Other Bollywood | GlobalPost

The Other Bollywood: Tamil cinema makes a name for itself

Sonia NarangJuly 3, 2012 06:23

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India: Welcome to Tamil cinema

June 28, 2012 15:02

At the international level, Tamil cinema is all but unknown. Writers frequently confuse Mumbai's Hindi film business, locally known as Bollywood, for the entire Indian industry. But the increasing critical and financial success of “the Other Bollywood” could soon flip that perception upside down. Led by Tamil cinema, the South Indian film industry produced more than half of all Indian movies over the past five years. Budgets for Tamil films now rival Bollywood's, and South India's film industry is emerging as a creative dynamo.

Bollywood vs. Hollywood [INFOGRAPHIC]

Kyle KimJuly 3, 2012 06:23

Ignored until recently, the South Indian film business is growing rapidly and setting artistic trends. At the international level, Tamil cinema gets even less recognition, as writers frequently confuse Mumbai's Hindi film business, locally known as Bollywood, for the entire Indian industry. But the increasing critical and financial success of “the Other Bollywood” could soon flip that perception upside down.

India: Tamil cinema gets reel

Jason OverdorfJuly 3, 2012 06:00

CHENNAI, India — “Aadukalam” or “Arena,” the Tamil film that won India's 2011 best picture award, opens with arthouse slowness. But the gangster-bio voiceover lays out the stakes, lest there be any confusion. This isn't the ponderous, naval-gazing of the arthouse. It's Tamil cinema's new wave.

How a Tamil star is born

Jason OverdorfJuly 3, 2012 00:00

CHENNAI — When fans see Tamil movie star Rajnikanth on the street, they shout out, “My God!” But not because they're surprised. “It’s not 'My God' in exclamation; it’s an address to his God,” another Tamil movie star, Kamal Haasan, explained. The Tamil film industry has always been about myth making. Hitting their stride during the Tamil separatist movement of the 1950s, film studios tapped the political energy of India's struggle for independence from Britain. And to promote the cause of Tamil nationalism, filmmakers drew on Hindu epics to create an archetypal Tamil hero. Built on that model, even today the Tamil screen legends are arguably more powerful, and more beloved, than the stars of Hollywood, Bollywood, or any other film industry.

Tamil films give Bollywood a run for its money

Jason OverdorfJuly 3, 2012 06:00

CHENNAI, India — Days before the May opening of the Cannes Film Festival, the director of the first Bollywood film invited for an official screening gave a shout-out to his colleagues in a long-overlooked arm of the Indian film industry. “There's a whole new wave in Tamil cinema,” said Anurag Kashyap, whose film “Gangs of Wasseypur” was screened as part of the Cannes' Directors Fortnight. “They've made the most extraordinary films in the last two years, and at the national level people don't even know about it.” At the international level, Tamil cinema gets even less recognition, as writers frequently confuse Mumbai's Hindi film business, locally known as Bollywood, for the entire Indian industry. But the increasing critical and financial success of “the Other Bollywood” could soon flip that perception upside down.