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The authors of PFC have been discussing this brilliant topic at the backend, which we thought would be great to bring it out in the open, so the whole world can have inputs on it.

The Topic: Out Of the Box Filmmakers

I am just copy pasting all the dialogs in block Quotes with the authors name

Phoenixnu :

anyone seen a mallu film Albhuthadweep….how was it ? anything new n intersting…something thats not done b4 ? was it out of box ?

Imsai Arasan 23am Pulikesi …anyone seen this ? how ? can u call it out of box ?

if there is nothing new in these two films, then plz suggest some films/filmmakers who r doing something new….experiments…radical..not done before.
out of box in various domian…..art,design,books,films,food….for films..so far its..shashank ghosh (waisa bhi, quickgun n his tv work), Anurag Kashyap (u guys know the reasons)…short films(anand gandhi - right here,right now n continuum….and one more guy for his film rewind )…marathi film (vallu - umesh kulkarni)

Varun:

Watch any upendra

films they are always out of box, Bala of Pithamagan out of the box…

Srinivas:

Atul Taishete is the writer director of “Rewind”. I just figured this out, I dont know if Anand Gandhi is still part of the club but has anyone seen this film “RUSSIAN ARK”? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318034/

I will be seeing it tonight.

Vasan Bala:

Imsai Arasan 23 Pulikesi -
A period film with a non-lead actor in the lead. Big Budget resting on just this guy Vadivelu……who at best has been seen as a comic sidekick….was a huge huge success.
Produced by Shankar maker of Sivaji, Nayak, Hindustani….
More than anything else the conviction of the subject….the period setting…and taking a comic sidekick as the lead and making it a money spinner just like QUICKGUN MURUGAN(hope this rakes in the dough too)

OM:

Yeleti Chandrasekhar from telugu film industry..has made Aithe and Anu Ko Kunda Okka Roju..after watching AOR..a famous filmmaker..says ” I would rate him among the top 20 directors of present age”

Sekhar Kammula : Dollar Dreams ( won a national for best debut), Anand( Releaased along with Shankar Dada MBBS..Chiranjeevi movie…and did better business than that…which is kinda unheard of), Godavari, Happy Days

And then arrives VP Jaiganesh with this brilliant list.

V.P.Jaiganesh:

Out of Box - i Thamizh from days begone

1. Andha Naal - 1950s *in sivaji Ganesan directed by S.Balachander
2. Manohara - 1950s *in sivaji Ganesan directed by Ellis Duncan dialogues by Karunanidhi - had loads of political overones coded in a usual Raja-Rani story and loads of special effects for Invisible - phantom character.
3. Mandhirikumari - 1950s MGR - Karunnidhi combo directed by Duncan again - tremendous dialogues and a villain played by Nambiyar.
4. Rathak-kanneer - THE MOST OUT OF THE BOX of the lot till data - MR.Radha ROCKS - Upendra remade this movie in 2003 in Kannada. The role of an arrogant foreign return who becomes a leper and dies in the end after forcing his wife to marry his best friend!!!
5. Thiruvilayaadal - BEST Mythology film made!!! Sivaji as Shiva really lived the role - Director A.P.Nagarajan
6. Bommai - S.Balachander - a bomb in a doll that traves all over the city right back to the group that designed the bomb!! cool thriller of that time. marks the debut of Dr.K.J.Yesudas in playback arena.
7. Unnai pol oruvan - Directed by the legend Jeyakanthan - I have never seen this movie - heard volumes of praise extolling this one. If any one ca grab an old CD i would be glad to get it.
8. Mohammad Bin Thuglaq - a political satire on Indhira Gandhi’s emergeny by journalist/writer/actor Cho Ramaswami was banned in those days for its bold and provocative criticism
9. Nenjil Or Aalayam (aka Dil Ek Mandir i Hindi) by Sridhar great performances and song that played aroundthe mise-en-scene (thanks Zero bhai) and set the better prtion of a movie in a hospital.
10. Neerkumizhi - Marks the first movie as a lead artiste for the TREMENDOUSLY talented Nagesh as a cancer patient with just months to live - by K.Balachander
11. Server Sundharam - Nagesh again as hero in a movie about life of a comedy artiste in films with a tragic tale - Nagesh and K.B simply changed all the rules for a story on movies and the fame it brings
12. Edhir Neechal - Last of KB - Ngesh movies with Ngesh as hero - story of an underdog defying his conditions and coming out on top - has Ngesh living under a stair in a house which was faithfuly replicated in Harry Potter.
13. Padhinaaru Vayadhinile - Bharathiraaja - earthy rural story of a girl and her dreams * ing Sridevi Kamal and Rajini - remade as Solwa Saal by Bharathiraaja himself.
14. Aboorva Ragam - Marks a story where a love that defies age barriers and other questions - first film of Rajini in a 15 min role. dir - KB
15. Avargal - nother KB-Kamal-Rajini megahit with Sujatha in Lead.
16. Aval Oru thodar kadhai - story of a sacrificing spinster with Sujatha, Kamal, Sripriya and vijay Kumar. again KB and a female protagonist.
17. Sigappu rogaakkal - Kamal as a psycopath - dir by Bharathiraaja no hero - only villain in this movie. - remade in hindi as Red Rose * ing Rajesh Khanna
18. Thappu Thaalangal - Saritha -Rajini as prostitute and reformed rowdy pair trying to defy society - KB’s venture into Art film world.
19. Andha Ezhu naatkal - K.Bhagyaraj’s entry as director/lead artiste which was remade in hindi as ‘Woh Saat Din’.
20. Nizhalgal - Urban frustrations poignantly captued by Bharathiraaja with path breakig music by Raaja.
Into nineties I need a bit more time to write…

Phoenixnu:

m still confused…wud u term all these films really out of box ? some sounds like just ood story ideas….also it has to be in recent past….just last few years…vpj…so please help me out 2K onward movies…

srini…hav u seen rewind ? i have ssen only the promo. pvr is showing it in theatre with be kind rewind.

Medium:

PNU

Alputhadweep & Imsai arasan both shud fit the category of “out of the box ” for sure !!!

but if you ask me .. “are they good out of teh box movies ??” i would say “no”

I even heard news that the script of “alputhadweep” was bought by some foreign production house !!!

Chimbudevan the director of “Imsai arasan” is out with his next movie “Arai Enn 305-il Kadavul” … the plot point is similar to “bruce almighty” … personification of god himself .. who lives with 2 unemplyed bachelors .. something like that .. yet to see it .. but its origional work .. not a copy … and hence it can also feature in “out of the box”

Wud my guru’s yet to release “dasavadaram” be of ne interest ??? ;)

then u can take “chennai 28″ (film on street cricket.)

then few of dileep’s films
“kunchi koonan”
“chandhu pottu” (protagonist is an eunuch)

i cant remember that many now .. will keep updatin this chain !!!

Phoenixnu:

medium…thats what evryone is telling me about those two films. so m skeptical.
abt ur guru’s film…cant decide now. lt it release.

chandhu pottu…hav u seen this ? n plz gimme more!!!

You cannot leave Dpac out of this…NO WAY

Dpac:

pnu,
if u take away hatke story ideas, there s very few which classify as ‘out of the box’.

‘Albhuthadweep’ is a Gulliver travels inspiration with some good and some pathetic CG. it bombed miserably in the BO.
‘Chaandu Pottu’ is all normal commercial masala mallu movie with a small twist.
(i couldnt sit thru the whole movie but the protagonist was a cross dresser not a eunuch)

Phoenixnu:

dpac n if i take hatke ideas then there r so many..it should be lil bit of everything..hatke n how it got made n all that…was the only one film that d irector did or is he/she the kind of person who endorses that view…

V.P.Jaiganesh:

For me out of the box is veering away from the “trend” and doing it differently. However sometimes, there could be other movie makers who get inspired and follow the line and make more movies aping the original ‘out of the box’ idea. Then it becomes a new genre.
For Eg. In Psycho, the movie travels on one line and we are made to beleive that the character whose POV is being shown is the protagonist and lead. But 20 mins later the character is killed in shower and there is a “what now?” moment. At the time it was “out of the box”. Now hundreds of movies have been made on similar lines.

Out of the box movie must have some “twist” that differentiates it from the general “Trend”. Be it characterisation, camera angle or other tool used in an innovative fashion. In thamizh, Bharathiraaja and Balachander introduced “symbolifyig” and event with an out of the box shot showing something.
For example in “padhinaaru vayadhinile” the veterenarian tries to seduce and molest Mayilu(Sridevi), however he fails in his attempt. Instead to showing it graphically or in the form of a roop tera mastana’ type of song, Bharathiraaja shows a shot of someone trying to cut a coconut for putting a hole for coconut water and while the last blow that would puncture the coconut is delivered, the coconut slips out and falls to the ground. This method of symbolism was heavily misused by ever other film maker later on in thamizh that it has become spoofworthy. However considering the nature of the movie and the detail that he wanted to imply without showing, it was agood idea. A film having such good ideas is in my opinion genuinely out of the box.

And ofcourse, “firsts”.
In the list i had given, I would add “Kalai arasi” an MGR - Bhanumathi - Nambiar starrer that flopped - had the credit to have been the first “scifi”in thamizh - had details of space travel ala Flash gordon. however looking at quality, I would say “Kuzhandhaigal kanda Kudiyarasu” a trilingual (Thamizh, Hindi, Kannada) directed by B.R.Banthulu the first proper scifi with fully child artistes as leads.

2K onward - In thamizh movies atleast - great paucity of experimentation!!
2003 - Kudaikkul Mazhai by R.Partheban inspired by “open your eyes” (spanish)/”Vanilla Sky” (Cameron Crowe), the movie was out of the box because it was about a schizophrenic feels inside - a visual exposition of the thoughts with innovative camera, Art direction (production design) and music. Unlike thespanish movie, there was no deliberate attempt to confuse between whats real and what is an imagination of schizophrenic (pandering to masses perhaps). The movie expectedly failed, but atleast Partheban tried.

Kamal/Suresh Krishna’s Aalavandhan/Abhay definitely is out of box - use of animation in a live action movie, characterization of Nandhu etc., are genuinely out of the box.

As varun mentioned, Bala’s Pithamgan is definitely out of box and for a change was a commercial success as well.

Chennai 600028 is OOB as well for the witty and clever way of making a pseudo sports movie (If you consider tennis ball cricket a sport) and with a climax worth a thousand claps (another departure from traditional movies and sports movies in particular).

Iruvar by Mani is definitely OOB as it tries to capture a politico social milieu in an interesting way (double biopic). It was totally OB considering the way songs were handled and incorporated, acting(no melodrama whatsoever) and boldly strutting in an intellectual plane a tad dry for people expecting more emotiona involvement in a cinema hall.

Bharathiraaja made an OOB movie called “Kangalaal Kaidhu Sei” that suffered from poor actors. It was again about a kleptomaniac millionaire and his rich imaginations that lead him to a dangerous ending. It flopped really bad, but had great music by ARR.

Even recent movie of KB “Poi”(Abadham in Telugu) is mentioned to be OOB, but failed to evoke any response from his followers. Haven’t seen it to comment on it.

Most recently
Anjaadhe is OOB totally for its innovative play with the camera angles.
Polladhavan is OOB for making an action flick with Slums of North Madras background and using an interesting narrative.

So guys…come with you ideas of Out Of The Box..and as far as possible, please keep it limited to Indian Films…MIND IT!!!!!!!