Hon’ble Minister of Youth Welfare and Sports Development of TamilNadu Mr.Udhayanidhi stalin, CII President and my dear friend Mr Shankar Vaaanavraayar, a very good morning to you a warm welcome to all our friends gathered today
- Chennai has historically and traditionally been the epicentre of art forms such as literary poetry, classical Music, Bharatanatyam and theatre. But when Cinema reached the shores of chennai, it instantly absorbed the super stars of stage drama such as Shrí PU Chinnappa, Shri MK Thyagaraja Bagavathar, Shri TR Mahalingam, Shri SG Kittappa and his wife Smt KB Sundarambal & others
- The content and presentation of Tamil Cinema in its initial years were drawn from mythological and fictional tales of historical characters. I think for a few decades Swamy shankaradas’s 68 plays were the content for tamil cinema.
Chandralekha the magnum Opus of Shri SS Vasan Filmed in Tamil and Hindi remains one of the earliest films that crossed linguistic borders. And vyjayanthi mala the actor was launched as a star. One of the earliers star across the borders. She was introduced by avm. There were starwalts already crossing borders and exploring new audience. - However when the genre of films migrated to social and family drama in the 50’s and 60’s the real cross border influence started whereby superhit content across languages were remade. Powerful dialogues by Elangovan, Arignanr Anna and Kalaignar, and equally powerful performance of actors led the luminaries become even chief ministers of our great state. Such was the power of cinema.
-Malaikallan starring MGR was remade in Hindi as AZAAD in 1954.
Bhabhi in Hindi was made in Tamil as Kuladeivam in 1956.
Vanji Koattai Valiban a super hit Tamil Film in 1958 was made in Hindi as Raj Tilak and the list goes on…
Till date Tamil content is remade and dubbed in multiple languages and sets up a very good platform for others to understand Tamil cultural values and aesthetics.
- Tamil Cinema has always held the mirror to our society and did not restrict itself to entertainment alone. It has touched upon multiple social issues. For example filmmakers like Shri KBalachandar, Shri Rudran and Shri Balu mahendra have set the templates for women empowerment in our society. Their celluloid depiction of an independent and free spirited young woman in real life is still relevant to our current times.
- New Age cinema dawned with the arrival of creators such as Mr Kamal Hassan, Mr Ilayaraja, Mr Mani Ratnam, Mr PC Sriram, Mr Shankar and Mr AR Rahman, to name a few. They steered film making to greater heights with bold themes, visual story telling and advanced sound design to appeal to a wider audience. Our superstars with their strong and charismatic pull further pushed the business limits beyond borders.
- While the b aton of forward thinking and modern film making continues till date, the strong technical expertise in making of Tamil films in my opinion has been a major factor in absorbing the long list of Directors, DOPs, Stunt Directors and other technicians from the Tamil industry across Pan India languages.
- While Tamil Film industry is proud to offer a long list of great talent, we are also ready to utilize great talent from across the globe. The symphony orchestra in Budapest and Australia and other countries have played music created by our own Music directors such as llayaraja, AR Rahman and others. We witness a big list of foreign actors and technicians already in our films widening the scope of Tamil films and its reach.
- The storytelling in Tamil cinema has evolved and it’s only getting better with time. Our filmmakers aren’t afraid to tackle complex themes, experiment with unusual narratives, and challenge societal norms. Pariyerum Perumal, Soorarai Pottru, Visaranai and Jai Bhim are just a few names that pop up when we speak of highly influencing films.
These films have also created an impact in lawmaking too. New laws have been created after these films. - The arrival of global partners and companies procuring films for digital streaming and satellite broadcasting, has made it possible to execute dream projects like Ponniyin Selvan and reach our Content to a global audience.
This offers a huge business potential for Tamil cinema. However quality of content and original ideas is the key to this opportunity becoming a reality and our heritage has enough stories to be told to the world.
-Tamil films are regularly showcased in prestigious international film festivals and winning awards and accolades more than ever. The recognition of our talent in Tamil films & other South Indian lanuages at Oscars and other international Awards is a testament to how far we have come in the global stage. We are proud of Elephant Whisperers and Naatu Naatu.
I watched Elephant Whisperers with my children and i was so elated that a story from ooty has gone all over the world. Thank you Kartiki.
Prem Rakshith sir, you were not content with breaking our legs alone with that step, so you had to go to west and break their legs too. You have made everyone dance to your beat. Thanks a lot.
- Challenges notwithstanding, Tamil Film industry has the potential to create big waves in the global arena. And as the saying goes, the essence of all great art is Gratitude and I express my sincere gratitude to all the great minds in this formidable industry.
- Tamil Cinema has always been on the frontier of change and I wish and pray that the industry continues march forward with Hope and Positivity towards a bright future.
CII Thank you for this and bringing us all on the same platform. Its going to be a great learning experience. Thank you so much for having me here.
