Murugadoss Going Places
Murugadoss is really going places. The Ghajini director is now directing Telugu megastar Chiranjeevi in Stalin. And from his Rediff interview, it looks like he might then work with Aamir Khan in the Hindi remake of Ghajini. Considering how selective Aamir is about his projects, this sure is a big compliment for Murugadoss.
Now I'm not sure if I should be happy at a Tamil director getting fame and recognition at a national level or sad that we are losing, atleast for a while, another promising director (while we are stuck with the likes of Perarasu). Speaking of promising directors, Murugadoss would've definitely deserved a place in the lineup of 'directors of today and tomorrow' that Gautham assembled on stage during the VV audio function.
Balaji's Thots... [Permalink]
Your Thots (14)
14 Comments:
Of the three movies he's made till now, I think I enjoyed Ramana the most, even more than Ghajini, coz Ramana, in spite of its striking similarities to Indian, had a taut screenplay till the very end whereas Ghajini lost a lot of steam after the death of one of the main characters in the second half...
just hope Murugadoss corrects these mistakes in his next feature...he's defn. a force to reckon with.
balaji, i read somewhere that asin might be the heroine for hindi ghajini cuz aamir was very impressed watching her in the tamil one. the article also mentioned that it wud be a good break for asin in hindi.
it wud be a treat to watch aamir in this role, though i fear that he may look a little old...
Well, what might be fitting for this post, Balaji, is to see how many of our Tamil directors have really succeeded up north and managed to stay there years on together. I would like to say that you can count them with your fingers.. very very few!..
In Murugadoss' case, this might his one unique opportunity to do a film with Aamir there. Remember, the Hindi film industry is notorious for dragging film shooting schedules, lack of discipline and structure and added to that, our directors have always been repeatedly looked down upon for being from the South.
I wish Murugadoss luck, but based on the experiences of previous South Indian and/or Tamil directors who are worked up north, it's pretty clear that our working style and discipline differs largely from theirs.
Even though our tamil films don't necessarily reflect the work ethic, dedication, style or disciple of our directors (at least not every time they make a film!), many of them come with that kind of a stringent background.
Priyadarshan may be pointed to as the one exception among South Indian directors to continually succeed up north and probably the only one to survive in that industry for so long (enough to be revered and respected!)..
Balaji, I agree with your view on Muragadoss's way of handling romance - its sweet. Be it Dhina or Ghajini the romance section(as you mentioned earlier) impressed the most.
Going by such a view I think he is sure to succeed in Bollywood. Considering that Bollywood is getting an overdose of action/masala films off late, the romance part of this movie is sure to strike.
Rajesh
ram, 'ghajini' had more hype and was technically superior but overall it was probably the weakest of the 3. 'dheena' was a great masala while 'ramanaa' had a taut screenplay and stuck to its story without distractions. 'ghajini' had little other than the romance...
deepa, yeah i read that aamir had called her and personally congratulated her. so she's supposed to be a strong contender for the role in hindi also.
aamir would be good in the role i think. hope murugadoss improves the screenplay so that he exploits the basic premise of 15-minute memory better than he did in 'ghajini'.
sandya, so who r the other tamil directors who have tried their luck up north? i've heard actors and actresses talk about the lack of discipline and long shoots in hindi but which of our directors have tried and failed?
prasanna, yeah its real sad that all directors who r making hits and good films, like dharani, selva, etc., r migrating to other languages.
rajesh, yes he really does a great job at fashioning cute and memorable romances.
one big doubt.. why do u say kamal and gauthami made a happy nice family.. are they married already?
Balaji,
The two other directors who come to mind almost immediately are S.J.Suryah (who burnt his fingers with Kushi in Hindi) and Adhiyaman (who made "Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam" back in 2002.. but even that he struggled quite a bit to get released!.. I think it was a remake of Thotta Chinungi). Adhiyaman's "Shaadi Karke Phas Gaya Yaar" which was the original to Priyasaki has yet to see light of day in Hindi.. god knows what the reason is!..
Then there is Kamal and Maniratnam. No matter how many straight Hindi films or simulataneous Hindi-Tamil films they make, neither have been long standing favorites in Hindi. As directors, I'd only say both have only failed purely in the face of numbers.. Of course, it's been a really long time since Kamal made Hey Ram! (and let's not talk about the debacle called Mumbai Express!) and Mani's Yuva couldn't even leave a small dent in that industry.. so no luck there!..
Balu Mahendra made one or two films (including one listed as Aur Ek Prem Kahani), but nothing earth shattering, obviously, because he didn't want to foresake the 'art' in the name of cinema. The same is the case with Revathi Menon.. nothing she can make can take her to where people like Mira Nair and Deepa Mehta are right now.
Another example of a finicky director, Santosh Sivan.. who would make films on his own terms.. after Asoka in 2001, we haven't heard from him at all, at least not about making another Hindi film.
Looks like K.Balachandar directed quite a few films in Hindi (but I'm not sure if these were dubbed or straight films!). If there were any straight films at all, then he is another one who came back royally to where he belongs...
Bhagyaraj seems to have made Mr. Bechara and the very famous Aakhree Raasta (the remake of "Oru Kaidhiyan Diary" in Hindi in 1986). But that's about it from him as well!..
I'll think of some more and write later!.. If you can think of any more "one/two film director wonders up north", do list them here, Balaji.
Shankar with the mega-flop 'Nayak'
Agathiyan with "Hum ho gaye aapke" in 2002.
P Vasu with "Hogi Pyar ki jeet" in 1999
Suresh Krishna currently directing "Rocky" in Hindi
Sandya, I heard Bharathiraja is all set to do a film in Hindi (Or has it already been launched?). I am pretty sure on what his fate will be, if and when the film releases :)
Balaji, The one director I would rather see than Murugadoss in the list of promising directors is Susi Ganesan. And now, with his Thiruttu Payale getting the critical acclaim among the Tamil new year releases, I guess he can truly claim his position in that list.
First we heard news about Perarasu directing Kamal and now this. Where is this world going to? :((
Bart, Agathiyan also did Sirf Tum in 1999 (remake of Kaadhal Kottai) which actually had a pretty decent run. Looks like Hum ho gaye aapke was a remake of Gokulaththil Seethai...
I agree that barring Ramana, screenplay for the other 2 films were disappointing at a lot of spots.
Now coming to migration, though I wish both Asin and Murugadoss the best, my personal hunch is that they would probably find the hindi film world a bit overpowering and barred. Most directors, including the great Maniratnam, have found it hard to find a spot there.
-Kajan
I wonder why Aamir chose Murugadoss of all the young/popular directors down South to work with and why he chose to remake Gajni, when Gajnini itself was ripped in parts from Memento. Strange choices, both. Murugadoss, with a name and face like that, its hard to picture him in Bollywood. He is as "Thamizh" as you can get, especially in Mumbai :-)
But when Bharathiraja is thinking about making a Hindi flick with Nana Patekar, I guess this is relatively easier to digest in comparison.
Talking of perarasu, I heard Kamal is going to work with him next after he finishes with KS Ravikumar :-( Hope its just a rumour. At this stage in his career, I would like to see Kamal work more with the likes of Gautam, Selvaraghavan, Bala etc. or any other talented newcomer with an interesting script. We all know that if it is a serious film Perarasu's contribution would be limited to bringing tea for Kamal every once in a while, but still its an opportunity lost for Kamal to work with fresh talent.
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