REVERSE LASHING WAVE-JEEVA AND BALA

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Two young Tamil heroes Jeeva and Bala are preparing to debut in Malayalam films. If their movies succeed, it will inspire other Tamil heros to follow suit, writes KK Moidu

It is not unusual to see Malayalam actors playing the lead role in Tamil movies, but Malayalam films featuring Tamil actors is a relative rarity. However, all that is going change soon as two young Tamil heroes Jeeva and Bala prepare to debut in Malayalam films.
Jeeva, the hero of Tamil superhits Raam and Dishyum, will make his Malayalam debut in Keerthichakra, directed by former Indian Army officer, Major Ravi. The Tamil star has captivated audiences with his unique acting style. Although Mohanlal plays the lead character in Keerthichakra, Jeeva has an equally meaty role in film. Only after this movie is released will Jeeva’s fate in Malayalam be decided. Both Malayalam and Tamil cine-goers will have to wait to find out whether he can repeat his success in Malayalam.
Keerthichakra centres around terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, the film’s director had participated in the Kargil war in Kashmir region during his tenure in the Indian Army. Through the film Ravi intends to make civilians aware of the tough life led by soldiers fighting for their motherland. Being a former army officer, Ravi had no difficulty in availing the services of army and BSF personnel. Many key characters in the movie have been portrayed by senior officers serving in the Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Kashmir Police.
Mohanlal plays Major Mahadevan, the leader of a team of commandoes, assigned the task of protecting the country. Mohanlal is playing a commando after a long duration and his earlier commando movies were Pinkami, Dauthyam and Moonnam Mura.
Jeeva, on the other hand, plays a army non-commissioned officer (havildar) for the first time. He portrays a brave soldier, willing to lay down his life for his motherland. This soldier also has a soft heart filled with love for his family. Keerthichakra, is not merely a film about commando operations, it also focuses on the emotional bonds shared by the major and the havildar. The film’s three leading ladies are Gopika, Rima Sen and Lakshmi Gopalaswamy. Other stars in the film are Biju Menon, Cochin Haneefa, Shammy Thilakan, Sanusha and Payal. As per reports the film will also be dubbed in Tamil as Aran.
Tamil hits regularly viewed by packed houses in Kerala’s cinema halls, however, Malayalam superstars’ movies are never released in Tamil Nadu because they hardly find any takers. The film-maker hopes to attract Tamil cine-goers in general and Jeeva’s fans in particular by casting a young Tamil hero and dubbing the film in Tamil.
The other youngster from Tamil cinema, Bala, is the son of M Jayakumar, a well-known film producer and the owner of Arunachalam Studios. Bala played the lead role in Tamil superhits Anpu and Kadhal. In his Malayalam debut film, Kalabham, he has been cast opposite Navya Nair. Anil has directed the film, which is a romantic love story with emphasis on music. Five songs of its songs were scored by late music director Ravindran.
Kalabham is the story of Sivakamy (Navya Nair), the most beautiful girl in the village and the only daughter of Sivarama Bhaghavathar (Thilakan), a temple priest and renowned musician. Parthasarathy (Manikuttan) is an assistant priest in the same temple. He is in deeply in love with Sivakamy, but has not revealed his feelings to her. Vythi (Anish John) is the de facto ruler of the village, controlling almost everything. He too has set his eyes on Sivakami.
Around this time Arjun (Bala) arrives at the village to seek Sivarama Bhagavathar’s advice on music. Arjun finds favour with the villagers because of his sweet-sounding voice. Soon Sivakami falls in love with Arjun. The rest of the film deals with how the lovers make their relationship public and the consequences that they face as a result of it.
Surprisingly the Malayalam industry expects the two young Tamil actors to make news in Malayalam just like its own superstars, Mammooty, Mohanlal, Jayaram, Suresh Gopi and Dilip, did in Tamil.
Mammooty and Jayaram have done more than 10 movies in Tamil and some of these are hits. Mohanlal also has to his credit several Tamil films like Popcorn, Sirasalai, Iruvar and Gopuravasaleele. Other than Suresh Gopi and Dilip, Jayasurya, Prithviraj, Vineeth, Naren Sunil and Biju Menon have all played the hero in Tamil films.
In addition to this Malayalam actors like Cochin Haneefa, Rajan P. Dev and Devan have established themselves as villains in Tamil movies. Other prominent actors from the Malayalam film industry like Manoj K. Jayan, Murali, Nedumudi Venu and Kalabhavan Mani too are familiar faces for the Tamil audience, specialising in negative and character roles.
However, Tamil heroes’ contribution to Malayalam cinema has been relatively insignificant. Kamal Hassan made his debut as a hero in Malayalam films in Eetta and after that he acted in few films like Sagara Sangamam and Chanakyan. His closest professional rival, Rajnikanth featured in Alavuddinum Albhuthavilakkum and Gharjanam. Both the movies were Tamil-Malayalam bilingual films. Veteran Tamil actor, the late Sivaji Ganesan’s son, Prabhu, also tried his luck as a hero in Malayalam the films, Kalapaani, War & Love and Malayali Maamanu Vanakkam. The reigning superhero of Tamil films, Vikram, too did a prominent role in Dhruvam, a Mammooty-Jayaram superhit. Vikram also appeared in some tiny roles in Malayalam before his Tamil success. Prashanth made his Malayalam debut in Perunthachan, directed by Ajayan. Abbas appeared in a few Malayalam films like Kannezhuthi Pottumthottu. Bharath of the Tamil superhit, Boys, fame played a significant role in the Jayaraj superhit For the People. The movie became more popular because of the song, Lajjavathiye Ninte Kallakadakkannil, than for its story and performances. Young singer-music director, Jassi Gift, shot to fame with that one song.
The possibilities of Tamil heroes appearing in Malayalam are still rare even if the situation changes. Several senior heroes like Vijayakanth, Sathyaraj, Arjun, Karthik, Vijay, Ajith, Sarath Kumar, Prabhudeva, Murali and Cheran and youngsters like Ajith, Surya, Shyam, Srikanth, Dhanush, Jayam Ravi, Chimpu, Kunal and Sidharth are yet to make their Malayalam debuts.
Malayalam cinema’s ageing superstars, Mammooty, Mohanlal and Suresh Gopi, continue to play the hero because the younger crop of Malayalam heroes has been rejected by the audience. Against this backdrop there is every likelihood that even if the younger Tamil heroes make ripples or attract viewers they may have to pack their bags and leave like their predecessors, immediately after showing their faces in a couple of films.