
that a wave of change in audience’s
taste has occurred.
But, many might not be happy with the examples
cited above. Though these movies did eliminate
a lot of commercialism like punch dialogues,
item numbers and the like, they still definitely
contained a lot that was conventionally
commercial. For instance, the comedy track,
violence that could often border on the
brutality and songs. In that respect, they
could never be called ‘pure’
cinema. That is why Unnaipol Oruvan is important.
It hopefully completes the transition of
the average Tamil audience to the discerning
who can pick out the genuinely good products
from the rest and give it the recognition
when it is still in theaters, not long after.
Unnaipol Oruvan has neither a comedy track,
nor any song, nor violence, no heroine,
no romance. Its dialogues might pack a punch
but they are not what we would call punch
dialogues. The maker has been confident
enough to not include a song even in the
opening or closing credits. Perhaps the
only commercial present in the entire movie
is the presence of a huge star, Kamal Haasan,
but he is also a synonym for quality cinema
in our times. In spite of being so starkly
unconventional and non-commercial, if Unnaipol
Oruvan is doing a smashing round at the
box office, it does mean that audiences
have begun to broaden their horizons beyond
just time pass entertainment. For the success
of Unnaipol Oruvan, congrats to the makers
and to the ‘new look Tamil audience’.
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