As the famous saying goes….'there is only one thing that is constant in life and that is change'….Tamil Cinema seems to be in the verge of a major change and this is brewing ever so stealthily that people in the film industry are caught right in-between.
Corporate companies such as Moser Baer, Adlabs, UTV, Eros Entertainment and Ashtavinayak are making a revolution in terms of how Tamil films have been made traditionally. This has actually sparked off a heated debate as to whether this change is good or bad.
However, there is one person of tremendous importance to the film industry Rama Narayanan, who heads the Producers' Council who has spoken up against the corporate invasion.
According to him, 'a new culture has come in the form of a twenty percent commission and this is sure to bring the film industry to ruin. B-Grade actors are given a large sum of money, almost three times of what they were earning earlier'.
He also added that though small time actors have been roped in by the corporates, big stars like Rajinikanth, Vijay and Ajith have not signed up with any of the corporates. 'With the invasion of corporates with their extravagance, small producers would definitely perish. This is an alarming sign'.
A popular actress who did not want to be named said, 'cinema is becoming more like cricket. We all know how after corporates came into the world of Indian cricket, players have started earning a lot of money. Corporates are coming into the film world now and why shouldn't we earn more?'
A senior member of a corporate production house is of the opinion that the old style of producing films only helped those who were already in the industry maintaining a block to even talented writers and story-tellers.
'The corporate world has put a stop to stealing stories and there is professionalism and respect to talent. This can only be termed good for the film industry' he said. 'The equation is very simple now. Talent gets the money it requires and those who have been making money with somebody else's talent either clean up their act of close shop'.
This is one debate that will be getting heated up time and again in the months to follow.
Keep watching this space for more information as they unfold.
