T here’s always something interesting happening in the Telugu film industry. Filmmakers are aware that there’s an audience for every genre. They’re not ruthless like the Kerala audiences who seldom fall for kitsch. It’s not entirely superstar driven either. Yes, there are the fanatics who love to watch their idol slap his thigh, send an army of baddies flying and jive with his scantily clad ladylove in distant lands. There have been dozens of films about the hero stalking and sneaking into the heroine’s house, impressing her parents and convincing them that he’s much better than the guy she’s engaged to. This formula has seldom failed and probably finds its roots in ‘DDLJ’. It’s surprising that nobody is making those sedate, simple stories set on the banks of Godhavari with lilting music like K. Vishwanath did. Rajmouli with ‘Maghadheera’ set the trend of love stories with flashbacks into the distant past. There have been a slew of poor imitations in other languages too. Rajmouli has the budget to match and crystallise his celluloid dreams. He had the gumption and the confidence in his abilities to plan ‘Bahubali’ in two parts. Even Kamal could not mop up enough funds to complete his magnum opus, ‘Marudhanayagam’. Imagine, if the film is completed and released it will be Kannada superstar Vishnuvardhan’s last film, officially. Anyway there are also the small, delightfully well made films like ‘Kshanam’ and ‘Pelli Choopulu’ banking entirely on content.
Ghosts have turned friendly. They no longer frighten. It’s no longer about abandoned, dilapidated and haunted bungalows with creaking doors, howling hyenas and a translucent lady clad in white walking around like a zombie, singing a song. Horror is now laced with generous doses of comedy. The genesis of this genre lies probably in films like ‘Kanchana’ and ‘Geethanjali’. Films about goddesses were more popular than ghosts in Telugu unlike Tamil. Reincarnation reigned for awhile with films like the very well made ‘Arundhati’. It died with the tackily made ‘Rudramadevi’.
The huge success of ‘Ekkadiki Pothavu Chinnavada’ will probably usher in another era, however brief. It’s a film that manages to keep you engrossed with surprising twists and turns. You have to forget the word logic You’re shown a cave with hieroglyphics, an exorcist who looks like an Injun and a bottle with a girl’s spirit trying to break free. A youngster is stood up at the marriage registrar’s office but strangely doesn’t search for her. Oops that’s a logical issue. He travels to Kerala suffering from split personality and promptly falls in love. She leaves him without a goodbye and when he tracks her down realises she has no recollection of their tryst. Apparently she’s been exorcised and the soul now inhabits another girl. Another interesting female character is introduced and the rest is peppered with relentless twists not convincing but engaging enough.
It’s evident that the director has painstakingly penned a plot that does not to bore you especially in the second half. The hero interestingly has not seen the girl he was to marry and her soul has some pertinent questions to ask him after she’s exorcised from one body and inhabits another. That for me was the crux of an otherwise insipid plot. The sure sign of a hit in any language is when the noon show on a weekday is nearly full. ‘EPC’, a producer friend tells me is a huge hit in Andhra. If you’re an aspiring director eager to impress a producer you better go armed with an interesting story about restless spirits roaming around peppered with generous doses of comedy.
A producer friend from Chennai who’s been scouring for plots with the element of the supernatural called excitedly the other day. “I just heard a wonderful idea from a young director. Why should it always be a female who returns to take revenge? Why not the hero?” he asked. That’s because heroes don’t die I retorted. “Ah but he’s going to inhabit another body and cannot be arrested for the crimes,” was his reply. He’s already paid the young director an advance and hopes to sign a marquee name. Producers are turning to friendly ghosts to save them from financiers harassing and haunting them!
S. Shiva Kumar
sshivu@yahoo.com
