“Any historical figure, be it Akbar or Ambedkar, will be scrutinised by the socalled champions of culture and causes,” says Rangaraj. When it comes to barrage of opposing views, backlashes and protests, Deepika Padukone-starrer ‘Padmaavat’, about 14th century Muslim emperor Alauddin Khilji’s attack on a Rajput kingdom, faced the ire of rightwing Hindu groups in 2018.
Views are placed and it should be listened with no questions asked, that has been the norm recently,” says Rangaraj. “All who oppose such projects think people have no right to disagree with you. Political analyst and veteran journalist R Rangaraj feels there’s a general lack of tolerance in the industry, pointing to how Kamal Haasan himself had admitted that movies made two decades ago cannot be made now. If one is compelled to listen to politicians and play the game of appeasement, viewers will be left with limited choice amid the mess the industry is already in. Liberty of art, says an industry insider, is of capital importance. However both Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan have maintained a conspicuous silence on the issue. A couple of years before that actor Kamal Haasan played a Sri Lankan Tamil in ‘Thenali’, which despite being a comedy touched upon the trauma of people caught in the war. In 2002, Mani Ratnam’s war film ‘Kannathil Muthamittal’ was a more stark poignant portrayal of the civil war in Sri Lanka. A dialogue that remains relevant today when Vijay Sethupathi has been forced to withdraw from a project owing to pressure from different sections. In one scene, when the heroine (Revathi) is kidnapped by Sri Lankan Tamils, a person in the refugee camp says, ‘Kazhugodu sandai iddu, katturumbai vittu vedu’ (fight with the eagle, leave the ant alone). Revathi depicted the character with grace and the romantic drama masterfully weaved in the drama and humanity. The character of Revathi, a Sinhala girl in love with a Tamil dancer, had the undercurrents of tension that was ongoing in the island nation. The film, which had jarring dialogues, some muted and many meaningful, became a talking point.
#Eelam tamil movies full#
Read the full story on TOI+ Why Muralitharan biopic would’ve sailed through in an earlier timeĪs far back as in 1986, at the peak of the LTTE crisis in Sri Lanka, K Balachander ventured to make ‘Punnagai Mannan’ based on the tension between the Sinhala and Tamil communities.
#Eelam tamil movies series#
But the industry is not virgin to Eelam scripts and ‘800’ is but the most recent in the series of films that have dabbled in Eelam and Sinhala themes and characters and given an insight into the human crisis. There is a sense of apprehension and Kollywood will shun any film that negatively impacts Tamil sentiment, say Tamil film industry insiders. What has emerged is an atmosphere where creative licence, debate and space for expression is muzzled. He has since then pulled out of the biopic.
From being cornered and warned to receiving rape threats to a family member, actor Vijay Sethupathi has faced it all within days of the release of the official motion poster of ‘800’, in which he was to don the role of Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan.
0 kommentar(er)
