Megapolis Chennai: Silver screen lining

CHENNAI: It has been 94 years since the first Tamil film with talkies, Kalidas (1931) released for the audience and thereon over 10,000 films have been released. The audience has witnessed a sea of change in how Tamil cinema has evolved technically, commercially and narratively.

With several National awards and official Oscar nominations, Tamil cinema has been a catalyst of change in how stories are told, with a human touch backed by technical brilliance. But Kodambakkam’s placement in the global cinema map is so near yet so far in 2025. However, with the surge of OTT, several untold stories are yet again being unearthed. Fast forward to 2035, and having witnessed the rollercoaster journey of the industry, Kollywood is just a stone’s throw away to be on par with Hollywood or the American film industry. Not going by the current industry standards, Tamil cinema thespians are hopeful of a turn-around of things in the next decade. G Dhananjayan, producer and Tamil cinema historian Tamil cinema will be free from clutches of commercial aspects in the future.

“Until we achieve that, going global will only be a dream. It requires large corporations and studios to invest in Tamil cinema, without worrying about the outcome. Studios are futuristic that looks at the growth of the industry in terms of content development. They don’t go by the business or the revenue model of one film at a time.” Tamil cinema, according to him, will have to adapt to the Kannada or Telugu film model of revenue to go global in 2035. “Studios like Hombale and KVN in Kannada or Mythri and Vyjayanthi Movies in Telugu have contributed to the growth of those industries. Even if a film bombs, they continue to make other films whereas Tamil and Malayalam cinemas are dependent on individual producers, unfortunately. It is the directors, who will have a vision with good content. We need a Rs 500 crore or 1,000 film to be made in Tamil cinema if we have to reach the global pedestal. We will grow, we will survive. A dramatic change will happen when a top studio comes to Kodambakkam and invests Rs 1,000 crore,” he adds.

National award-winning director Ramkumar, who won accolades for his film Parking sees the brighter side of things. “Even if larger-than-life cinema rules the roost today, it will be content-based film that does the talking in 10 years. When Parking was released, there wasn’t a lot of crowd in theatres due to the monsoon. But when the audience watched our film on OTT after it won the awards, a lot of viewers got in touch to laud the film. Also, producers will be forth-coming to bankroll good content. That is evident with movies like Good Night and Por Thozhil. There weren’t a lot of songs or mass fight scenes. The audience too has started to embrace such stories. Moreover, they are well within the budget,” he says with some confidence.

Having done movies with animals in lead roles in the film era to having done larger-than-life movies in the digital era, Murali Ramasamy sees that the future is AI. “There will be lots of Tamil films in AI in 10 years. AI will be the ultimate factor in Tamil cinema. Actors and stars will give royalty to production houses to make films with them in AI format. The industry will witness a surge,” says the producer, who is planning half a dozen AI movies in his production house Thenandal films. “The producers may not have the knowledge today but we will learn and adapt to the technology soon,” he assures.