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Four Frames

Report card

In 125 days of 2006 (up to May 5), there were 30 Tamil releases and among them, "Pattiyal", "Chithirem Pesuthadi" and "Tiruttu Payale" are hits, while "Paramasivan", "Kalvanin Kathali", "Dishyum" and "Thambi" are turning out to be average grossers. Though there were no blockbusters, this is a fairly good report card. The emerging trend is small movies in the Rs. 3- 4 crore budget with good content are doing well at the box-office and formula movies packaged with superstars and gimmicks are bombing miserably. Music continues to play an important role in the success of Tamil movies, as proved by the song "Vala Meenukkum... " that was picturised in an innovative manner and popularised on TV channels. The trade feels had the songs from "Pattiyal" and "Tiruttu Payale" been shown on the channels, the films would have done better business. The new mantra of filmmakers seems to be to give something innovative to the audience while at the same time ensuring that they don't overshoot the budget.

Lens View>/B>

P. C. Sreeram is the man who made Tamil movies look hip, especially those directed by Mani Ratnam, with superior lighting and innovative camerawork. Now after years of doing Tamil and ad films, PC, as he is popularly known, was shooting last month for his first Hindi film "Cheeni Kum" with none other than Big B in the lead. In the film directed by adman `Balki' Balakrishnan, PC plans to experiment with lighting for the British Bungalow set up in a Mumbai studio by South African art director Julie. And in October, he is once again teaming up with his favourite director Mani Ratnam to make a film with Aamir Khan.

A thriller

When Sanjay Dutt gets angry on screen, his fans and the box-office simply love it. After that super hit "Dus", Nitin Manmohan is now making Dutt go berserk in "Tathastu" in which he plays an impoverished factory worker who finds that his 8-year-old son has hole in his heart and needs to undergo a heart transplant urgently. He does not get any financial help from his office, insurance or the hospital, so he takes a gun and holds a hospital and the medical system to ransom. The film is loosely based on Colin Farell's thriller "Phone Booth". "Tathastu" has Amisha Patel and Jayaprada in the cast. The songless film, directed by Anubhav Sinha, released yesterday.

The smile is back

The smile is back on Sneha's face as her recent films "Sri Ramadasu" in Telugu with Nagarjuna and "Thuruppu Gulan" in Malayalam with Mammootty are hits. Sneha has come a long way with her share of hits, flops and controversies. Now she is eagerly waiting for the release of Selvaraghavan's "Puthupettai" in which she plays a commercial sex-worker. Says Sneha: "I feel proud when people tell me that Kamala of `Sri Ramadasu' was one of the best characters that I've ever portrayed. I'm sure that 2006 is going to be an exciting year for me with `Puthupettai', P. Vasu's film with Balakrishna and Nagabhushan's women-oriented film in Telugu and a film with Mohanlal in Malayalam."

SREEDHAR PILLAI

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