New Delhi: They say history repeats itself. Kollywood, for its part, seems intent on reproducing it. Last year alone, several period flicks have been made in Tamil and more are to follow soon, indicating the emergence of a new trend.
One of the biggest challenges that a director making a period film faces is from the art direction department. After several stages of evolution, art direction in Kollywood has come a long way. Bearing testimony to this are: 'Vaagai Sooda Vaa' (released on September 30) and 'Aravaan' and '7 Aum Arivu', which are releasing on Diwali.
In addition, two period films have also come out in the recent past—Vijay’s 'Madrasapattinam', which had Arya and Amy Jackson in the lead and 'Ponnar Shankar', the story of which was penned by then chief minister, M Karunanidhi.
Interesting as they may sound, such period films are not easy to make. Those in the industry point out that period flicks consume a lot of time and require big budgets—one of the reasons why most producers don’t seem intent on making them. But that seems to be changing now.
Commenting on 'Vaagai Sooda Vaa', a period flick set in the 1960s that seeks to capture the state of a weaver's family, director Sarkunam says, "For the film to be appealing, we knew that 'detailing' was the key. We had a tough time as references were not there for this time frame." The film is a fictional love story interwoven with relevant factual references from that era, all of which were compiled after intensive research.
"There are references to some significant happenings of the era like the Thanga Pathra Thittam, in which an amount of gold was given towards a refundable gold bond scheme in connection with a war fund and arms and ammunition for the Indian Army. The year 1966 also saw the Avinashilingam Home Science PO66, the first all-women post office in India," says Sarkunam, giving an inkling into the details they had to collect.
"Since radio was a popular entertainment medium then, and there were listeners of the Ceylon radio station, we incorporated some of the programmes of the radio station in those times. Another instance of detailing is in the bindis used by women of that era prepared by mixing a kind of rice flour, and castor oil," elaborates Sarkunam.
Another period film that has triggered immense interest is 'Aravaan'. The story takes place almost 300 years ago, and reference material was scarce, says director Vasantabalan. "The idea originated when one night I was reading Su.Venkatesan's 'Kaaval Kottam', a book on 300 years of Madurai. There are hardly any references for the 18th century. The only evidence available was sculptures. I then got in touch with Krishnamoorthy and G V Iyer, both esteemed art directors who had made period films in 1978."
For the film, a village set worth Rs 80 lakh was erected at the Arittapatti Hills near Melur in Madurai. Art director Vijay Murugan erected 100 huts with bamboos, palm leaves and stones. Director Vasantha Balan says, "These hills and landscape are very important to portray a slice of the 18th century life in south India. Two villages had to be created based on the script because it focuses on the rivalry between two villages."
Despite the costs, trouble and energy required in the making of a period film, Tamil directors are still game. And this can only mean that they are intent on making history, by reproducing it.
Comments
0 comment