Kollywood's heartthrob Suriya, who made Aamir Khan sit up, take note and better his box office raking with ‘Ghajjini' , has just commenced shooting for Ram Gopal Varma (RGV)'s ‘Raktha Charitra', a biopic on the Naxalite Paritala Ravi. Former Miss Chennai Trisha is ecstatic about her Bollywooddebut with Akshay Kumar in Priyadarshan's movie, ‘Khatta Meetha'.
More than 60 years after S S Vasan's Chandralekha', the country's first all-India hit, created ripples with its promos and the movie itself the Bollywood-Kollywood cine express is on a fast track. Kollywood technicians, actors and directors are making movies with top Hindi stars and directors.
Mani Ratnam, who tugged the heartstrings of audiences even in Jammu and Kashmir with Roja' is currently directing Aishwarya Rai and Abishek Bachchan in Ravan'. Mani has also roped in popular Tamil star Vikram, marking his entry into Hindi films. Ace south Indian cinematographer Ravi K Chandran is currently in San Francisco, shooting Raj Kumar Santhoshi's ‘Ajab Prem Ki Gajan Kahani'.
And it's not just a one-way street. Hindi stars are increasingly signing up with Tamil directors. Sameera Reddy and Pradeep Rawat will be packing their bags to Malaysia for the shoot of Asal', being produced by Sivaji Films, which forayed into Bollywood with Amar Deep' and Rakhi'.
In fact, there has always been an exchange of talent between the two film industries. From the late 40s right upto the 80s, Tamil producers and directors had successfully made Hindi films with leading stars such as Raj Kapoor, Sunil Dutt, Ashok Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, Nargis, Waheeda Rahman and Rajesh Khanna.
Stars from Tamil cinema have also made waves in Bollywood. Vyjayanthimala Bali was the first superstar from the south who debuted with ‘Bahaar' , produced by AVM, in 1951. A couple of decades later Kamal Haasan's Ek Duje Ke Liye' was a chartbuster. ‘Andha Kanoon' gave Rajinikanth a pan Indian face and his mannerisms like flicking the cigarette drew non-Tamil movie buffs to the theatres.
"The cross-border movie making culture between Hindi and Tamil cinema is the perfect example of a love story in business," says G Ramkumar, son of Sivaji Ganesan. He should know, since his home has been the preferred destination of many Bollywood stars, including Prithviraj Kapoor, Mahmood, Rajendra Kumar, Pran and Lata Mangeshkar. S Ramanathan is another director who successfully cast top Bollywood stars in his films, and is said to be a close confidante of Amitabh Bachchan.
"The recent signings are an indication that Tamil stars are saleable, since they are being paired with top Hindi stars once again," says Ramesh Prasad, son of the late LV Prasad who successfully produced and directed many silver jubilee hits in Hindi.
"It is wonderful that Bollywood is once again shopping down south," says Bali. "Tamil producers and directors have always been successful because of their skillful storytelling abilities."
"It was Vasan's ‘Chandralekha' which opened the doors for other Kollywood producers and directors in Bollywood," says film historian Randor Guy. "Thevar was another successful filmmaker who, without knowing a word of Hindi or English, signed up stars like Rajesh Khanna. He would just say, Date mine, money yours' and the stars would smile and sign up," says actor and corporate lecturer Mohan Raman.
Today language is no bar. Asin dubbed her own lines in ‘Ghajjini' and is likely to do so in her second film as well, this time with Salman Khan. Indu Mirani, a Bollywood trade analyst, says, "The trend in Bollywood has been towards hiring male stars with Punjabi and Pathan looks, but Siddharth was also a huge rage, so it is wide open there."
Ramkumar is convinced that the Kollywood-Bollywood connection is a hot and happening bridge."The glamour quotient in Tamil films is a proven one today. Add to it the mind-blowing expertise of our technicians and our reputation for being good paymasters and it's going to be ‘Chennai Chalo', and ‘Mumbai Meri Jaan'," he says.
via: indiatimes.com
