|
||
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
Astrology
Chat
Cityscape
Classifieds
Entertainment
Health
Matrimonial |
 |
|
||||||
|
The mindset of Tamil cinema is preset in this respect and is refusing to move an inch away from that position. They would name a film as Padikkaada Medhai – the ‘uneducated wise man’. They have decided that only the uneducated is innocent, good, honest, has a sense of values – and dump whatever other good qualities that you may want to, on him. Of course it was true that the role model for all these characters in almost all the cases, the erstwhile Chief Minister of our State, Kamaraj was not educated. But that would not mean that illiteracy is something to be worshipped. Not even the great exception, Kamaraj, would approve of it. And why would he otherwise have opened more than 14000 schools all over the state, had he thought otherwise! REDIRECT /advt/adredir.asp HEIGHT 30 WIDTH 234 BORDER 0 * /promos/star/images/adhusnkara.gif /promos/star/redirect.asp Adi Sankara The Advaidhist 7 /promos/star/images/buddha.gif /promos/star/redirect.asp Buddha The Great Legend 7 /promos/star/images/cookery.gif /promos/star/redirect.asp Modern Cookery 7 /promos/star/images/health.gif /promos/star/redirect.asp Harvard Guide to Women's Health 7 /promos/star/images/homedecor.gif /promos/star/redirect.asp Home Repair 7 /promos/star/images/medical.gif /promos/star/redirect.asp Medical Encyclopedia 7 /promos/star/images/palmistry.gif /promos/star/redirect.asp Palmistry 7 /promos/star/images/panchatantra.gif /promos/star/redirect.asp Panchatantra 7 /promos/star/images/sowndaryalakari.gif /promos/star/redirect.asp Saundarya Lahari 7 /promos/star/images/srikrishna.gif /promos/star/redirect.asp Sri Krishna 7 /promos/star/images/thelittileking.gif /promos/star/redirect.asp The Little King 7 /promos/star/images/vaastu.gif /promos/star/redirect.asp Vaastu Shastra 7 /promos/star/images/indiancinema.gif /promos/star/redirect.asp Indian Cinema 9 /promos/star/images/tshirt.gif /promos/star/redirect.asp T-Shirt Design Kit 7
M. R. Radha played the role of the ‘foreign educated’ in Rathak Kanner. He would mercilessly kick his mother with the left leg. He would be a womaniser, he would be a drunkard, he would smoke, he would cheat and be a vendor of all evils. Almost all the villains of the Tamil cinema have had this common denominator. Well educated. They would always be well-dressed minions. No. It is not our intention to argue that all educated are honest persons. In a country where illiteracy abounds, it is not fair to show the educated in a shady background and celebrate illiteracy. It is surprising that not many films show the educated in a better profile.
Then came Rajini. Almost always he has been the representative of the unlettered. One of his movies had the grandest of titles ‘Padikkadhavan’. And then there was the ‘Padikkadhavan Rajini’ fan club. Rajini played the ignoramus in ’16 vayadhinile’, ‘Bhairavi,’ ‘Dharma durai,’ ‘Guru sishyan,’ ‘Annamalai,’ ‘Veera,’ etc. All his fans feel personally glorified when he speaks broken English and handle any situation with the all encompassing ‘yeah… yeah.’ We are happy that the unlettered is a good person, has a sense of values, honest et al. But why should the educated always play the villain and leave a permanent etching in the minds of the poor and uneducated that whoever is educated must also be a villain?
And all our intellectuals are not tired of rebuking the propagandist cinema. Has anyone given a thought to this silent but strong propaganda against literacy?
By Tamil Magan
|
|
||||||
|
||||||
The Tamil cinema, from time immemorial has been conditioning the reflexes of all fans to certain prototypes. But sadly these prototypes do not reflect reality and are undoubtedly carry an idea that is not at all desirable. Somehow, right from the beginning the illiterate has been and continues to be celebrated in the silver screen. And, it has obstinately glorifying the unlettered person while adamantly and meticulously placing the literate in opposition, always.
The glitzy personalities perhaps feel that education does not endow one with all desirable good qualities. They try to portray the educated person as stoutly selfish, ceaselessly sedentary, and senselessly scrupled. He would go to any extent to meet his selfish ends. He would not hesitate to do anything. He would rob a brother, kill a relative, adopt dishonest methods to amass wealth… His ways do not change but his exploits and new tricks keep popping up with the release of another movie. He would always have a brother, who would be illiterate, selfless, broadminded, good-natured, softhearted, etc. etc. But he should of necessity be an illiterate. He should not be able to read a single letter. He should not be able to sign his name. That would change his sparkling qualities otherwise!
If M R Radha played the educated rogue, Bharatiraja showed us a doctor playing havoc in the life of a rustic belle. As usual, the educated-cheat formula. His latest movie ‘Kadal Pookkal’ is no exception. He depicts a research scholar spoiling the life of an innocent village girl. May be it is not the intention of Bharatiraja to slur the character of all educated persons. But it is the result of the conditioning that the Tamil cinema has been meticulously and tirelessly working into the mindset of its fans. It is a case of the hunter hunted!
The reason why an ordinary fan enjoys a fight sequence is that he is placing himself in the position of the hero and imagines that he is butchering his real life villains. If the literate person continues to play the villain in the most powerful mass communication medium, Cinema, it would have undesirable effects. The tinsel world has a good market potential in the illiterate, whose percentage is comparatively high. They think that pleasing the illiterate masses would fill their coffers. But should it not be otherwise? Should it not educate the masses and underline the importance of education?
