Close to 190 Tamil movies, many of them classics and trendsetters released during 1930s, have been lost to posterity due to neglect over the years.
“Only 12 of the nearly 200 Tamil films released during 1930s are available. There are no records, barring nuggets of information, about these movies that otherwise would have provided a better understanding of the early years of film making,” said Sundar Kali, assistant professor of Tamil, Gandhigram Rural Institute- Deemed University and a film researcher.
He was one of the speakers at a two-day seminar on ‘Tamil Cinema 100’ inaugurated at Loyola College on Wednesday. Mr.Kali said that most of the12 available movies have been digitised by private collectors and are available at Roja Muthiah Research Libary. Some were archived by National Film Archive of India, Pune. A few film producers have retained popular films like ‘Chintamani’ starring M.K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar. Abridged versions of some movies are now available.
There is no formal film archiving system available in Tamil Nadu to preserve film history, he added. Other speakers, including Paavendan, Tamil professor, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, and Rajan Kurai, assistant professor, Ambedkar University, New Delhi, traced the history of the era of the silent Tamil movies and how trends in film making changed by 1940s. Former Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai was an important personality who brought to prominence dialogues and social themes in the movies, speakers noted.
The seminar was organised jointly by the Visual Communication department, Loyola College and Tamil film journal Kaatchi Pizhai . V.M.S. Subhagunarajan, editor of the journal, said that the idea behind the seminar was to redefine popular cinema as a medium to reflect the cultural ethos of the people.
Suresh Paul, head of visual communication department, Loyola College, said that the seminar aimed providing the students a theoretical understanding of the Tamil cinema.
