Adapting books into films needs a thorough knowledge of literature, history, and the intricacies of the visual medium.
In the recent two decades, a growing trend of literary adaptations has begun to explore Tamil cinema. Since filmmakers with strong literary backgrounds began working in the field, audiences have been able to witness films of world-class quality.
We have published a list of some of the most important films based on well-known Tamil literature.
Aravaan:
‘Aravaan’, a historical fiction film directed by Vasantha Balan, stars Aadhi, Pasupathy, Dhansika, and Archana Kavi. The film is based on Su Venkatesan’s 2008 novel ‘Kaaval Kottam’, for which he received the prestigious Sahitya Academy Award.
‘Kaaval Kottam’ is an epic historical book set in Madurai, Tamilnadu, that spans 600 years.
Su Venkatesan took ten years to create the book, which contains 250 short stories and begins in 1310.
Su Venkatesan provided Vasantha Balan 250 short stories, including Aravaan. Playback singer Karthik composed the music for ‘Aravaan’, which was produced by T Siva under the Amma Creations banner. The film was released in 2012 to great acclaim from both audiences and reviewers.
Visaranai:
Visaranai (2015) is based on Chandrakumar’s novel ‘Lockup’, which was published in 2006. Lockup was inspired by Chandrakumar’s personal experiences with police violence.
Vetri Maaran directed ‘Visaranai’, which was co-produced by Dhanush’s Wunderbar Films and Vetri Maaran’s Grass Root Film Company. With cinematography by S Ramalingam and background scores by GV Prakash Kumar, the film was a success.
Asuran:
The National Film Award-winning film was based on Poomani’s novel ‘Vekkai’, another Sahitya Academy Award-winning Tamil writer. The novel was also translated into English and released in 2019 under the title Heat.
‘Vekkai’ is a film about a father and son set in a small Tamilnadu village in the late twentieth century.
Dhanush, Manu Warrier, Ken Karunas, Pasupathy, Teejay Arunachalam, and others acted in Vetri Maaran’s adaptation of the novel, ‘Asuran’.
The premise of the film centres around the fight of an oppressed class family led by Sivasaami (Dhanush), who risks everything to save his 15-year-old son from being charged with murder. GV Prakash Kumar composed the music for Asuran, which was produced by V Creations.
Ponniyin Selvan:
Though the project is still in the shooting stage it is one of the most expected movies based on a novel.
The movie is based on the novel ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ by Kalki Krishnamurthy. The movie is directed by Mani Ratnam and has an ensemble of cast including Vikram, Karthi, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan Trisha, Vikram Prabhu, Jayaram and Aishwarya Lekshmi. Music for the movie is by AR Rahman. The movie is expected to be releaed in 2022.
Some of the yesteryear movies that are based on novels are ‘Thillana Mohanambal’, ‘Alavandhan’, ‘Mullum Malarum’, ‘Paradesi’, ‘Nanban’, ‘Kannathil Muthamittal’, ‘Pachaikili Muthucharam’, ‘Anandha Thandavam’ and ‘Kandukondein Kandukondein’.
By Naveen
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