folks,
i dont know if movies like thiruvilayadal can be made today, from a financial and marketing pov. let alone skillset.
where can we get someone like sivaji to act out those historical roles. in some ways those thespians with the traditional mode of acting are gone, and never to be replaced.
the audience of today is of a different kind, more sophisticatedly understated acting is the norm, not gifted oratory and high sounding classical adukku thamizh speeches with correct grammar and intonation.
i was so surprised when mani ratnam wanted to make ponniyin selvan. went through in my mind, the current crop of actors who could fill those roles. i thought vikram would do good for vandhiya thevan or even surya. i was disconsolate when it was announced that vijay would be thevan, and rejoiced when the venture was cancelled.
i do not think any of the fair skinned non tamil speaking north indian heroines would come close to the histrionics of savitri or sujatha or saradha. believe me, i do enjoy the changes as they come, and essentially enjoy today's movies just as much as i did of those yesteryears. but many of those days movies are beyond production or even imagination of today's film world, moneywise and skillset wise.
i saw ponnar sankar. an awful movie, the dialogues stale and delivered with an uncertain diction that comes of out of lack of familiarity of tamil. that this was a period piece, gave an excuse, to show all the women almost bare breasted and tight assed. could not help thinking of those glorious costumes of devika in karnan and how majestic savitri looked in thiruvilayadal inspite of the 1 ton weight (i think savi was her heaviest in that movie).
atleast today's stars maintain their bodies unlike sivaji or savitri. i still remember my mom laughing her head off, at the sight of a fabby bellied sivaji singing 'naan pesa ninaippathellam' in 'paalum pazhamum'. when he ran, the belly jiggled in the opposite direction
raji, i agree.. isaitheivam naanada.. was a fitting climax to the song. balamurali was tops.
