OTT =Ola/ Uber cabs and Theaters = auto stands

 With debates on OTT v/s theater in the film industry,as a man who has seen changing service platforms to public, let me draw a parallel to the auto stand service and the apps based auto service. I might not be able to fathom the feelings of theater owners who say that they were ones responsible to building a STAR and in the same breath ask for fees to be reduced and yanking off films after a weekend as popcorn sales dropped but insisting that no producer should go to a OTT without showing his film in the theater.
A decade back, one can get auto in Chennai only if the neighbourhood stand is empty. You cannot flag off a passing auto just because you feel the stand auto guy in charging too much. Any passing auto stops despite this stops , there is  stand guys yelling at him. So I walked back and took my scooter out and rode away or walked far away from the stand and picked up a  passing auto or a standalone auto parked away from the stand. The guys realized that they were losing money and stopped haggling over rates. Meters were then and now also ornamental. Yet another rule was that if the stand is empty, no outside auto can park and pick up service. Reason is that all stand guys are honest guys and certified by local police station.
Now if you go to a star hotel and ask the stand guy to wait in the parking lot, the security says sorry no auto allowed to park. Fine. You go park at the entrance. Guys parked outside say buzz off. Which means you have to hire an auto parked outside the hotel. If you are going in private taxis ( not yellow (cabs) to hotels, there is no problem. Then came  Fast track,a spoilsport. This guy had umpteen cars parked in various parts of the city with one toll free number. You call him and the car comes and drops you and goes off. Before you start out from hotel you give a call and the cab comes to pick you up. The rates were on meters and tariffs. Only thing was that the car was garishly painted Fast Track.
So Fast track after making a study of booking patterns had cars parked near star hotels for quick service. The auto drivers and those who had car rental agreement service with hotels bashed the Fast track guys. So for certain hotels, we were told that to call only after we came to the foyer.
Slowly Hotel car rental and Fast track took a back seat with app based cab/ auto services. Now the auto stand guys ( most of the youngsters having moved over to Ola and Uber) now make a different pitch. They are like the Kirana stores. They know the address of the people you visit , they wait and even carry bags to the doorstep. They also pick stuff on the way when they are on another errand. So no meters but  customers  are happy . So are the young customers as they get a last minute booze bottle picked up from TASMAC). So stand guys reinvented themselves.
Ola/ Uber are here to stay. All those guys who had taken contracts in Chennai airport is losing out to apps guys. The apps guys were not allowed to be parked inside but it has changed. Now only the MGR Central Station is still the bastion of the old haggling auto and yellow cabs and their set of red scarf coolies. Soon things may change,
So like the stand auto guys and local grocery shops ( who rebuild their customer base due to Covid 19 and got on to home delivery apps without paying anything), so called multiplexes will have to reinvent to strike a chord with the customers. By merely saying if you give to OTP, then your entire family will be banned is foolish. Will Bollywood ban Kanganan Raut for acting in a film meant for OTP?  If you have taken money from distributor or theater saying you are making  a film for big screen  and then shift to OTP, you are in the wrong. The distributor and theater lobby came out with a clause that if no money is outstanding to them, you can sell satellite telecast rights for immediate release. Why a change of heart for OTP ?
You made VHS cassettes a monster and later ran to sell video rights. You made satellite TV another monster and now you run to sell TV rights ? Now you make OTP a monster. Do you know that Hindi digital and dubbing rights are a major source of money to producers ?
Now I understand why Sivaji clan decided to have no theater in the Shanti complex.

No rations or money for Movie trackers - YouTube reviewers ?

Film scribes in Chennai are a neglected lot of people. No Superstar or Super heroine has come forward to give any food rations or financial assistance to  any scribe in distress over Covid 19. The fans of the actors have been fighting about the amount of money given to kitty of CM- PM - FEFSI etc, no one has asked whether the movie trackers on Twitter and the You Tube reviewers  are in need of any money as there is no material to propagate, Almost 90% of the film scribes are without any job security. It means no employment letter. Most of them are owners of this  media which is either a blog , a website which runs on PRO;s mercy. Now that there are no films releasing, the movie trackers who used to be fed money to make a dud into a safe proposition and a an average at BO to be member of Rs 100 cr club  are worst hit. As they were  giving BO figures that are not authenticated by either the producer- distributor or theater,, for  a change they are getting certified figures of COVID 19 admissions, those who died and one;s who escaped. So they have moved from movie tracker to Covid tracker.
The YouTube reviewers made a killing out of the paid reviews and the FDFS reports that had the crew of the film come out of theaters and gush into the mike that the film is a must watch. All this has dried up. Some have switched to talking about old hits and it makes sense as TV channels are airing them.
Now all those who thrived on `exclusive' coverage of audio release are affected. If there are many feature film camera's lying idle, there is more number of mobile camera in the cupboard. Now lets move to PRO's. They are yet to be part of FEFSI. Now Mathioli Raaja a PRO turned TV producer and news channel owner managed to raise food grains etc from producers like Dhanu to give it to PRO's who are in need.
The question here is Why does not actors donate for welfare of Film Journalists ? Is it because that there is no unified body to represent them or that the equation works between the actor and scribe on a personal basis or that all you need is a PRO and a budget and need not bother about building a personal relationship ? The State Government announced a Rs 3000 aid to all accredited journalists. As some who are told to work home and those who always worked from home, have to keep their pipeline going. With no idea as to how to clear the backlog of release, these scribes are talking about  an actor who is in deep trouble financially taking over a project or a producer announcing sequels

Why is top Hinduvatva defenders silent on Jyothika speech on temples ?

A  passing remark on the state of Government run schools and juxtaposing it with the Big Temple in Thanjavur with Udaipur Palace like grandeur at an  award function of an elitist  coffee table magazine called JFW,  should have been left as yet another  pseudo- intellectual remark. The remark was ignored  by the like of  H Raja , But many other who are defenders of Hinduvata went to town slamming  the actress Jyothika who said it . They found a Muslim angle. The actress mother is a Muslim and since you are of North Indian parentage, how could you known about the rich heritage of Big Temple . Why don't you talk about the swanky Churches build out of funds for religious conversion coming from abroad ?
 What was the remark - " I heard about this Big Temple and that it is said to be like Udaipur Palaces. I took part in a shooting at a Government run school and the condition was apathetic and this made me thinking. Please donate to schools and hospitals also. After this, I did not go to the temple ( a sarcastic laugh)." Crowd reaction - Clapping. Visuals of a woman sitting at a table and clapping and seen are  her legs as she is wearing a slit gown
Now one side in defense says - Do you know how much  her hubby Surya is funding poor children education ? Reply from Big Temple defenders: A charitable trust is a best way to avoid taxes.
From here the debate moves on to how many temples are in  neglect etc and so on. " The car you came in and the sari ( linen as publicized) as well as the expenditure on the award function should all have gone to funding State run schools. Now Jyothika is not without company. A Hinduvata bhakth warns - " Be it Jyothika or Joseph Vijay. Don't play with our religion," Another says - " Ask your father-in-law about Big Temple ".
 We can expect father-in-law Sivakumar to come out with a non stop extempore speech on Big Temple and Udaipur Palace. A religo- historical link. S V Sekar terms Jo's remark as immature.
Now lets come to reality. A shot is taken at a Government hospital because it has to look like one. It cannot look like Apollo. If no such shabby hospital is found in the location  then a set that meets the requirement would be put up. There are umpteen instances when the production house has given funds to uplift the conditions of such hospitals and in many cases where toilets and pucca houses were build for the village by the production unit since they shot in that area. The producer is Dream Warrior, a company owned by Surya's relative, a late reaction could take place after Anni felt so.
When you start an image building exercise to make the do -gooder character on screen  look convincing, such actions are needed. This is quite an outdated way to do marketing.  Joseph Vijay says it as a crusader on screen.

Jo can ask hubby Suriya and brother-in-law Karthi to just keep one room for an office and convert the entire Nadigar Sangham building ( under construction) into a hospital for the film employees . Like the priests dumped Lord Athi Varadhar to click photos of Nayanthara with Vignesh Shivn, a visit to Big  Palace oops Temple would be good to get more likes for the priests of Thanjavur.  I like Jo's mother. Her daughter said in 2017 speech  - " She said I want to see money in your bank. If you have not met the right man then you should be able to walk out of it,"  Jo could have bluffed about her mom asking her to be in films to get National Award, Filmfare and even predicted that a magazine JFW would give her an award, This empowerment speech was made on stage shared by Priyadarshan who by then was split more than half economically by Lissy.  Did Jo's mother meet Lissy could be the question plaguing Priyan.

The much misunderstood Vijayakanth

Vijayakanth has always been at the receiving end of attacks from the political press. Now when he offered to give the college grounds for the burial or cremation of those who died due to Covid 19, the response has been muted. Except for a Pawan Kalyan, a Cheran , Manobala or a Kasthuri, nobody has given any importance to this act. In fact, it was met with derisive laughter by a few paid professional who take part in TV debates. How can a college ground be used for burial or cremation ? The man is simply saying something for publicity. Nobody saw this as an offer in a time when a neurosurgeon who died of Corona virus was not allowed to be buried in the precincts of a church where he and his  family are members. The opposition was not from the Church or it's members. It was the residents around. The body was then shifted to a State owned burial ground. The accompanying doctors were beaten, ambulance windshield damaged, drivers run with bleeding head injuries. A doctor takes over the wheel and manages to drive away with the Doctor's body and come back only after two ACP's with force arrive . So much for the ` Warriors'.
As I worked for a film weekly published by Indian Express and my earlier ten years of my journalism being reporting politics , before making the shift, I always had lot of  journalists friends who are on political beat. During my visits to  Chennai Press Club, I have never come across a single film journalist. I was told that one needed to be covered by Working Journalists Act to be member and only DSR of The Hindu and Shankar of Screen ( my boss) qualified and both declined to be members.
My journalistic circles included Cinema Express Ramamurthy, Cine News Selvam and Film News Ananadan . All of us would meet often in the evening. Now and then Thanthi Pandian used to come. They were all regarded by Vijaykanth as his mentor's and they used to call him Viji. We used to meet him at Irbrahim Rowther's office in T Nagar and was next to Rohini Lodge, which I was told had  the room of Vijaykanth. Most of the evenings in Rowther's office ( airconditioned) was an open house. I had covered many films featuring Vijaykanth at outdoor locales. I don't recall the movie but remember that a group of college students who chased the car of Radha going towards the campus for shoot was stopped by Vijaykanth. He asked them to go back. It was a Sunday and college was closed. After some time, a group of students armed with sticks etc arrived at the spot and started heckling. He asked Radha and crew to go on shooting. At lunch break, we went inside the classrooms to have lunch. The crowd had by then turned abusive.
Vijaykanth asked the crew to shut the windows and doors of the classes where food was served. He said that no one should come out. After some time, the doors were opened. We saw Vijaykanth along with students going to have a full fledged non- veg meal. What happened ? We were told that Vijaykanth walked alone towards the students and spoke to them. He told them that the sexy Radha that they were abusing was also a woman first and if they still felt that they wanted to get close to her, they could go ahead but with a rider " No woman in my set or one who I see is persecuted, will walk away without taking me on. Here I am weaponless. As a student , I have got lathi blows from police during the anti- Hindi riots  We have fought for our rights but now you have brought it down to a bunch of eve teasers," The entire crew which included stunt men were standing away with the instruction to not move an inch at any cost. The students burst into applause and they took up the invitation to have lunch with  Vijaykanth. His  detractors may say that it was a well scripted drama staged to impress the film press.
The Captain Mantle
His 100th film was Captain Prabhakaran. Directed by R K Selvamani, the idea was floated ( the practice prevalent then) to bring out a special issue devoted to Vijaykanth, who by  then was christened Captain. He was to be featured on the national front page of Screen. I was told not to use any stills from his films and instead have an exclusive shoot. Captain liked the idea and he visualized the costumes with leather jackets, bazookas and huge chains etc. The shoot was done by R Krishna then freelancing with Screen. Incidentally, Krishna was ex sishya of Stills Ravi, the part and parcel of Captain camp.
Some close moments and Kerala connect with Captain
He used to meet the press when he had action sequences,  as it gave him long breaks between shots. He used to complain that without a fight sequence every week , made his body weak. It was one such night sequence and Captain revealed a slice of life before his Kodambakkam days. He wa sson of a rice mill owner in Madurai. He roamed the town with his friends that included Ibrahim Rowther. They kept falling in trouble often and he was packed off with Rowther to Trivandrum to get a job or start a business. His friend was running a business in the Fort area of  Trivandrum. As per tips got, he opened an imitation jewelry store. He took his photos to Merryland Subramaniam and others. They had no roles for a dark skinned hero. Vijaykanth was clear that he would play a hero and nothing else. He finally left Trivandrum and handed over the shop to his friend.
On one night, the atmosphere in Rowther's office was grim. It was an Diwali eve. Next day was the film release. Captain and Rowther had tapped many for funds to clear the lab dues and if it was not done, the prestige would be lost. They were waiting for the money. Will it come or not ?
It was then that Captain spoke about his salad days when he stayed in a lodge in Madras and moved around in a bike ( brought down from Madurai) with photos to seek chance as hero His co-traveler was Sathyaraj who had no qualms in even being a third stooge of villain and was elated if he got a dialogue - Yes Boss. The money order from Madurai kept Vijayakanth going.
The flashback had a mood of saying that - `Even if the film does not release, I will start from scratch and come back'. As the usual custom, Vijayaknth gave new clothes and sweet box as soon as I entered. I stayed back till early morning 2 AM, chatting with him in the open air outside his office. A car pulled up. Rowther came out with a smile and went with the guys in the car. The film got released. The saviour was Udayar , I learnt later.

I remember the wedding of Captain in Madurai. The Madras press was taken in  special coaches attached to a night train to Madurai. From the hotel to venue, it was jam packed. There  was crowds running around and chased by cops and fan club office bearers. All of them wanted to be on stage. Somehow we were taken backstage. After wishing Captain, we were told to go to balcony as Captain and wife would go around the ground in an open jeep. In the melee towards the stage, Film News Anandan, who usually wears pants, decided to wear a gold bordered veshti. In the melee, somebody stamped on his dhoti and it came apart. It was retrieved and tied around his chest.
Charities that went unsaid
I think the money that he has given to film employees who have worked and not worked in his films is amazing. After completion of a full fight sequence, he would hand over a cash packet to each fighter. This was his personal money.
When the sands slips under the feet
To my knowledge, the entire film press was under a Captain mania.  I heard snide remarks from other heroes saying  wind is blowing his way and press is going by it. His 100 day celebrations were seen as stage managed. His fan club offices across the State angered his contemporaries. He had a magazine devoted to only writing about his films and was funded by him. Somewhere along the line, another tough guy with a soft look and willing to do daring actions started to rise. The same PR machinery that praised  Captain had now a new hero. Captain knew it but he did not chase them. He stood his ground.
Nadigar Sangham and politics
To my knowledge, Vijaykanth had a neat exit from the filmdom. He puffingly reached his 150th film ( Arasangam), which was a hit. His dual role with Vikraman who gave hits backfired as Mariyadhai bombed. He donned the director's hat for Virudhagiri that too bombed. He then launched his son Shanmugha Pandian, yet another disaster.
His entry to Nadigar Sangham politics was mainly due to prodding by Radharavi , Radharavi joined hands with his sister Radhika and her hubby Sarathkumar to take over the control of a debt ridden body.  Most of the time, riding rough shod over Stars and many Star nites, the debts were cleared,
After a brief skirmish with PMK, Vijaykanth moved to full time politics. He stood alone against both the Dravidian parties and got 10% voter share and him becoming an MLA. No political journalist had any convincing reason but only that it was a flash in the pan. In the next elections, Jayalalithaa wanted to be in power and she wanted that 10% vote share. She gave him a meaty share of seats and that too to a man who she is in so many words said came drunk to Assembly. He got more seats than DMK and became the Opposition Leader.

Jayalalithaa after having achieved her goal was looking to Vijaykanth being a lackey. When he revolted, he was dubbed a traitor etc. When DMK offered him a chunk of seats in the next poll, his blind  hatred to Jayalalithaa and seeing that in DMK, he would have to play second fiddle to Stalin, took to an alliance that crowned him the King.
As any politician would do, he should have moved to DMK camp. The debacle and his failing health took him back to the pavilion.  What many cannot digest is `Why is he still wanted by other political parties? ' Nothing short of a miracle can bring him back to active life. He will remain a film actor who does not know  politics and failed and further justifying the lobby that now says ` This will be the case of Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan'

No movie theaters till January 2021

In what could be a body blow to Indian movie industry, the committee of Union Ministers that met yesterday in Delhi to take steps to ease the lock-down was told that movie theaters across India should not be opened until Covid 19 has been fully eradicated from India.  The  review will take place on January 2021. This recommendation has sent shivers down the spine of the Indian Movie Industry. The industry was hoping for a partial easing of social distancing regarding movie halls after May 3rd. PVR ,the biggest player in the theater network in India, had even given a proposal that it would operate theater's at 30% capacity to maintain the norms and this in turn would reduce crowds in cafeterias and parking lots. Now the report given to the ministry by Health Ministry officials say that  PVR or other multiplexes may be able to enforce this 30% capacity, but not the other theater's that are in small towns and Tier 2 and 3 cities. Practically, it is not possible for police force to be deployed at all movie halls to enforce social distancing.
Sources say that big chains can absorb the cut in ticket collections and cover up with cafeteria charges and parking  . In cases of multiplexes that are not part of any chain, it would only result in losses. Secondly, a distributor looks to taking out his money in the first week itself and less number of shows would mean longer time. This again would lead to online piracy and negative publicity on social media killing the film.
The situation in South India is even more complex according to the report. The films are star-driven and fan clubs play an important factor in the first week of release. Restricting them would only lead to  clashes with staff and subsequently deployment of police. The early morning shows as early as 4 AM and late night at 12 midnight are according to movie hall managers, the most tricky ones to manage.
The exhibition sector, especially the big budgeted ones with big Stars and awaiting release are in for a major logistics problem. According to a distributor- Producer Kannan Perumadiyoor, a film like Marrikar starring Mohanlal and directed by Priyadarshan will have to go in for a Pan India release and especially in the Gulf countries to recover the money. The Bahubali director Rajmouli's Ra Ra Ra a multi- starrer too needs a similar release. Add to this Rajanikanth's Annathathe , Vijay's Master and Suriya's SP.
In Bollywood, Suryavanshi the Rohit Shetty film with Akshay Kumar- Katrina Kaif  with  Ajay Devgn and Ranveer Singh in cameos is awaiting release.  Kabir Khan's sports film 83 is too waiting with many other films. Add to this the highly expected Hollywood films that were to be a summer release.
The multiplexes have asked staff to take their March salary and come back when called. Minimum power tariff and property tax is due. Added to this is maintenance as constant fumigation is needed to keep the rodents away. The local body tax levied by State goes to the City corporations- towns and panchayat. With cash crunch, it is unlikely to be waived for movie halls.

crossing the Kodambakkam Bridge -8

Meena- Rambha- Laila and more

Though much is talked about Kushbu and Simran being icons of Kodambakkam and that now-a-days no heroine is able to last so long,in my opinion, I think Meena is an exception. Those who look at her career, will find that she still continues to play the lead and be featured in hit films. Take the case of Drishyam opposite Mohanalal . A blockbuster hit and remade in many languages. this happened in 2013 and also played the same role in Telugu opposite Venkatesh.  She again acted with Mohanlal in the lead and also opposite Mammooty. Now one can say that her success in Malayalam is no great shakes. Cut to 2020. She acted opposite Mammooty in Shylock and had Raj Kiron , her first hero as co-star. Now she is part of `Annatthe ', the Rajnikanth film directed by Siruthai Siva.

My proximity to Meena was more as her mother Mallika was a Malayali actress and the guiding force behind her daughter. Secondly her manager and PRO Cine News Selvam was the last word in shaping her career as Mallika trusted former's judgement. When I visited the sets of En Rasavin Manansile , I saw a child like Meena paired opposite an older, tough, brutish Raj Kiron. I wondered how the audience would digest this but they did and in a big way. Next was that Meena got the Nandi award for Seethamavari ... with ANR. She kept going from one hit to another. Her popularity was very high in Andhra than Tamil Nadu. When Yejuman was being shot in Andhra, the crowds came to see Meena. Her reprisal of Kushbu's role in Telugu remake of Chinna Thambi was a big hit. Veera and Muthu were two other films with Rajanikanth.
Meena's mother was clear that her daughter would no do negative role or wear sexy revealing outfits. Her mother appeared quite upset that her daughter was wearing revealing dresses in song sequences for Naam Iruvar Nammuku Iruvar directed by C Sundar and Prabhu Deva in the lead. Originally, Rambha was to do this role. The film was a hit . It was the only time that a gossip came about Meena being head over heels with Prabhudeva.  I, think Mallika and Selvam's fire fighting service brought the fire under control. Meena;s success is truly pan South Indian. Her library of films shows that her hits in all South languages is unmatched by any heroine of her time. Her daughter Niharika made her debut in Vijay starrer Theri

Let's move on to Rambha. Sundar C put her in a Marilyn Monroe type song with air flowing from below and skirt flying upward followed by her in shorts swinging on a rope tied to a Tyre  and so on in  Ullathey Allithaa. Since then , her skirt kept flying and shorts became her main wardrobe. Once on a location, I asked her why she did not try out something different. He reply was " Directors say that even in emotional scenes, the audience wants me to come in shorts," She was supposed to do a Divya Bharathi in Hindi and said to be close to Salman Khan aand Govinda. Acting apart, she was doing fine ,money wise. The chink in the Armour for her was Vasu,her brother. He decided to produce a film `Three Roses' with Rambha- Laila- Jyotika. At first Simran was signed but after the photo shoot, she left. Next was that Laila's career graph had by then dropped and Jyothika's shot up. It led to ego clashes. Govinda did a dance sequence in Chennai with much fanfare. He was supposed to be shooting for three days but next morning he had left for Mumbai. Govinda is a one take actor and so he finished the song in 24 hrs, said Vasu. Finally the movie after two years of making got released and predictably bombed. Rambha sold off some properties in Mount Road and faced cheque bouncing cases from notorious financiers. Later she is said to have married a big businessman and had posted pictures of her cosy family life abroad., Next was news of her alleging domestic violence and again of a reunion.

Laila who was to replace Pooja Kumar in VIP walked out saying that she did not know that the film had Rambha  also in it. Anyway, her role in Nandha and Pithamaghan , both directed by Bala gave her the mileage. She stuck to her Barbie doll looks and expressions. She did figure in a couple of hits with Suriya but was on her way out. She got married and settled down in Mumbai. Last news, I read was that she is to act in Alice, a thriller that is Bigg Boss fame Raiza Wilson eccentric. I had seen her  at location of Itha oru sneha gadha ,the Malayalam film directed by Captain Raju. The shoot was in a small town in Kerala. In the night, group of guys came knocking. They said that late night discussions are on in the heroine;s room and the hero is always a part of it. The hero was Vikram and I think ,Captain put an end to nocturnal discussions without his presence,

Crossing the Kodambakkam Bridge -7

Nagma

Somehow the names of girls who came from Mumbai to Chennai to make a name crops up in my mind. One such was Nagma. Before she came to Tamil, she was a co-star in all time hit Baghi of Salman Khan and Suhaag with Ajay Devgn and Akshya Kumar. Then we got to know that she acted in Gharana Mogudu opposite Chiranjeevi and opposite NTR  in Major Chandrakanth. It was on the location of Kadhalan produced by K T Kunjumon and directed by Shankar, that I got  to meet Nagma. We clicked from the first meet onward as she still was doing Hindi films and so it served her purpose to be on the pages of Screen. The movie was a big hit. Prabhu Deva's choreography, Rahman songs and the plot, all fell in place. As the norm, everyone ran behind Nagma for dates. It was the time when Meena was established as a Tamil heroine but only difference was that she did not have skin show. Meena  was emerging as a constant factor in Rajinikanth films, Nagma made a breakthrough with Baasha directed by Suresh Krishna. It was an Amitabh starrer  Hum repackaged. The movie propelled Rajini to Super Stardom.

Going by the way industry behaves, Nagma should have been the toast of Kollywood. But her later films shows that she did not get the foothold . Apart from these two films. Nagma featured in many films with then heroes like Karthik, Prabhu , Sathyaraj, Bhagyaraj and even with Ajith and they were not duds either but it did nothing much to her career. At the same time, Meena was going steady at the box office. Producer Pyramid Natarajan even cast the Kadhalan pair with midas touch director P Vasu and with Rahman music , but it turned out to be a dud.

As with many actresses, personal life did play havoc. She acted in Ragasiya Police with Sarathkumar and went on to do films like Aravindhan and  Janakiraman with him. The gossip mills wrote about the torrid affair between Sarath and Nagma. Later it was about the breakup. Anyway, offers dwindled and Nagma moved over to Bhojpuri and Malayalam films. In the meantime her sister Roshni landed up in Chennai to get a break. But nothing great happened. On the way was Jyotika, her other half sister.
Later we read about Nagma's Art of Living classes and her conversion to Christianity and turning a promoter of the religion at Mumbai rail stations. Next was her political avatar in Congress and then been giving South States women wings leadership.  Here too, Kushboo had entrenched herself with the State and Central leaders and Nagma was given a different job.

Crossing the Kodambakkam bridge -6

Simran

 Just a week back, there was reports in filmy websites about Simran's  birthday. The fact that even today she gets written about is something that is wonderful, given  the fact that she is no more the heartthrob or as active she was. Off late she appeared in Rajinikanth's Petta and in Sivakarthikeyan's Seema Raja.  Both of them were nothing great to write home about. The only time we get to hear Simran's name on stage is when director Sundar C  describes his heroine as another Simran in the making.
My first meeting with Simran was in AVM, where Mammooty and Vikram were shooting for Malayalam film `Indraprastham'. Mammooty told me that he saw this girl anchoring a Hindi TV show and told director Haridas to take a look. The film locales were in Delhi and she was cast opposite Vikram ( doing the second lead).As soon as she and her mother heard that I was from Screen weekly, they said " oh no, We don't talk to Bombay  press. They write gossip,". I was confused. As Screen does not print gossip and I have never came across any gossip about a starlet called Simran. Somebody chipped in saying that Mammooty has asked me to interview. Anyway as there was not much to much to talk about, it was a brief one.
The next meeting was a shocker. We were called to cover  shooting of VIP. I saw Simran on the set. I remember the lavish launch of the film but did not see Simran there. I asked Thanu the producer and he said that a Mumbai girl called Laila was booked. She landed in Chennai and took one look at her hotel room and she left to check into Taj. So many nakhras followed and Dhanu dumped her and Simran came on board.
It was only in Kannidhrey Thondrinal directed by Ravichandran, that Simran  the actress came into focus and went to do some good films with Prasanth. Abbas who acted with her in VIP was a youth icon with some hits. She was seen in the company of Abbas. She proved her talents with Thullathu Mannum Thullum and Vaali. We kept bumping into each other on many locations. She also had the guts to pick up negative roles. Somewhere along the line, she moved over to Telugu films and she could not become the sensation that she was in Tamil.

Somewhere along the line, she also got linked to choreographer Raju Sundaram ( brother of Prabhu Deva) and they did a film together as lead. Meanwhile again she was linked with Kamal Haasan with whom she did two films. This too broke up. Meanwhile, her sister Monal came to Tamil films and she was linked with a choreographer and finally resulted in her suicide.
Simran towards her fag end of her career did act in Mani Rathinam - Gautam Vasudev Menon - A R Murugados films. She left abruptly to get married. Later she resurfaced to take an avatar in TV and also is doing a few films, some of which are stuck for ages. She announced that she and her hubby are going to produce films and make Chennai their home. Her directors say that her lip-synch with Tamil and Telugu is perfect. Her dance number `Aal thotta bhoopathi naan thaan' with Vijay is considered as the benchmark of choreography and movements. ( Photo; Third Eye)

Tamil cinema yet to capitalize on digital marketing

Small scale entertainment businesses do not have the huge budgets to advertise on print or visual media. Like any business, marketing of the movie is essential for the success  of the company. However resourceful the marketing team maybe, without advertising the movie  in platforms that reach out to masses and also be on the page that your competitors are visible, not much headway can be made. In today’s growth of e-commerce, people who are the potential buyers   of the movie  that you produced  are searching on digital platforms to form an  opinion. In this scenario, for small scale producers it makes sense to go in for digital marketing, which is affordable and easier to take on the competition on a large scale. The recent success of non star cast Hindi films Super 30 and Suuji Daaga have made digital marketing the must for small time producers.

Boost to business

The digital platforms are doing good business as it has a huge patronage. Even the distributors and OTT platforms who are streaming well advertised movies are on to digital platforms to increase their visibility and the sales figures. If a small budget producer sticks to the traditional way of marketing, it would find itself lagging behind those who are doing digital marketing. Today’s  business men, especially those who are buying niche content for their digital platforms  do not give importance to any products that has no online presence. The reason is that any product that is put online with details and up for viewing comes with viewer’s reviews. A song  or a teaser of the film on a digital platform will get reactions from the viewers .This promotes the small budget film producer’s movies.  It also gives you the chance to prove that your movie is as good as the big star studded films that are in the market.

Tackling competition

The small budget producer does not have the resources to get a feedback from the distributors or the audience. Most of them release the movie in the theaters and wait for the collections to increase. There is also a thinking that as the movie is a small budget one; there is no need to go in for a big promotional budget. This concept has changed with digital marketing. Being on social media and through sponsored advertisements, the reach becomes global for small budget producers which some time ago depended on local patronage and word of mouth to increase the collections. A recent success story is Stree and Paramanu , the two Hindi films which reached the Rs 100 crore club. `Stree' the central character is by Sharadha Kapoor who is no great shakes at the Box office. `Paramanu' which had John Abraham in the lead faced competition from some big names . Both with low budget, managed to capture the public attention with the unique digital promotion.

Being on digital platforms can bring the industry players like the OTT platform owners , theaters , TV channels come directly in contact with the public reaction  and thereby get to know the plus and minus of the movie. This feedback was the privilege of big business, till some time back. They hired big time PR agencies to conduct promotional events with some high ranking critics   interviewing the cast and crew and going gaga   about it.  Now small budget movie producer are getting all this for peanuts. Apart from this game apps that based on the movie are created and put out to attract the audience, especially the gaming addicts.

Bloggers opinion

Yet another method to do digital marketing for small scale entertainment business is that there are many bloggers who write on movies which they specialize on. For a big budget movie producer, they have the resources to put in good write-ups in print and have sponsored TV shows of their movie, If a blogger with reputation and a sizable following notices your movie’s teaser- songs through the digital platform  and finds it good and says so, then you are in business. All this can happen only if you are into digital marketing and at the same time you are offering content that can get appreciation.

Has Lockdown boosted OTT platforms ?

The jump in subscription for Netflix and Amazon after the imposition of Sec I44 in India, is a sign of viewership pattern of moviegoers. A Tamil movie `Dharalaaprabhu' which had to stop screening after a three day run due to lockdown is now streaming on a OTT platform. A big budgeted film Master starring Vijay is facing trouble from exhibitors as they are asking for a refund. The reason being that even if the theaters ( those in Malls) were to open, the social distancing norms and inbuilt fear of contracting Covid 19 among the upper urban class will affect the footfalls. The overseas territories for Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films are UAE and GCC, USA, Canada Australia, FMS ( Singapore- Malaysia). All these countries are under a emergency situation .In such circumstances, the remedy is that to get on to OTT platforms.

/According to a marketing survey conducted in India, 55% of viewers of online movies are from five metropolitan cities. Now the habit has spread to Tier 1 and 2 cities. OTT (over the top) streaming sites when started in India had only old movies that were termed classic for the subscribers. These sites were mostly ones those early offered released movies for download to members as the DVD rental services were getting extinct. Having moved on to the OTT platform rather late in India and as Bollywood producers were still sticking to traditional way of distributing movies, OTT had a slow start. Today, almost all US based OTT have set up shop in India and we too have our TV broadcasters and serial producers entering the race. The public, at first were hooked to seeing TV shows on screen and watching movies in theater. Now with the penetration of high speed Internet being high, OTT sites went on to give their own content for the subscribers. This move got the filmdom shocked as the earnings from these ‘originals’ were as good as that of a hit movie and sometimes even better.

Advantages

The advantage of watching a movie on online movies portal was that for one it had no ad-breaks, two is that you can pause or fast forward them. The viewer can watch the favorite TV show at his/ her connivance. Subscription fee has dropped due to competition and today for a price of four movie tickets; one can get a premium annual subscription. The online movies streaming sites had initially enabled for high end Smartphone but after studying the Indian market and a survey which showed that 70% of smart phone users was using it to watch entertainment content, the companies have now made it enabled for entry level phones and tablets. For those who feel that missing out on the theater experience such as surround sound system and HD projection, the OTT companies has brought out Fire Stick. All you to do is plug and view it on Smart TV that is connected to a home theater.

Other side of the online movies business

Producers of movies meant for theatrical releases are extra getting money by giving rights to OTT players. Though this is good news for production house, it is bad news for theaters. The shelf life of a movie has come down sharply and in some cases to just a weekend. The theater going public has narrowed down their visit to the first three days of the film release and that too for highly promoted star driven movie. Also these crowds opt for multiplexes with food courts and located in malls. OTT companies get the streaming rights from producer to screen it within a month’s time of release. Unless it is hyped up movie, the public prefers to wait and see it on sites that stream online movies.

For the independent producer with the idea of making an offbeat movie or with an out the box story , has the OTT platforms to fund him and also exclusively screen them. He does not have to tackle the exhibitor lobby controlled by a cartel to get his movie released. The ‘original ‘content on OTT is not just movies but also serials that are called web series. The popularity is so high that even TV channels ( Times) have started OTT and screening web series on them. The good fallout is that many talented directors and actors who were feeling stifled by conservative producers have now got a fresh outlet. The bad side of it is that as there is no censorship, the use of profane language and overly explicit sexual scenes get figured in this content often and what repercussions it would have on those in the impressionable age is a matter of concern. Yet another trend is that many movies get pirated from theaters in India and abroad and put on sites within a few hours of the film release. Initially these piracy sites had uploaded bad quality prints but now they giving HD prints. Will OTT survive this onslaught?. Moviegoers in Chennai Metropolis were shocked when the iconic Shanthi Theater owned by Sivaji clan Secwas opened. It was supposed to have a five screen multiplex but the Late Sivaji Ganesan family announced that it would have no theater but only commercial space. Reason being that moviegoers patronizing theaters has come down. Now some movie that were withdrawn due to external factors have gone streaming on OTT platforms

Rajinikanth the game changer of 2021 poll

The most formidable force as seen by some and to others as a Paper Tiger, Rajinikanth continues to keep his foes and friends puzzled about his political movies. The big million dollar question that continues to haunt the politicians of all breed and colors is that will Rajinikanth ally with BJP for the State Assembly polls ? This question is more important for BJP as it is definitely looking to open an account in Tamil Nadu and be at least a contender for power. The only way is to align with AIADMK or Rajinikanth.
AIADMK which aligned with BJP for Lok Sabha polls found that it was carrying a burden. The BJP tag affected the party in many pockets and neither did it benefit the BJP either. A case in point is Kovai seat where AIADMK could have won but it acceded to BJP and lost the seat. Why is the political parties and to a large extent the fans and public think that Rajinikanth has a saffron leaning? He started his spelling out his political philosophy by talking about ``spiritual politics’’. This was seen as the saffron politics. The belief that the actor was talking about Hinduvata was believable because in most of his speeches he had the habit of narrating a story from the Hindu Holy Scriptures to drive home a point. Seen as a devout Hindu and his secret visits to Himalayan ashram, the Raghavandra Swamy temple, his own production of films `Vaall’i and `Baba’, both with Hindu content have fortified that his political ideology will be primarily Hinduvata. Now the question  that is worrying BJP is that the Hinduvata platform in Tamil Nadu will be usurped by Rajinikanth ? The BJP has no problem to that but only that is `please carry us along with you’.

Political strategist Prashant Kishor's Indian Political Action Committee has taken up the task given by DMK to help in its election strategy for the Tamil Nadu assembly elections next year. The strategy group looks at two scenarios. The first is that Rajinikanth would canvass on a Hinduvata platform and would not align with BJP. The second is that Rajinikanth would align with BJP based on a Common Minimum Programme (CMP). This would include BJP agreeing that all the so called Central Government programme’s like hydrocarbon, methane extraction, laying oil pipelines and many other that have  raised the hackles of the farmers would be dumped. This would give him a pro-farmer image. His statement that he does not see anything wrong in the CAA and would be the first to come out in support of Muslims is seen as striking a line where he agrees to BJP policies but if it backfires, he would dump them. It also got hordes of Muslim leaders calling in on him.

Though AIADMK passed a bill saying Delta region cannot be exploited for any projects, it has not cut much ice as the present CM and Deputy CM are seen as BJP stooges. If Rajinikanth goes it alone, DMK would be worried. Reason being that it will be the Star power and his fans pitted against DMK. The worrying aspect is that many cadres are fans of the Super Star. If it aligns with BJP on a CMP, then it would heave a sigh of relief as it would split the fan base of the actor on communal lines.

Rajinikanth has also created confusion . He says that he is no CM aspirant. His fans say that if the required numbers are present, then `Thalaivar’ would be CM. But the AIADMK and DMK see this as a message saying that should a hung Assembly comes about, Rajinikanth without staking for CM post would give outside support.  In all ways a King maker or the King?  Answers in the  2011 poll results.

Crossing the Kodambakkam Bridge -5

Kushbu

Many heroines like Radha, her sister Ambika,Gauthami and many others reigned the filmdom, it was Kushbu ,who I think ruled the roost the most. Unlike all heroines who did multi –language films (read as Tamil- Telugu) since both were highly paying, Kushbu stuck to doing Tamil films. Though she came from Kannada filmdom, her footing was in Tamil. It was not that from day one, she hit the bull’s-eye. It was a slow grind but she started getting paired opposite all the top heroes and hit directors films.

Reason for demand

It was one her personal PR with the film bigwigs. She never to my knowledge had created any star nakhras and was to a certain extent flexible in her fees. Result was that at many a time, the production house and director waited  to synch the heroine’s date with the hero, in case of Kushbu. To my knowledge, Kushbu is the only heroine who though had a manager and a PR, dealt   directly with the press and the producer’s. Her mother with her limited knowledge of Tamil, somehow managed to talk her way and get the money or sign contracts.

Kushbu also was the one who brought back the concept that bulky heroines are in demand. Generally the top heroines in the South were on the heavier side and later it changed with lightweight ones coming. Kushbu ,though on the heavier side had through her clothes sense managed to look not too heavy. One thing that worked for her was that she was not the `thunder thighs’ variety.

Chinna Thambi and after

The Prabhu- Kushbu- P Vasu combo came out with `Chinna Thampi’ which created a box office sensation. Kushbu became a cult. Till date, I don’t know whether a temple was build after her. She never confirmed it either. When the Prabhu – Kushbu marriage news hit the Daily Thanthi , reports said that the temple was destroyed. Both did not have any photographical evidence, to my knowledge.

I had been to Chinna Thampi location. P Vasu narrated the story. I was thinking as to whether Prabhu and Kushbu has lost their brains. In modern times, a sister is brought up by her brothers like a princess. If anybody looks at her, the guy’s head is shaved. P Vasu pulled it off.

After that this combo was a super hit pair. Things were going hunky dory. Till the visiting press team consisting of Thanthi Pandian reached Ooty ( or was it Kodai ?) . So the usual was that during lunch break, actors- director spoke about the film. The bomb burst. Kushbu said ‘yes, I have split with Prabhu. I am taking off my mangalsutra”. Thanthi had reported the marriage on page one with photo. It was denied.

Pandian scrambled to flash the news. He motored down to Coonoor, I think, to give the story on phone. I had on my visits to Kushbu’s Boat Club house, notice a Hindu God photo and a lit diya and sindoor on her forehead. I did not ask about it as I felt it was her personal matter. After the marriage story, Prabhu and Kushbu were acting in a film produced by DNS and about an aathma going from one to another. I don’t remember the film name. The shooting was in AVM.  I was told that no press was allowed inside and that too with a photographer.( It was Third Eye Prakash who was a Prabhu- Kushbu bhakth) . Anyway , We felt slighted and raised a ruckus. DNS son Sakthi allowed us inside and we took photos. We felt as if having achieved something and Prakash that he shot a Prabhu- Kushbu combo when others could not. 

As a media person, I would like to reveal an inside info on the marriage story. It is said that Pandian got the story from Kushbu, who planted it as a test case. Some say it was a joint move. An insider told Sivaji’s clan that this story was front paged for next day. Owner Sivanthi Adityan was abroad. The rule was that the news editor after preparing the front page had to inform him about the contents. Adityan phoned in from any country and then would give his nod or rejection. Adityan already phoned and heard the contents and Okayed it. Only after this did Sivaji clan came to know about it. There was no way to trace a landline abroad and nobody had clue about Adithyan’s whereabouts.

Innings after break-up

Surprisingly, Kushbu’s demand in the industry started to slide down. By then, she had married Sundar and slowly faded away. She had a TV avatar later on.

 She remained her usual self and her pleasant nature and now her political avatar seems to be a hit. She was in DMK and then shifted to Congress. The transition was smooth. Her well measured replies as spokespersons have surprised me. Usually actresses and actors are used to film press that is not too aggressive. In turn, the actors get aggressive and brow beat the press. Busy or not, they have no time to read newspapers or see news. Later they become MP’s or MLa’s and put their foot in the mouth. Kushbu seems to be politically aware and knows to say what is politically right and handle the TV journalists looking for a juicy `byte’. The job becomes difficult when you have an ally that is `Big Brother’ and a party with so many camps.

I always secretly admired her hubby Sundar. Having married a reigning Queen, with so much of arc lights shining on her then and now, he always came across as a man who is least bothered about it. He always has this cocky confidence as a director, that  he can pull it off. His attitude that what my wife does is her choice and she can take care of it is probably what kept Kushbu going and still being herself.

..

Crossing the Kodambakkam Bridge -4

Search for the top actress Papitha

As I was grappling with a beat where knowledge of Tamil was essential and also getting through barriers to reach the Stars to get an interview, my cousin Renuka said that her best friend and neighbor in Vizag was a very big actress in Tamil and if I could get across to her, things would be easy. So the search for the elusive Papitha began. Nobody had heard about this actress. It was a time when there was only a handful of PRO's and managers and no well oiled PR mechanism like today. Anyway, I continued my discreet search. After a couple of months, Renuka happened to come to Chennai. She said that she wants to meet her friend Papitha. I said that I was unable to trace such actress by that name who is famous. She then called home and then came with the screen name - Gauthami.
I had already met Gauthami during one of my studio visits. My film journalists like Cinema Express Ramamurthy and PRO Selvam knew her well. Her manager was one Ramanathan ( name not sure). She was the toast of Kodambakkam. People said that she had finished her Engineering. This was a big surprise as mostly girls came with little education or no education to act in films. To top it , her parents were doctors. She came across as a person who had class and also had the ability to act. Anyway the Renuka card helped as she did put me on to her cp-stars who were top heroes. She was then staying in Rams Flat in TTKrd.
She could carry off the rustic roles with the pavada dhavani and fit perfectly into glam costumes. Like with many Stars of that era, her manager was said to be a bossy type. He was however said to be very efficient in getting film offers and also adept at getting payments, a difficult part of the job. Most Producers gave cheques that bounced. The manager I think was from Andhra and so he could tackle the Telugu industries.
Film circles said that the manager became rich enough to build a commercial complex near Chennai. Like any other heroine, she started losing out to new influx. She moved on to less paying film industries like Malayalam and did a guest in a solo song. From there she moved toTV as host of a talk show and then acted in a serial. She also shifted to Mumbai to do Hindi films. The last I saw her was at the Screen awards in Mumbai. She did a classical opening dance at the show. I was staying in same hotel where she was staying. She was having dinner with a guy. I was told that it her fiance and that he is a diamond merchant and operates from abroad.. Later I heard that she got married a settled abroad. Then after many years later, she surfaced in Chennai with a baby and soon heard she divorced the diamond merchant.
As I was staying in Alwarpet, which has Kamal Haasan's office, I used to see come and go and also at a DVD shop that had original movies from various International languages. The shop was owned by Richard, brother of Shalini ( wife of Ajith).

Then later I saw her name in Kamal Haasan starrers credited as costume designer, a job that Sarika had done before . She had walked out on Kamal by then. Later I learned that Gautami and Kamal were in a live in relationship. It was quite surprising as I have seen them on the sets and there was no sign of any special treatment to her. Kamal had praised Gautami and Rupini, two actresses for maintaining silence on the secret behind the dwarf character in Apoorva Sahordargal. She had acted in 20 movies opposite Kamal and in those times it was common as there were fewer heroes and very little popular heroines.

As many reasons are floated around for the break-up, I have yet to get an authenticated answer to the issue. The theories start from a one night stand to face off with daughter and staking claim on legal succession. Truth lies somewhere else

. However, both sides have maintained silence.

Crossing the Kodambakkam Bridge - 3

Arjun

I was curious to meet Arjun who is called Action King. It was quite easy as Arjun was working in multiple films and shooting of Arjun films was always on at any studio. He was termed the most economical actor as he slogged day and night and charged very little. His fans lapped up his flying kicks and his rugged physique. For Producers mostly in small budget group, he was their savior. His films guaranteed them modest profits. It was in 1986, that AVM produced a film with Arjun and directed by Raja. The film Shankar Guru was a huge hit. Not just sticking to acting alone, he was a shrewd businessman. He carved a market for himself in Kannada and Telugu film industries. Most of the time he took the dubbing rights as payment. His Telugu films got dubbed into Tamil and he made Kannada films and dubbed them into Tamil and Telugu.

He turned producer and distributor. He took to direction and as he knew his strength and weakness and so he crafted a good script that showcased his ability to do stunts.  He realized with the huge success of `Jai Hind’, the audience had liked his patriotism pitch. After a few flops, came `Gentleman’.  We had gone to Ooty to cover the shoot.  Sources in the film production house said that a dispute had arisen between director Shankar ( then  a debut director) and seasoned Arjun over the climax. Two versions were shot but finally Arjun put his foot down and his  version came out. The film was a blockbuster.

 It saw the emergence of producer K T Kunjumon ,who was the first producer to put up his cutout outside the theatre. He came to be known as `Gentleman’ Kunjumon. Clad in white designer shirt and pants, white shoes, twirling mustache, was a flamboyant man. He had many hits produced at big budgets like Kaadhalan and Kadhal Desam. However, his luck ran out with multilingual film Ratchagan ( Nagarjuna- Sushmitha Sen) and two films with Vijay which  literally shut his company down . He tried to make his son Ebby, a hero but it backfired. He had started out as Tamil film distributor in Kerala and was a regular at GV’s office. He also produced small budget Malayalam films till he entered Tamil with two films directed by Pavithran . Shankar and A Venkatesh were then assistants to Pavithran. The irony was that Kunjumon’s manager Francis who was a cab driver turned Producer.

Coming back to Arjun , after a second spell at the box office as action hero and his patriotic theme started losing the fizz. he was back to the pavilion. He had no ego in doing roles that had big heroes and he did a police officer in `Kuruthipunnal’ directed by cinematographer P C  Sreeram with KamalHaasan in the lead. It was again Shankar that gave him the third innings. He did `Muthalvan’ , a blockbuster. He got lot of offers to play the lead as action hero. Though they were not big hits, producers found him  viable as the budget was low and he did not charge much and coupled with this the dubbing rights made up the investment.  He had also tried his hand in direction once again but the sequel to Jai Hind 2 bombed. He accepted to play negative roles like in Mani Ratinam’s Kadal but unfortunately the film bombed. However it was Irumbu Thirai with Vishal as hero (he had assisted Arjun in direction) , that Arjun bounced back in the  role as baddie .

Arjun has a very good musical sense. He sits through all the composition of songs in his films especially in ones he directs. I have attended many such sessions that usually took place in a hotel room in T Nagar. In 1994-95, Arjun- Vidyasgar combo gave some splendid songs. Not many know that Arjun is also a good singer and has even sung for A R Rahman (Parusuram, 2003). Arjun was also fodder for the gossip writers ho linked him with many of his co-heroines. Initially it did not bother him but as his daughters grew up and were in school, this became an embarrassment. One reason was that he had a PRO who considered him as the boss of Arjun and rubbed many journo the wrong away.   This PRO later worked for me as advertisement rep for Screen. Arjun still maintains his physique and continues to be busy. He is also working on a film directed by him and wants to prelaunch his daughter as heroine. The last I met him was at the farm house. He had just bought it and was somewhere far away from Chennai. It was full of shrubs and had snakes crawling. Now, I am told it is a hot spot and he has a Hanuman temple. Not many know that the action King dd play a Hanuman in Telugu film Sri Anjaneyam and did not accept any money for it. I also miss his birthday party on August 15^th. He is one of the few heroes who never got into any Star Wars and was not targeted for being a Kannadiga.

Crossing the Kodambakkam Bridge - Part 1

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I boarded a train from Mumbai with my family ( wife and son) to join the Chennai office of the publication that reports on filmdom. As my friend had arranged a flat to stay, I could move in straight away. After reporting to my boss , got out to go on studio rounds. I had brought my scooter along with me from Trivandrum. Being a Malayali  and living in an area  where Tamils are  in plenty , Tamil cinema was nothing new. Every new Tamil film release got released simultaneously in the theater in my locality. The same frenzy by fans as in Tamil Nadu took place in this theateres. Most of us who went by Hindi and Malayalam films and idolized Rajesh Khanna Prem Nazir - Satyan- Jayan and Amitabh Bacchan found this celebrations

of  pouring milk on cutouts of Tamil Stars by the fans as something weird.

 Start: My Boss told me that all I had to do was to cross the Kodambakkam bridge and keep going. He told me that all the studios are on this stretch. I managed to find my way to Kodambakkam bridge and went over it and kept on going. I saw nothing though I had  been riding for half an hour. The first studio I saw was Vijaya Studio and opposite it was Vijaya Gardens.

My first shock was that the watchman said that no press is allowed inside as exclusive scenes were being shot. If I saw it the exclusivity would be gone, he said. I told him that I had no camera with me. He still was adamant. The oldest trick worked. I could smell booze on him. I told him that I could pay for a quarter and he saluted me. From that day onward, we became great friends. All I had to do was to ask him if any actors worth the while were inside, he would give the info.

The shooting inside was of a Bhagyaraj film. It was a song sequence. I did not know anybody on the sets. Yet another hurdle  was a production hand guarding the gates of the set. He told me to wait outside till the hero and heroine came out during the break. As I sat under a tree, a production guy offered me  buttermilk. I asked him what was so secretive about the song being filmed. His answer stumped me. He said that the costumes worn by the hero would be copied and duplicated by lesser heroes whose films got  released  before this film. He said that one actor called Arjun was master in this. So even the still photographer printed the photos in a very secure photo studio and left no trace  of it behind. I had heard about film being copied at theater through video cameras and brought out as videos. It was the first time that I heard  about costume piracy!!!