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“You ain't heard nothing yet.”
These were the first ever words spoken in a movie, by actor Al
Jolson in Warner Brothers' ‘The Jazz Singer’. Four years later,
the Tamil film industry carved out a niche for itself, creating
a record when a Tamil film broke the silence. The first ‘talkie’
film was H M Reddy's ‘Kalidas’.
From the ancient techniques of shadow play and story telling to
speechless black and white films, the Tamil film industry had
gone a very long way. But today, sitting comfortably in a
cushioned chair watching those big screens at the multiplexes
come alive with myriad colours and voices booming out of
colossal speakers with DTS effect, the past achievements seem
small. Fortunately or unfortunately, the past is very much a
part and parcel of the present as is the future. We would not
have probably reached this stage had the development and
improvisations in the industry not been initiated such a long
time ago. The Tamil film industry celebrates this year – 2007-
75 years of its impressive existence.
 Speaking
of the history of the Tamil film industry, the first movie in
Tamil was made by Nataraja R. Mudaliar. He learned the tricks of
cinematography at Pune and became the official cinematographer
of Lord Curzon’s 1903 durbar. He set up a studio on Miller's
Road, Keelpakam with a second hand camera and financial help
from S M Dharmalingam. He made ‘Keechaka Vadham’ inter-titled in
Tamil, Hindi and English. He made ‘Draupadi Vastrapaharanam’
featuring an Anglo-Indian actress, Marian Hill, as Draupadi. In
1923, his studio was burnt down and his son died, prompting him
to retire.
Then came Raja P. K. Sandow (1894-1942). A
passionate gymnast, he started his career as a stunt actor in S
W Patankara's National Film. He went to Bombay and made silent
movies. He became famous by the movie ‘Veer Bhemsean’. Returning
to Tamil Nadu, he made many movies based on social reforms.
Directing his first film, ‘Anaadhai Penn’, with R Padmanabhan,
he embarked on a series of reformist social movies. He made ‘Nandhanar’,
the story of an untouchable Hindu Saint. He was the first one to
put actors’ names in the movie title. The Tamil Nadu government
gives the 'Raja Sandow Award' for best movies, in memory of him.
 T
P Rajalakshmi was an actress, producer and the first Tamil woman
director.
She learnt dance and music and made her stage
debut under the tutelage of Sankaradas Swamigal, considered the
father of modern Tamil theatre.
In 1936, she directed the movie ‘Miss Kamala’
(based on her first novel) and earned recognition as the first
woman director of the Tamil film industry. She also acted in
Sandow's ‘Usha Sundari’ and ‘Rajeswari’.
 T
R Sundaram worked at Angel Films, then took it over and started
the Modern Theaters Studio (1937) in Salem. He produced 98
films, including work by Duncan, C V Raman and T R Raghunath. He
approached film making with a business-like attitude, importing
foreign technicians for his debut ‘Sati Ahalya’ and also
produced the first Malayalam sound film, ‘Balan’ (1938). He
revolutionised the film industry by producing the first colour
film in Tamil, ‘Alibabavum Narpathu Thirudargalum’, starring one
of Tamil cinema’s most charismatic actors, M G Ramachandran, and
in Malayalam, ‘Kandam Bacha Coat’. In memory of him, the South
Indian Chambers Complex is called 'Sundaram Avenue'.
Many a Tamil movie has set the cash counters
ringing. Many have churned out ‘masala’ stuff and many others
titillated an insatiable audience. But a few movies set the
trend for many to follow, the impact on movie makers and the
public being equally great. These trendsetters were a result of
a good story line combined with brilliant direction and acting.
Many such trendsetters were created not by veterans but by
greenhorns, graduating from film institutes and farms! When the
masses stopped flocking to the theatres, these movies pulled
them in by the droves.
The first of these was, of course, ‘Haridas’
which ran for a record 768 days! Following closely was
‘Thyagabhoomi’ of 1939. Directed by K Subrahmanyan, this film
was a watershed in the sense that it spoke eloquently about the
prevailing social and patriotic scenario. ‘Nam Iruvar’ was
screened in 1947. Even today some of the songs of in this film
are standard fare on television and radio during occasions of
national importance. This film comes down heavily on the evils
of black marketeering and lust for money.
 Krishnan-Panju-directed
‘Parasakthi’ of 1952 was a controversial and dialogue-laden film
that spoke of rationalism. The film showed the hero as a
rationalist, having great affection for his sister, almost
murdering a priest who tries to molest her inside the precincts
of a temple. Like ‘Nam Iruvar’, this film too depicts the
rampant black marketeering of the time. M Karunanidhi, the
present Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, penned the dialogues for
this film, which were later released as an audio record. This
film stressed the importance of dialogues for a film, and their
delivery in an impassioned manner, epitomised by Sivaji Ganesan.
It is to be noted that this was Sivaji’s first film, after
several encore performances in stage dramas.
 ‘Devdas’
in 1953 introduced the concept of tragedy in movies, with the
movie doing well in Hindi and Telugu which were filmed after the
success of the Tamil version. In 1959, the Kollywood-produced
film ‘Veerapandiya Kattabomman’ won the "Best Movie" award at
that year's Afro-Asian Festival.
‘Kalyana Parisu’ (1959), director C V
Sridhar's debut, introduced a parallel comedy track that sent
the audience guffawing. It set a trend by its brand of humour.
Shobha’s stellar performance in the Durai directed film ‘Pasi’
(1979) won her a national award for Best Actress. She plays
Kuppamma, a rag-picker, mouthing an almost separate dialect of
Tamil, contemptuously called 'Madras Tamil'.
 Mani
Ratnam's ‘Nayagan’ (1987) tells the tale of an underworld don in
Mumbai. This film is noteworthy for the way it was crafted
Cinematographer P C Sriram and Art director Thotta Tharani added
a new dimension to their respective fields. Kamal Haasan’s
screen portrayal of the ruthless don won him the country's best
actor award and P C Sriram won the national award for
cinematography and Thotta Tharani, for art direction.
 In
the technological aspect, the first film to have used the Dolby
system was Kamal Haasan's ‘Kurudhipunal’. Similarly, the first
Indian film to have adopted DTS system was Abavanan's ‘Karuppu
Roja’. These are just two examples to show the advancements and
accomplishments of Tamil films in Indian cinema.
 The
invention of L D Forrest, Movie tone helped record the sound on
the edge of the film. In the recently introduced Super 35 mm
technology, sound will be recorded on the image itself. This
way, not only will the image have superior clarity, but the
sound too would be crystal clear. Selvaraghavan's ‘Pudupettai’
and Kamal's ‘Vettaiyadu Vilayadu’ adopted this Super 35 mm
technology.
 The
laurels the industry has won is too many to list.
‘Malli’, released in 1998, won the Golden
Pyramid Best Film award at that year's Cairo International Film
Festival, and ‘The Terrorist’ won the same award in 1999. In
2004, ‘Virumandi’ won the Best Asian Movie award.
 The
2005 release ‘Raam’ won both Best Musical Score and Best Actor
awards at the 2006 Cyprus International Film Festival, and
another 2005 release, ‘Navarasa’, won the Angel Independent
Spirit Award and Best Supporting Actor awards at the Monaco
International Film Festival. Now we have ‘Sivaji’ rocking
theatres around the world!
 Other
memorable movies that made a mark were Rajnikant-starrer
‘Padaiyappa’ which ran for 200 days, grossing Rs 40 crore.
 ‘Ramana’,
slated to be Vijaykanth’s best performed movie.
 Mani
Ratnam’s ‘Kannathil Muthamittal’, ‘Ghajini’ starring Suriya,
Rajnikant’s ‘Chandramukhi’, Vikram’s ‘Anniyan,’ Kamal’s
‘Vettaiyadu Vilayadu’, K S Ravikumar’s directorial venture and
Ajith-starrer ‘Varalaru’, ‘Guru’ by Mani Ratnam and now ‘Sivaji’,
starring Rajnikant were all big budget movies that kept the
audience glued to the screens.
 The
average annual film output in the Tamil film industry has risen
steadily in the 20th century. The Tamil film industry accounts
for approximately 1 per cent of the gross domestic product of
Tamil Nadu. Interestingly, the Tamil Nadu government has made
provision for entertainment tax exemption for Tamil movies
having pure Tamil word(s) in the title.
 This
is in accordance with Government Order 72 passed on July 22,
2006. The first film to be released after the new order was
‘Unnakkum Ennakum’. The original title had been ‘Something,
Something Unakkum, Ennakkum’, a half-English and a-half-Tamil
title.
 Tamil
cinema’s glorious 75 years of existence is being celebrated in a
gala manner all over the world with star nights and award
functions in Singapore, Malaysia, the UK, US, Japan and many
more countries all through this year. The fête kick started on
August 6, 2007, in the hometown of the Tamil film industry,
Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu. With cultural events,
competitions, celebrity performances, debates and discussions,
star nights and award ceremonies, it would be a year to
remember…
Padma Venkatraman
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