Though Accham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada is having a decent run at the box office, the trouble the movie had gone through during its production phase has raised a lot of concerns regarding the struggles a filmmaker goes through in modern-day cinema.
From recent interviews by director-producer Gautham Menon — in which he criticised everything from the the production system to the the lack of camaraderie between the stars — it is evident that K’town has ‘issues’ that need ironing out.
Apart from stating several reasons as to why the Tamil cinema industry is still lagging behind Bollywood, Gautham also revealed how films get stuck in financial muddles, taking forever to release.
Many attribute the absence of professionalism to the struggle a film faces during post-production — and there are suggestions that corporate funding could be a welcome boost to the industry.
Arun, the creative consultant of Eros International, also echoes the notion — “In my opinion, involving corporates will make the industry more professional. We won’t have the burden of settling the financiers before the release. We would be able to announce the date well in advance and stick to it.”
However, it must be said that the track record of corporates in India don’t look that great either. Not only in Tamil cinema, even in Bollywood, Sony and many other giants have been bringing down the shutters after churning out flop after flop. The main reason for this poor performance is the companies’ lack of understanding of cinema.
However, Arun argues, “I can’t speak for others, but at Eros, creative teams are separate, and we give preference to content over anything. At times, placement of creative managers without the right cinema knowledge may lead to bad decisions.”
Producer PT Selvakumar, on the other hand feels that corporates coming in, only hikes the salary of stars — “This affects the business of other big and small individual producers, who cannot afford such huge sum for heroes. And even after that, they fail in giving a hit because they don’t know which film will work and which won’t. If you observe, all blockbusters would be from local production houses.”
But maybe there is still hope — if ‘lead’ actors lead the front! Vijay Sethupathi and the whole crew of Thiagarajan Kumararaja’s upcoming film took a pay cut to come forward and support the ambitious venture.
Thiagarajan says, “Yes, it is true. Not only Sethupathi, the whole crew is helping us make the film the way we want to. But it’s an individual’s choice to act this way.”
PT Selvakumar also adds that only a symbiotic relationship between stars and producers can bring about a healthy change in Kollywood. He also echoes Gautham Menon’s statement —” there is no camaraderie in Tamil cinema currently.”
“What’s wrong if a hero or a heroine come forward and reduce their salary if a film fails? At the same time, they can partake in the profit if the film is a huge success. In fact, they can just have it as part of their agreement,” he questions and concludes.
