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Not
a
bad
year for films
 In
all, 155 films were released in the year 2001, thereby creating
a record of sorts in the south. But only 75 films were straight
films and others were dubbed ventures. The Kamal Haasan-starrer
Thenali and the Vijay starrer-Friends were the only two films that
reached the silver jubilee mark while Ajith’s Dheena completed
a 125-day run shows the poor state of the film industry. While only
nine films completed 100 days in 2000, last year had 15 films which
reached the 100-day mark. Vijaykant’s Vanchinathan and Narsimha,
Karthik’s Ullam Kollu Poguthe, Vijay’s Badri, Madhvan’s
Dum Dum Dum, T Rajinder’s Sonantha Kathala, Mammootty’s
Anandam, Ajith’s Citizen and Poov Ellam Unn Vasam, Vikram’s
Dhill, Prasanth’s Chocklet and Sarath Kumar’s Samudaram
were the films that touched the 100-day mark as per official records
but many of these films were pulled in the theatres by the producers
to keep up the ‘star status and banner value’ is an undeniable
fact.
With nine films
released, Roja topped the list of actresses who acted in the maximum
number of films and also had the distinction of having acted in
100 films. She is currently in the news for having come out with
an interview criticising Kamal Haasan for the way in which his heroines
are depicted on screen. With six films, Devyani came a close second
and Jothika came third with five films out of which two were successful
at the box-office. Simran, the numero uno of 2000, had only two
releases and both were flops. Laila had four releases of which two
were hits. Meena had three releases but she was the heroine in only
one of them. While she only had a side role in one, in the other
she appeared in a song sequence. Rambha had two releases and both
were flops. Mumtaz, the sex bomb, came in six films and kept her
slot intact.
Vivek was the
most popular comedian with 21 films to his credit and Vadivelu came
a close second with 19 films.
 Directors
Ramanarayanan and Sundar C directed three films each and topped
the list. Sundar had a hit in Ullam Kollu Poguthe. K Balchander
directed and released his 100th film starring Madhvan and Simran
in the lead.
Amongst the
new talents, Sham who made his debut with 12B is the most sought
after hero in Tamil film industry because his first film has got
him a lot of fans in the college-going crowd and is said to be a
strong rival to Madhvan who managed to retain his slot with Minnale
while his K Balchander film was a washout.
Among the debutante
heroines, Rima Sen in Minnale, Gaytri Jayram in Manathe Thirudi
Vittai, Anjala Zaveri in Ullam Kollu Poguthe, Bhoomika in Badri,
Richa Pallot in Shahjahan and Sneha in Anandam were those who showed
promise. Rinkie Khanna’s debut performance in Majnu was a disaster.
Kavya Madhvan, the popular actress in Kerala, made her debut in
Kaasi but did not create a ripple.
 Besides
this, a lot happened in the industry. Actor Sarath Kumar and comedian
SS Chandran were nominated as Rajya Sabha MPs. Director Rajakumaran’s
marriage with actress Devyani created a flutter in the film circles.
Sarath Kumar and Radhika who were longtime friends turned husband
and wife last year. Director Suresh married actress Meera, vamps
Vichitra and Alphonsa too tied the nuptial knot. Comedian Vyapuri
got married. Actress Nalini and Ramarajan’s divorce case caught
the media attention. The passing away of veteran actor Sivaji Ganesan
left a void in the film industry. The Union Government released
a stamp in his memory and the State government gave him state honours
at the funeral. The death of director Tirupathiswami in a car accident
before his debut film Narasimha was released was the most tragic
event. It led to the editor’s union to decide that they will
not work for more than eight hours a day since the director was
returning home in the early morning after working with the editor
the whole night. The accidental fall of Sarika Kamal Haasan upset
the industry while the attack on the unit of Samudaram in Karnataka
angered the Tamil film industry. Actress Vindhya fled her house
and accused her parents of forcing her to take up prostitution.
Rajanikant, with no release last year, continued to be the point
of speculation about his next film. He, however, ruled out his coming
to politics while his friend Kamal Haasan hinted about his desire
to join politics. Vijaykant’s hobnobbing with AIADMK supremo
Jayalalitha set off reports that he had changed sides from DMK.
Unlike previous
years, last year passed off without any strikes or major disputes.
The film industry was, to a certain extent, to get support from
all sections to enforce curbs on TV channels from showing new films
clippings and telecasting interviews of artistes on festive days
since it affected collections.
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