Halftime 2009

If we were to pick one word to define Tamil cinema in the 1st half of 2009, it would have to be 'variety'. That's a word we've long yearned to see applied to Tamil cinema and one that our cinema was in dire need of. A quick glance at the roster of films released so far this year illustrates that we've been lucky to get films in genres rarely tackled before. We've had a horror film(Yaavarum Nalam), children's films about children(Pasanga, Pattaalam), a sports film(VeNNilA Kabaddi Kuzhu), a psychological thriller(MeiporuL) and a character-based drama(TN-07-AL-4777). I don't think we've seen films spanning so many genres usually alien to Tamil cinema in such a short span of time for a while now. There was also the very unique Naan KadavuL but then again, Bala's movies have always been in a genre of their own!.

The more heartening aspect about the abundance of variety is that these films were not throwaway, half-hearted efforts where the directors were simply testing the waters. Films like Yaavarum Nalam, VeNNilA Kabaddi Kuzhu and Pasanga were made by directors who knew what they were getting into and were confident about their work. And it showed. And though MeiporuL and TN-07-AL-4777 were not quite in the same league, they were impressive for the fact that the directors displayed the same confidence in their subject and did not resort to compromises in the name of comedy tracks or unnecessary fights under the pretext of making the films more acceptable.

Not all films waded through such uncharted territory though and there were a few, again in different genres, that took us back atleast a couple of decades. Vikraman's Mariyaadhai was hopelessly behind the times and just felt silly while Sarathkumar's 1977, inspite of the ambitious canvas, was more amateurish than films made in the year referred to in the title. Maayaandi Kudumbathaar told an age-old story of enmity between two families while ManjaL Veyyil proved that a romance also could be old-fashioned, reminding us of the tearjerkers of the 80s with its obvious twist, cartoonish villain and sentiment-laden climax.

Our old friend, the masala film, was still alive and kicking at the end of June though. While Villu's failure dealt an early blow to the genre, Padikkaadhavan's decent showing made up for it somewhat. But it was Ayan that really resurrected it. Serving up its masala with smarts and style, it fixed the bad name the genre had accumulated lately. Ofcourse, films like PerumAL, Thee and Rajadhi Raja were there to show why the genre earned its bad name in the first place. Newtonin Moondraam Vidhi was a familiar revenge saga but was surprisingly engaging though it was headlined by S.J.Suryah.

Romance has had a rather weak year so far and has taken a backseat to other aspects even in supposedly romantic movies. While Sarvam, which brought fate into the mix, emphasized style over substance, Guru En Aalu, a romantic comedy, gave priority to silly comedy over romance. Kunguma Poovum Konjum Puraavum tried to elevate a regular romance with realism while Aanandha Thaandavam, with its weak characterization, almost made one glad Sujatha wasn't around to see what his acclaimed novel had been turned into.

Though it were the smaller, unheralded movies that triumphed in the first half, its obviously the big-budget, star- and/or director-driven movies - Aayirathil Oruvan, Kandhasamy, Unnaippol Oruvan, Vettaikkaaran, Adhavan - that once again loom large as we look ahead to the rest of the year. But whether the movies that come out are big or small, lets hope, as always, that the second half is even better than the first...