The Tamil film industry has the potential to generate Rs 800 crore in a year, from 120 releases, with an average box office hit rate of 20% say industry experts. However, 2008 has been a year of small films emerging winners, and big films crashing badly, much like in 2007. The challenge in the coming year for the entertainment industry would be to turn more global, both in content and finish, something that only A R Rahman's music has been able to achieve.
Satellite television channels, with an ad market size of Rs 350 crore to Rs 400 crore, visible in more countries than ever before, continued to subsist on the tested formula of sob operas and reality shows. The Rs 80-crore FM radio industry, subsisting largely on programmes woven around films, has attempted to turn more serious, aiming for the vibe of the city' content. Tamil theatre, the unsung hero in the entertainment field, has been marginally more bullish, with newer players merging and veterans like Y Ge Mahendra, T V Varadarajan, S Ve Shekar and Crazy' Mohan continuing to keep the tradition aloft. With over 2,000 live concerts, Carnatic music continues to be on a crescendo. 2008 has been the year of fans, actually. Decades after Sri Devi made it to Bollywood, top Kollywood star Asin made it big in Hindi films this year. With Vijay donning the bright yellow blazer of Chennai Super Kings as its brand ambassador, cricket and cinema came together for the first time in the state. Rajnikanth flirted with politics yet again, playing the maybe, maybe not' card. LTTE sympathisers used the industry to showcase the cause of the Tamils in strife-torn Lanka. Udayanidhi Stalin, and Dayanidhi Azhagiri, grandsons of chief minister M Karunanidhi entered the film fray in a big way, while grand nephew Kalanithi Maran, who floated Sun Pictures, came out with a huge bail-out plan for the ambitious sci-film Endhiran' starring Rajnikanth, with a minimum budget of Rs 100 crore. Maran's prospects in corporatisation of movie making will be keenly watched. Hollywood's Warner Brothers tied up with Soundarya Rajnikanth's Ocher Studios for co-production of films. How far these corporate initiatives succeed in taking Kollywood to a global audience, with a mesh of technology and content will be the other challenge in the year ahead. "Film-goers have always welcomed a good story well told, regardless of who the actor or director was. Hype, marketability and reputation can get you only so far, it is the content which matters," says Tamil Film Producers' Council president Rama Narayanan. Nearly a hundred films were released this year, many with technological finesse. However, the audience promptly rejected the big-budget, formulaic action-hero genre, while smaller films made it big. Even if only a handful from the latter category became box office hits, directors and producers dared to experiment far more this year. Honours were even, between rural and urban-centric themes, with Subramaniapuram', Poo', Anjathey', Ellam Avan Seyal' and Abhiyum Naanum' being the pick of the lot. From being the butt of ridicule, tranasgenders were treated with dignity by the entertainment industry in the fields of dancing, talk shows and even in portrayal in films, with Tenavattu' taking the honours for the most sensitive treatment. The city continues to be hub of post production work, with more foreign technicians coming to work in Tamil films. Movies and legal tangles continued to be a feature this year as well. Kollywood went into mourning as Prabhu Deva's young son Vishal, audiographer H Sridhar, and veteran villain M N Nambiar passed away. Melody made a come back with James Vasanthan's Kangal erandal' being the black horse. Release of pirated DVDs simultaneously with theatrical release remains a problem for the industry . "The industry has to take a call on officially releasing DVDs within six months," feel a section of producers. However, theatre owners fear that such a step would encourage pavement shops to sprout outside theatres with impunity. Even inflation and job insecurity in the face of the global meltdown could not keep them away from the films, television shows, fusion music and sabhas. As the year is ending on a brighter note economically, Ananda bhairavi', the raga of happiness, is in the air. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chennai/Small_is_in_fact_big/articleshow/3915757.cms -- regards, Vithur
