Bumper 2006 was pathbreaker for Tamil Cinema

The year 2006 is passing by and film stars and the industry are looking to the New Year 2007 with full of hope and ambitions.

Tamil Cinema especially is one in the country which must be in an upbeat mood as 2006 turned out to be a bumper year for it. As many as 100 films were released during the year with 23 of them being box-office hits.

According to a survey, the top ten movies were: Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu, Imsai Arasan 23am Pulikesi, Varalaaru, Chithiram Paesuthadi, Something Something Unakkum Enakkum, Thimiru, Thalai Nagaram, Thiruttu Payalae, Em Magan and Dishum.

Seven films had made it big in terms of box-office collections. They were: Thambi, Kokki, Kovai Brothers, Pattiyal, Paerarasu, Parijaatham, 'E' and Thiruvilayadal Arambam.

Of the songs one that was adjudged as No.1 (song of the year) was 'Vala Meenukum Vilangu Meenukum Kalyanam' sung by Gana Ulaganathan for the film "Chithiram Paesuthadi".

Five hit films that came up for critical look by a film critic were:

Sillunnu Oru Kaadhal directed by debutant Krishnan, Pudupettai directed by Selvaraghavan, Imsai Arasan 23am Pulikesi directed by Simbudevan, "E" directed by Jananathan and Vettaiyadu Vilaiyadu directed by Gautham Menon.

It is significant that most of the hits were low budget movies with upcoming actors and technicians, thanks to the concessions given by the State Government.

The year 2006 also established the new trend of content-driven films with attractive presentation taking hold with the mature audiences becoming script-conscious. This trend is evident from the fact that the audiences accepted comedian Vadivelu as a hero in "Imsai Arasan..." Another example is Myssmin's "Chitiram Paesuthadi" which has practically no star.

Here it is apt to quote leading producer and distributor V. Ravichandran of Oscar Films: "Audience are on the look out for fresh and innovative ideas and not necessarily stars. I agree star films take an extraordinary opening but they will not sustain, if the content is not good."