All India Radio and Doordarshan have staple films and songs which they play on key occasions. The image of Kamal Haasan with a French beard and disco-clothes smashing the glass while on his bike as SPB croons “Wish you a Happy New Year” (Sakalakala Vallavan, 1982) is the one thing that hasn’t changed since 1982.
Though 2016 has been a year of nothing but ‘change’ even when our purses didn’t/don’t have any (couldn’t resist, sorry!), Tamil films have a lot to look forward to in 2017. The most important is the release of the two biggies — Rajinikanth & Shankar’s 2.o and Kamal’s Sabaash Naidu. While this is not ‘news news’, what can be considered ‘anew’ is some noteworthy and fan-worthy set of combinations in films which I wish to see when and IF some of our talents collaborate.
Key among that long list of director-actor combinations are — Mani Ratnam with Kamal and Mani Ratnam with Rajinikanth. Even if one of these combos click it would indeed be a glorious release which will see an unprecedented run, independent of any economical or socio-political event which may unfold in the new year.
An actor who could throw in a surprise if he were to act with Mani Ratnam, Gautham Menon and Selvaraghavan would be Vijay Sethupathi, who was essentially ‘Hero of the Year’ in 2016. Sivakarthikeyan is apt to do a Gilli-2 with Dharani, whose masala mix has been the best since Dhill (2001) and Dhool (2003).
It would be ‘different’ to see Vijay and Suriya in a Karthik Subburaj film and Vikram and Ajith in a Nalan film, with the wry humour intact. They can of course do these films together or separately, because either way the expectation soars.Arya, Jayam Ravi, Vishal and Karthi can work with newer directors and give us films with interesting themes. Have to mention that I really look forward to writer-director Thyagarajan Kumararaja’s film in 2017!
As for music, it would be great to tune into an album which will have AR Rahman score for Karthik Subburaj or Nalan as against their regular Santosh Narayanan. Venkat Prabhu is possibly the best bet to bring any two heroes together for a film — so he would be a perfect fit for a film starring Dhanush and Simbu. (would they play badminton instead of cricket? Well, that’s some sport for thought right?) There are a set of directors Nayanthara has not worked with so far and maybe 2017 can see her work with those names (all already mentioned above!)
The new year can also spring up better talents among actresses and two of whom I want to see more in roles which are well etched and not merely glam for the sake of it or the so-called ‘art house variety’ are Anjali and Aishwarya Rajesh. Trisha has a line-up already and is Tamil cinema hiding an Alia Bhatt somewhere? Now, that would be a great ‘find’ for writers and directors here, wouldn’t it?
Source: The New Indian Express