CBFC certification: Telugu movies tops list

New Delhi, April 6 (PTI): Telegu movies have topped the list of feature films certified by the Central Board of Film Certification during last two years, according to figures available with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting here.
A total of 245 Telegu films were awarded certificates. This was followed by Hindi films (223) Tamil films (162), Malayalam (77), Bhojpuri (76), Kannada (75) and Marathi 73, according to the official figures.
The CBFC in all issued a total of 10,551 certificates during the year 2006, as against 7,417 during 2005. As many as 3,454 certificates were issued to celluloid films and 7,097 to video films during this period. These consisted of 1091 Indian feature films (celluloid), and 336 foreign feature films (celluloid).
Out of 1636 Indian feature films (celluloid and video) certified during the period, 1130 were granted U certificates, 270 UA certificates, and 236 A certificates. Similarly, of the 1080 foreign feature films certified in the year, 460 were granted U certificates, 269 UA certificates, and 351 A certificates.
The Board certified a total of 7,242 Indian short films during the period January to December, 2006, of which 6,717 were granted U certificates, 359 UA certificates, 165 A certificates.
A total of 7097 certificates were issued to video films. Of these, there were 545 Indian feature films, 744 foreign feature films, 5494 Indian short films, 235 foreign short films, 75 Indian and 4 foreign films belonging to the Others category, long films other than feature.

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Tamil Films facing closed doors in South

It was not long ago that Kannada film industry, apparently raged over the diminishing collections on account of copetition with Tamil films, demanded to the State government to restrict release of non-Kannada films in Karnataka for the six weeks. The state government subsequently conceded on account of which non-Kannada films were barred entry for the first six weeks of their release in Karnataka. That decision affected all other languages films as well. On account of that step alone, Karnataka witnessed a high number of remakes in Kannada from Tamil and Hindi films. It did not though brought any worthwhile trend of original stories or new concepts in Kannada movies. Some trade bodies even went to the Supreme Court against this order in 2004 and now recently state government has denied having issued any such order.
These trade bodies feared that neighbouring States like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala will be provoked to take similar decision against release and exhibition of Kannada and other language films in their respective states. Though these apprehension were not realised owing to the little popularity of Kannada films in other regions, it has came into existance for Tamil films. The same situation aroused in Andhra pradesh some time ago. Some Chiranjeevi films having failed to garner collections to the level they once did, at the same time Rajinikant's Chandramukhi dubbed in Telugu making records in collections and Santkozhi, Thimiru, Aanai etc. films making waves on box-office gave sleepless nights to the industrywllahs. Faced with a lacklustre performance of a majority of Telugu films and Tamil dubbed films making hay one after another, the film producers association there demanded a ban on Tamil films dubbed in Telugu. But this demand, arose as did subsequently vanished without a whimper and no concrete decision in this matter has not been taken till now.
After the Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, it is the turn of the Kerala now to try to halt Tamil films at its border.
Tamil films, actor, actresses and songs have a huge fan following in Kerala. Anyone watching Asianet or Surya TV can vouch for that. Even Malyalam actresses have a harvest time now in Kollywood. Asin, Nayanthara are two heroines who can prove this point. Sometimes Tamil songs have more buzz than the Malayalam songs in Kerala. Old horses like Rajinikant and Kamal Haasan command a big fanbase with young guns Vijay, Surya and Vikram following the suit. So much so, that though Prithviraj is a face to reckon with in Tamilnadu, he is a big craze in Kerala girls. A distributor in Palghat has the bought rights for Shivaji-the boss for a whooping amount of Rs. 35 Crores, which is considered a record in Kerala.
It is hardly surprising then that Mollywood's insiders are alarmed at the pace at which Tamil films are gaining ground. To contemplate on this situation, some financiers in Mollywood recently had a meeting. It was decided in this meeting that Tamil films should be released in Kerala few weeks after their release in Tamilnadu. Even so, this restriction is less likely to affect the films starring Rajini, Kamal, Vijay etc. These films will be released simultaneously in Kerala.

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Maestro’s sublime act

Kudos to Illayaraja. The maestro has done again what people in film industry are seldom expected to do. The man who has mesmerized generatios with his sweet voice has shown that he can stand for his convictions when it matters.
Music director Ilayaraja and director Gnanarajasekaran shared an excellent rapport. Ilayaraja’s works in Moga Mul and Bharathy, both directed by Gnanarajasekaran, won several accolades.
Obviously Gnanarajasekaran approached Ilayaraja for his current directorial venture Periyar, a movie based on the life of the revolutionary thinker in Tamilnadu. Actor Satyaraj and Khushboo are expected to act in the film. But the news is that Ilayaraja has declined to work in the movie. Eventually the baton has been passed to Vidyasagar.
According to Ilayaraja, he has a great respect for Periyar. "Certain ideas of Periyar still holds relevant. However he was a known atheist. But my life is total contrast to the ideas and thoughts of Periyar. Hence I thought it would not be appropriate for me to work in the movie and more over I though I cannot do justice to my job," he has been quoted as saying.
Fotr the non starters, E.V. Ramasami Naicker, also known as E.V. Ramaswami, EVR, Thanthai Periyar, or just Periyar, was an atheist, social reformer, an activist, and the founder of Dravidar Kazhagam and the Self-Respect Movement in Tamil Nadu, India.
EVR’s given name was Ramaswami. He was from a prominent Kannada Naidu caste, a community that is descended from the Nayak rulers of Tamil Nadu. Hence he is called E. V. Ramaswami Naicker. "Periyar" means ‘respected one’ or an ‘elder’ in Tamil.
EVR was an atheist. He is well known for his antitheistic statement, "He who created god was a fool, he who spreads his name is a scoundrel, and he who worships him is a barbarian." He created a cult of hatred against Brahmins. In fact the most important legacy of EVR in Tamil Nadu is his Anti-Brahmanism and the effect it had on individual Brahmins. He never made any attempt to distinguish between good or bad Brahmins. He used Ganesha Chathurthi (a Hindu festival celebrating Ganesha, one of the popular forms of God in Hinduism), to desecrate and publicly destroy statues of the Gods. Though he was an atheist, he was criticized as a minority appeaser, since he choose to criticise only Hinduism and was soft on minority religions like Christianity and Islam.
Ilaiyaraaja, on the other hand is known for his spiritual leanings. A deeply person, he has composed for over 800 film in various languages like Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi. His Thiruvasagam - A Symphonic Oratorio has made history in sales, in Tamil Nadu. The audio distributors Well Gate say they have sold 35000 CDs and 25000 cassettes of the album.

http://www.raaja.com/biography.html

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A Dubious Feat

Sometime ago while commenting upon an UNI story I had written, that dubbed films diminish enjoyment of a particular film. The better option will be to have subtitles instead. Those were my personal opinions and they did not required to be corroborated. On the contrary, I was aware of the fact that a large number of audienc go for such films. Particularly enjoyed from this lot are action movies! Now this fact is proved by a recent report from far south. A prominent English eveninger from Tamilnadu has reported that Telugu dubbed movies are gaining ground once again in the state. Here is an excerpt:
‘‘A decade ago, a host of Telugu films dubbed into Tamil flooded the theatres in the State. Movies of Dr. Rajashekhar, Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna and Vijayashanthi were dubbed and released simultaneously. A handful of them managed a decent run.
Over the years, patronage for such films reduced considerably and virtually came to a standstill with remakes being the norm. In contrast, Tamil moves dubbed to Telugu started to rule the roost in Andhra. The success of Ghajini, Chandramukhi, Poguru (Thimiru in Tamil), 7G Brindavan Colony (7G Rainbow Colony in Tamil) is example.
The popularity of Tamil films being dubbed forced Telugu producers to contemplate a ban on the same. However, after a long gap, Kollywood seems to be veering towards dubbed Telugu films again. Three Telugu movies are ready for release in Tamil now. Chiranjeevi’s Jai Chiranjeeva, Mahesh Babu’s Arjun and Lawrence Raghavendra and Prabhu Deva-starrer Style are slated for release.
Jai Chiranjeeva stars Chiranjeevi, Bhoomika and Sameera Reddy while Arjun features Mahesh Babu and Shriya and the whole movie is set in Madurai. Mahesh Babu, Keerthi Reddy are playing brother and sister and Shreya is in female lead. Prakshraj and Saritha are in other roles. Most of the faces are familiar for Tamil audiences.
According to a prominent distributor, they are confident that these movies will do well. They all have big star cast and a story line, which would be to the liking of the audience. The fate of these movies will set a new path for several other Telugu films waiting to be dubbed Tamil.”
This pondering about the dubbed films did not catch my fancy until I watched Roja recently. This Mani Rathnam directed Arvind Swamy, Madhu starrer was a huge hit in about 1992. Originally released in Tamil, it was released later in dubbed versions in Telugu and Hindi. I was one of those who could not help but mesmerized by this flick in 1993 and there appeared no flaw then in the movie. Just last month I watched it on a channel and realized first time what a crime a dubbed film commits to original. Here I talk of Roja because it was a hit and never have I came across any comment about the quality of the dubbing in this film.
In the movie, the main protagonist Roja is a village girl. Draped in the scenic beauty of rural Tamilnadu, Mani Rathnam has etched out a visual poetry on the silver screen. Now when you see the movie, the girls wearing Pudavai, Selai and men wearing Veshti with elaan, sandalwood powder tilak seen prominently on their forehead are seen speaking in Bihari dialect and accent without slightest hesitation!

This movie was not the only one doing such a thing. The same feat was achieved in the Kamal Haasan movie, Appu Raja where Apoorva Sahodargal was brought on Hindi screen with dubbed dialogues. The lead actor and actress in the film, Kamal Haasan and Revathi respectively, roam singing in the Nilgiri jungle, which has a distinct Southern view in it. But all the characters in the film refer to the place as Lonavala, which is a tourist spot in Maharastra. And all types of trees but Nigiris crowd Lonavala. The same fate fell on Muthu, which is an all time hit of Superstar Rajinikant. Its dubbing is so lackluster that an important aspect of the film is twisted in the process. In the original, the main villain of the film is the brother of the Jamindar’s mother, while in Muthu Maharaja; he is shown as a friend of the Jamindar’s father.
The state of the dubbed films being so, it is really surprising then that they are so popular in the territories where they are exhibited. Lack of quality films in the local language and an appetite for some good films on the part of the people in the region might be a reason for the same. I have seen this curious trend in Hindi nowadays with CDs and DVDs of films popular Southern actors like Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, Balkrishna, Venkatesh, Vijay, Vikram, Arjun and many others are being sold. Footpaths of major cities in Maharashtra are full of these and they are being sold in no time.
As said above, quality of dubbing of these films is nothing said the better. Still audience tend to enjoy, at least it seems going by the way they are growing in numbers and people enquiring about them. There are people whom I know, who see these films regularly, and they swear that they do not get the stuff in Bollywood movies. That explains one way the success of dubbed ones. But that has not given recognition to the people concerned with original films as they have received in Telugu.
The dubbed films are in vogue for a long time in Andhra Pradesh where film industry is a major player in the whole of industrial sector in the state. There dubbed films as well as remakes continued to go hand in hand with the original ones and all these have competed each other without whining. But a recent decision of the leaders of the AP film industry might change this scenario. They have decided to impose a ban on the dubbed film releasing in the state and the decision is being implemented from 13th Nov. This year. The move is likely to have an effect not only on Hindi films, but also English, Tamil, Malayalam and other regional languages films as well.
Even James Bond films have been released in their dubbed avatar in the past and they have collected the money as much as Telugu ones. Last year, many Tamil films like Anniyan, Chandramukhi, Thambi, Thimiru, SandaiKozhi etc. were dubbed in Telugu and received more than warm welcome by the Telugu audience. The recent decision might hamper the prospects of new arrivals, but none the same it will surely pave the way for remakes. Already AP film industry is full of rehabilitated Bollywood actors, music directors and above all actresses. If the audience is ready to accept them as much as their own artists, how can artisans keep them at a hand’s bay?
This decision coming on the heels of the success of dubbed Tamil films, might be an attempt to save the Telugu industry from being washed away by the Tamil films, but it will certainly keep the audience with some options ready for them in the form of new films and that too good ones. An audience subsisting on a large number of half-baked stuff will always be worse than the one willing to have a limited but good material at its disposal.

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To make or to remake…

(Second part of the story The Remakes-Same Old Story)
Regional films coming to Bollywood screen and vice versa have acquired such a proportion that attempts to make a catalog of it have been already shelved. Sheer number of such projects is so huge that anybody trying to keep a record of it might feel ridiculous. A large number of films in such category have been represented in fairly good manner. An exception here or there will sound justified with the numbers involved. Now, these films have been in the circuit for a very long time and nobody cared a damn for them. Only now have people started to talk actively and in high decibels that makes it sound like it has come into fashion only recently. Or is it that they have been induced to talk in such a way.
Hoopla created at the time of making Devdas, Parineeta, Don and many others has only substantiated this suspicion. There is Priydarshan who can be credited with really most successful remakes in recent times. Since 1992 is remaking his old Malayalam and Tamil hits into Bollywood blockbusters and he has never talked about it. His foray into Bollywood was with the movie "Muskurahat" (1993). This was a remake of the original Kilukkam. His first successful Hindi film was "Gardish" 1994), that was a remake of the Kiridam.
Then again He made his second foray into hindi films with the remake of the acclaimed Kamal Haasan" starrer "Thevar Magan" Tamil) in Hindi. The film was titled "Virasat". He later directed a string of remakes including "Hera Pheri" a remake of Ramji Rao Speaking, "Hungama" , a remake of "Poochakkoru Mookkuthi", "Hulchul", a remake of "Godfather and "Garam Masala" 2005)( remake of "Boeing Boeing"). Priyadarshans has also made Saat Rang Ke Sapne, a remake of "Thenmavin Kombath" Malayalam, 1994); "Kabhi Na Kabhi" 1997), "Doli Sajake Rakhna" (1998) a ramake of Aniyathi Pravu; "Yeh Tera Ghar Ye Mera Ghar" (2002) a remake of Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam and "Kyonki" 2005) a remake of "Thalavattam". Some of the these remakes of Priyadarshan however failed to achieve boxoffice success. Some of these movies originally featured Mohanlal as the lead actor and any retrospective of this Malayalam Superstar will be incomplete without these. But only a handful of the Hindi moviegoers might know this fact. They take these movies as the originals ones. Still they are successful. So why this hype only over Don and Umrao Jaan.
One answer might lie in the statement given by Anandji Shah, one of the music directors of the original Don. Terming the remake of Don as purely a commercial act, he has said on record that makers of the new film had exploited the loop-holes in the Copyright Act to make money. “Listening to the remake of my song ‘Khaike Paan Banaraswala’ has hurt me immensely,” said Anandji of the Anandji-Kalyanji fame. “The first time I heard the remake of my song, I could only laugh.” The director of original film Chandra Barot has said that such remakes act as ‘nuisance value’ for the original filmmakers. “I would personally never go for a remake of any film. Why opt for a remake?” Barot questioned. He added that new film was aimed at making money and nothing else. Barot said, “I am worried if more and more Bollywood classics are remade. It will be a sad day when low budget remakes of classic films like Mughal-e-Azam are made.”
As a movie buff, personally I will say that bringing various regional films into Hindi or its reverse trend is a healthy practice. That gives a chance to viewers to appreciate artworks in another regions, which in India can be a tedious thing to do. One more thing is that movies that usually are remade go not only through the regional-Hindi mode but also one regional language to another one. That’s why Mohanlal’s Thenmavin Kombath was remade into Hindi as well as Tamil. In its Tamil version, Muthu, Rajnikant was the hero and this remade version was a bit different in its storyline as well as presentation to suit to Superstar’s image. This remade version superceded all the collection records of the original one and still has a unique reputation of being the biggest Indian hit in Japan. Though they did not give an ample idea of the talent that the original artistes, writers, music directors or any other who made the film tick, they give a reflected glimpse of the currents in the respective film industries. Many Hindi films in the 1980s and 90s were imported from the South and those movies provided enough indications of the film genre in vogue at that time.
As in Hollywood, many remade films also provided a base for the new crew to improvise on the original films and they did well. Money factor, a bane of Bollywood, for many decades, played an important role in the refurnishing of new creations and it showed in the films as well. That’s why some original regional movies fail to cast a spell to the extent that new, Bollywood hits could. Sometimes, a persona or an actor like Amitabh Bachchan would made it very difficult for others to recreate the magic. With the exception of Rajinikant, many others who tried to do such a trick paled in the effort.

(To be continued)

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