At a time when Bollywood’s women-centric films seem to be making waves, Kollywood has fallen behind. Out of the 108 Tamil films released in the first half of 2016, only three films ( Irudhi Suttru, Inji Iduppazhagi and Amma Kanakku ) were centred on a female protagonist. Despite terrific performances by the leads — Ritika Singh in Irudhi Suttru, Anushka Shetty in Inji Iduppazhagi and Amala Paul in Amma Kanakku — only one ( Irudhi Suttru ) worked at the box-office.
In the same period, there were as many as 10 women-centric films out of 70 releases in Bollywood this year. Of these, Sonam Kapoor’s Neerja , Priyanka Chopra’s Jai Gangaajal , Kareena Kapoor’s Ki & Ka , Swara Bhaskar’s Nil Battey Sannata , and to a certain extent Radhika Apte’s Phobia, all went on to become hits.
Last year was good too for female-centric films in Bollywood, with three films, Deepika Padukone’s Piku , Kangana Ranaut’s Tanu Weds Manu Returns and Anushka Sharma’s NH10, achieving both critical acclaim as well as commercial success.
Why aren’t we seeing the same consistency in Tamil cinema? There is a belief in the male-dominated world of Tamil cinema that there is not much scope for heroines, who are often portrayed only as glam dolls. This portrayal is despite last year’s hits, such as 36 Vayadhinile and Maya , that proved the might of female leads.
Part of why we aren’t seeing many female-centric films succeed has to do with how poorly they are marketed. Those that worked in recent times had powerful distributors backing them — Jyothika’s 36 Vayadhinile was distributed by Studio Green, Nayantara’s Maya had the backing of the market leader Sri Thenandal Films and Ritika’s Irudhi Suttru was produced and marketed by UTV.
At the same time, Trisha’s Nayaki , a horror-thriller, saw only its Telugu version hitting the screens. Amala Paul speaking at the promotions of Amma Kanakku said, “I cut short my vacation at the Himalayas to promote this film as it is close to my heart. I would have loved to travel across Tamil Nadu in order to promote it, but due to other schedules, I could not work it out.”
Meanwhile, theatres in Tamil Nadu are reluctant to play heroine-oriented films. They feel these films work only if the word of mouth is good, and women audiences end up thronging the theatres. As these films usually do not open big, a powerful distributor is imperative to draw in the crowds.
The most exciting female-centric project right now is Jyothika’s new film. She has started shooting for it with director Bramma, of national-award winning Kuttram Kadithal fame. The untitled film, produced by Suriya’s 2D Entertainment, also has veteran actress Bhanupriya, Urvashi and Saranya Ponvannan in the supporting cast.
A source close to Jyothika says she plays an urban character in the film and has rehearsed for at least two weeks for the role.
She is also said to be in talks with noted Malayalam writer-director Anjali Menon of Bangalore Days fame to do a film, which will be co-produced by a Mumbai-based corporate.
Nayantara is also said to have slashed her salary and agreed to back a women-oriented horror-thriller Dora , purely on the strength of its script. The film is being produced by director Sargunan and directed by his assistant Doss Ramasamy. The film will release before the end of the year and will be marketed by a leading distribution company.
Meanwhile, noted south Indian director A. R. Murugadoss is excited about his new Hindi film Akira with Sonakshi Sinha playing the title role. Murugadoss has chosen Sonakshi and gone for a gender change in the pivotal role in Akira , a remake of Tamil Mouna Guru , which had Arulnidhi in the lead. He is confident his decision to feature Sonakshi will pay off handsomely.
