Vanakkam reader.. As usual, for people who cannot read Tamil, i've tried to translate in English within brackets.. carry on..
Recently one head movie released… அதாங்க, நம்ம "தல" படம்.. [ Ajith has a nick name "Thala" , literally meaning "head"]. While I was walking aside Rakki cinemas , Ambattur, on a Wednesday evening, I was observing the cut-outs and banners that were placed in and around the theatre. An energetic fan even told me that there would be பாலாபிஷேகம் (milk-bath-ceremony) on Friday morning. I duly enquired if any new temple was going to be opened, or if it is the routine “Friday-amman temple-yellow saree” customs. But he quickly denied that and saw me like an Alien and said “தல படம் release'ங்க.. பொங்கலுக்கு அவங்க (விஜய் ரசிகர்கள் : நண்பன் ) என்ன ஆட்டம் போட்டாங்க.. இப்போ நம்ம பண்ரோங்க அட்டகாசம் .. " [ Meaning: Vijay fans celebrated too much during Nanban movie release and that Ajith fans were going to celebrate more than that by doing milk-bath-ceremony"… நா அப்பிடியே ஷாக் ஆய்டேன்.. I wanted to ask “ you mean Aavin paal.. ? “.. Why.. .. நா என்ன “Thirunelveli Vivek”’ஆ ? message சொல்லி புரியவெக்க ?
For those of you who don’t know what a paalabhishekam (Milk-bath-ceremony) is, read further down and you will know in the end..
But, seeing a few of those cut outs, I could not stop laughing. Let me share a few of those with you..
Firstly, see below example of a movie cut out:
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தில்லா வராண்டா பில்லா .. Poster Bill'அ கெட்டறது எவண்டா ?
இந்த போஸ்டர் அடிச்ச காசு இருந்த ஒரு சைக்கிள் வாங்கி அத இந்த Parking Area'லையே விடலாமே !!
Ok ok .. Sorry “thala thalabathy” Fans. அட, கோச்சிகாதீங்க பாஸ்...
This is not to hit out at any particular actor. Right from Superstar (Rajni), till young star (Simbu), every one is having a fan club and there is a usual customary cut-out at theatres during their movie release.
The matter is that : look at the photo of the fans in these posters – sometimes it will even be larger than the actor’s photo itself.
And sometimes, the banner is prepared jointly by a team, either an Auto sangam or Bike mechanics association etc.,, and all their “heads” find their way into the banner.. like what we have above.
What is this kolaveri for ? “Publicity” / “Visibility”
I don’t know about you.. but for me, it resembled a different thing.. Look down:
This is a common banner we see in the month of June / July when the exam results are out. A few schools, mostly newly established school, put out banners in front of their gate showcasing their “100% passout” to attract new students ( can also say customers). But thank goodness, they don’t atleast do Paalabhishekams..
And this kolaveri is also for the same “Publicity / Visibility”
But, the faces inside these cut outs have done enough hard work, and they deserve to be in the cut-outs as school toppers or state toppers. And these kids are not putting up these banners at their own cost!
“மாபெரும் சபை தனில் நீ நடந்தால் உனக்கு மாலைகள் விழ வேண்டும்” - a line from a Kannadasan song.
[ Meaning: you must get good names such that when you walk on a bigger stage, people will garland you ]
So, the people in case 1 above have just found an easier way to place their faces on public display.
Now, Let’s do a small calculation: சில புள்ளி விவரங்கள் ..
From an online forum, I learnt that the total number of theatres in Tamil nadu is about 2160.
With an average of 4 shows per theatre – we have 8640 shows per day (minimum).
With an average of 200 people per show (sometimes could be 1, sometimes 500 – just for a calculation) – we have 8640*200 = 17,28,000 people watching movies every day.
How many hours does that mean ? 17,28,000 * 3 hours = 51,84,000 hours per day.
If you convert these hours into mandays, we are looking at 6.5 Lakhs Man days… This is one day of cinema’s out put.
The above is only a rough calculation, and this excludes the multiplex theatres that run 10 shows per day, Online movie watchings, Internet downloaded movies, and TVCD’s (அதாங்க, திருட்டு VCD's)
And this is only an example I’m giving with Tamilnadu. The same story applies to other states like Andhra pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka etc.,
Ambattur Industrial estate, once famous for the line-up of manufacturing industries, and now famous for IT companies, have seen lot of small-scale factories closing down because of lack of man hours. For that matter, take any industrial estate throughout India..
I remember reading an article way back in 2000 where a small factory got a life-saving deal of 9000 man hours, whereas the company was able to supply only 6900 odd man hours and the owners decided to lock out the factory.
Cinema is for entertainment, and I’m not saying that one must not watch cinema.. There are crazy fans who watch movies first day, first show. And there are die-hard fans, who watch the same movie 10 to 15 times. When the movie “Shivaji – the boss” released, I remember my “PG mate” who drove all the way from Bangalore to Hosur to watch the movie as he could not get first day tickets in Bangalore theatres.
I can’t quite digest the fact of watching a movie more than once.. I just watch the thrilling / famous scenes of a movie and the comedy clippings, that too as part of some comedy programs... not the whole movie as such.
The complaint is however on the pre-movie and the post-movie build-ups. In my opinion, it is totally an unproductive time, which they could have used for their own family (if no family – atleast to try and create one..!)
oh.. and yes.. i promised you to tell you what a Paalabhishekam means... look down:
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| Milk Bath Ceremony |
Yes. It is the same "Nandini milk - blue cover" and i think the second guy is using "Thirumala milk / curd"..
During Enthiran movie release, i think, half a litre of milk costed around 10-12 rupees.
I'm not going to touch up on the poverty.. people starving for a drop of milk when it is wasted like this bla bla bla.. Any human being will know that..
If the youths of today are keeping themselves occupied with such things, the youths of tomorrow can’t get any better. Maybe, they will digitalise these things.
If things like these are continuing, India will not be a “Vallarasu”.. it will only be “Dull'arasu”.. (Thanks to Mr. Santhanam for this nice punch)
[Vallarasu means Super power country'; Dull'arasu means Dull country ]
என்னிக்கு இந்த போஸ்டர்கள் கட்-அவுட்'கள் ஒழியுதோ அப்ப தான் நாடு கொஞ்சமாவது உருப்படும் ..
ஏன்ன சார், அழறீங்க .. Beer கசக்குதா?
Ooh.. ரொம்ப Serious'ஆ எழுதிட்டோமோ?
Its’ OK.. for a change.. அட சில்லற இல்லைங்க. "மாற்றம்".. A Very important one for the society..!!
[ The last lines just say that we must get rid of these posters and banners.. and that this change is very essential for the society.. Boss, please learn to read Tamil.. atleast to read my blog.. it is a torture to write the samething in English and Tamil.. i feel like Major Sundar rajan or that Vijay TV fellow who speaks the same thing in English and Tamil..]
