Recently, an online post about the absence of entertainers in Tamil cinema went viral on social media. In the rant, the movie buff described Vijay Sethupathi's 'Viduthalai' as "torture porn", 'Maharaja' as a sexual-assault plot, and Dhanush's 'Raayan' as a movie filled with "gore". The post added, "Most of the big-budget movies from Kollywood are focussed on themes like caste and oppression."
Agreeing with the post, a Twitter user batted for entertainment. "Cinema is an entertainment business. Forget the environment and entertain the audience. Movies can be gritty and dark," the Netizen wrote. But this is not a position held by serious movie-goers. "If pure mass entertainment is the purpose, then all cinema will degenerate into porn, as most movies target the male audience in the 16-35 age group. One can make outstanding cinema showing gritty dark reality. 'Subramaniapuram' (2008) is one classic example," Agent Saffron, a social media user argued.
But then, there are creative limitations when you choose themes such as caste-based discrimination. You can tinker with those themes only so much in terms of treatment. You have to inevitably introduce tragic climaxes at times. If it is a love story involving a Dalit and an upper-caste person, what can you tell through your film that films like 'Sairat' and suchlike haven't already?
It is undeniable that Tamil cinema is facing a content crisis. "Kollywood doesn't have even one bankable under-50 actor who can make the mass audience buy tickets. And the reason for that is the new wave in Tamil cinema that is focused on showing the dark underbelly of society. Dhanush, Simbu, Sivakarthikeyan aren't big stars," writes Aditya Jakki, a film observer. In contrast, Telugu cinema has a higher number of young and aged stars who are excellent crowd-pullers.
