2 016 was the year of the common cinema viewer who enjoys and appreciates credible content. They were always discerning and more so now with no cap on ticket prices. Stars bit the dust, well most of them did while substance ruled supreme irrespective of the language. Most self-proclaimed pundits were proven wrong. Tales of haunted houses and possessed women were the flavour of the year though. Friendly ghosts were more popular than the ones that frightened. Time tested formulae fell by the wayside. Even diehard fans displayed signs of fatigue for the predictable antics of their chest-thumping heroes spouting self glorifying rhetoric, endless gravity defying stunts and a series of senseless sequences. In Telugu, Allu Arjun (Sarrainodu) and NTR junior (Janatha Garage) had huge hits while Mahesh Babu (Brahmotsavam) and Pawan Kalyan (Sardar Gabbar Singh) delivered duds. The downfall of most stars start when they assume they know what their fans want. The basic fact that they refuse to comprehend is that fans alone cannot make a film a hit. They can throng the theatres only for a couple of days after which the man on the street has to be pulled in by sheer positive word of mouth publicity. A small film that earns four times its budget is a bigger hit than one with a bloated budget making a twenty five percent profit. ‘Kshanam’ and ‘Pelli Choopulu’ are terrific examples. Both were directed by debutantes and starred relatively unknown faces. The keyword for a thriller is taut and the screenplay of ‘Kshanam’ was just that with the right twists. The suave Adivi Sesh was a revelation and so was Adah Sharma. Graduating from short films to feature is not easy. It is akin to a short story writer attempting a novel but Tharun Bhascker achieved it with flying colours in ‘Pelli Choopulu’, a delightful film with effortless performances by Vijay and Ritu Verma. Then there’s Priyadarshi playing the hero’s pal who’ll have you in splits. It is again positive reviews and word of mouth publicity that ensured the success of these two movies.
There was nothing ‘different’ about these two films. The backbones of a film like ‘Kapoor and Sons’ is brilliant writing by Shakun Batra and Ayesha. Of course, you also have to convert it into celluloid convincingly and Shakun the director achieves that more than ably. About a family with the usual emotional upheavals, it has you grinning and groaning. It is to Shakun’s credit that he entices us into the lives of total strangers and makes us empathise with them. We don’t judge them but end up understanding and justifying their predicament. Again you had families paying to swallow lumps and giggle in turns. There was the Marathi ‘Natasamrat’ released on the first day of 2016 about a retired theatre actor who bequeaths his wealth to his children and lives in a delusional world. A typical tragedy about a principled patriarch, it reminded me of early Shivaji Ganeshan starrers directed by Bhimsingh designed to tug at your heart strings. The film has to be watched for Nana Patekar’s bravura performance. It’s all about freshness in treatment and ‘Sairat’ was the perfect example. The audience in a Bengaluru Multiplex, in the fourth week on a weekday shocked me. The hall was nearly full and most of them were watching the film for at least the second time.
In Malayalam cinema the biggest stars are also effortless performers and choose roles on the basis of strength not length. I can’t decide who the better actor is between Fahadh Faasil and Dulquer Salman. There is Nivin Pauly snapping at their heels. The audiences in Kerala are ruthless. What seems great for us is just ‘Vokay’ for them. There can’t be a classier tale of revenge than ‘Maheshinte Prathikaram’ starring Fahadh. It’s about brains not brawn. Malayalam cinema is full of solid characters not caricatures. Dulquer was brilliant in ‘Kali’ and ‘Charlie’. While in the former he’s hot headed, in the latter he’s a free spirit with no emotional strings attached. Nivin starred in a touching tale about an expatriate family, ‘Jacobinte Swargarajyam’. Of course the year belonged to the redoubtable, ever reliable Mohanlal. ‘Puli Murugan’ is the first Malayalam film to hit the one hundred crore mark. In Kannada, the year ended with ‘Kirik Party’ being declared a stupendous success. Rakshit Shetty has emerged as a symbol for interesting content ensuring a good opening. The rest is decided by the discerning viewer who waits for at least four people to assure him that the film is worth his hard earned money.
S.Shiva Kumar
