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Manmadhan speaks...
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And it turned out to be a talkathon...
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Pic by S. R. Raghunathan
Simbu floors fans.
FOR WELL over an hour, Silambarasan, who had parked himself at Reliance Web World, Anna Salai, was neither out of sight nor out of hearing for his fans from other cities. Gathered at the Reliance Web World centres in these cities, the fans were rewarded with an account of the making of Simbu's latest film, "Manmadhan", right from the horse's mouth. Presspersons and winners of a "Manmadhan"-related contest were also part of this multi-city video conference, an outcome of Reliance Infocomm's "Movie Of The Month" initiative.
Questions flew thick and fast across the State putting a bearded Simbu in a spot now and then. It said a lot for his maturity that he answered even those questions that cut him to the quick, with a genial smile and a generous dose of humour.
Promoting violence?
When a pressperson from Coimbatore censured the theme of the film, suggesting that it could promote violence among lovelorn youngsters, Simbu said there was subtlety in the portrayal. Although the hero wades knee-deep in blood killing his girlfriends, there "is not a scene that shows him spilling blood".
When a Madurai scribe sounded pained that films glorifying violence turned out to be blockbusters, while those such as "Bharathi", which were imbued with messages for society, met with a lukewarm response, Simbu said the film industry had to answer for so many people who were dependent on it, right from the light-man to the producer. For this reason, filmmakers were constrained to opt only for films that would get through to the public and bring in the money. "Television is a better medium for messages as the viewer does not have to pay every time he watches it."
As for filmmakers en masse going for themes that delineate the dark contours of hatred and violence, he said, "We are subject to the law of trends. When this trend palls on the public, and they ask for family-oriented subjects, we will be only too glad to offer them that."
When a questioner accused Simbu of promoting vulgarity in his films, he said glamour was being mistaken for vulgarity.
A female fan who had evidently been mesmerised by Simbu's performance in the film, asked him if he would involve himself in different aspects of filmmaking like his father T. Rajendar did.
"Right now, I do not want to be loaded with too many responsibilities. Anything other than acting and direction is off-limits now."
PRINCE FREDERICK
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