Design Patterns in Kollywood
1.Choreographed Scenes - Strong character actors like Thalai Vaasal Vijay and others standing in vantage positions, accompanied by logic-explaining dialogue. Each line of dialogue is usually accompanied by sudden bursts of random instruments deliberately clanged against each other. Tudum tudum tudum tudum...tududum tududum tududum... These unnatural and decidedly unmelodious sounds are one of the most important attributes. Famous examples include Jodi, Poovellam Un Vaasam.
2.Heart Licking - Vikraman and his underlings' movies / Vasu movies / Super Good films' movies / Sivasakthi Pandiyan movies : Regular players include “Captain” Vijaykanth, the late Kunal, “Trustable Round” Prabhu , “ Group Actor” Murali, Ramesh Khanna, “Character Actor” Thalaivaasal Vijay , “I am Smart” Karan, Vaiyapuri, Daamu,“Wash Basin Vaayan” Erode Paandu. Heavy use of Design Pattern # 1. In fact, Design Pattern # 1 owes its existence to Mr.Vikraman ! Famous movies include Vaanathai Pola and Aanantham.
3.Love Stories – A very broad Design Pattern. Encompasses most of the other design patterns at varying levels. Most of the actors / actresses have applied this design pattern at some part in their careers, to varying levels of success.
4.Mass movies – A design pattern considered necessary for actors to achieve “Superstar” status. Successfully used by MGR, Rajini. Now many actors, varying from 15 to 35 years of age are using this design pattern with varying levels of success.
5.Action Movies – A distinct design pattern that focusses mainly on action, with little doses of design patterns # 2, 3 and 4. Prominent actors include “Action King” Arjun.
6.Over Enthusiasm – Jyothika, Ajit, Shanmuga Sundaram, Thalai Vaasal Vijay, Sreeman, Karan. Basically, this involves unnecessary face expressions. Known in slang as “Aarva Kolaaru”.
7.Thinking out loud - one of the best ways to insult audience intelligence. Results Guaranteed or full-money return !
8.Mani Rathnam movies - Pseudo Hi-Fi Crap with dim lighting and / or based on famous people / epics. Always with crowd-pulling actors. Throw in some nice music by IR and now by ARR and there you go!
9.Shankar movies - Superhero crap, customized for Indian audiences. Main protaganist, always a common man, fails and rises again. Throw in n number of variations, great sets ( ப்ரஹ்மிக்க வைக்கிறான் ), leading actors (including the Tamil Superstar himself) and you have a director with Midas touch !
10.Vijay movies – Intro Fight, Intro song, fight, heroine intro song / introduction, romance, fight, tasteless comedy by Vijay, fight, heart licking (design pattern # 2), fight, song, climax fight. Vijay's roles usually are mechanic / labourer / someone the man on the street can identify himself with. Heroines, usually the ones that acted with Rajini in his most recent movie. A design pattern, fast losing its customer base!
11.Ramanarayan movies – Goddess (never God !) movies customized for B and C centers ! Special mention must be made of Ground-breaking Visual Effects.
12.A R Murugadoss movies - Inspired from design pattern # 9 with lesser budget and lesser fantasy involved.
13.Bala movies - Movies with focus on under-privileged sections of society. Usually, one or more of the protagonist(s) meets a tragic fate ( ranging from mental insanity to death )
14.Balachander movies - Movies that "dwell" on human relationships. Or some crap pretending to be like that.
15.TR movies - one of the most popular design patterns! Characterized by rhyming inane dialogues, usually featuring a short, heavily-bearded TR as the protagonist. Direction, production, screenplay, dialogues, music, lyrics all by TR. Truly, a one man show.
16.Bhagyaraj movies - Somewhat similar to Design pattern # 14. Major difference, is the bespectacled Bhagyaraj, playing the lead role of the innocent protagonist.
17.Sreeman – A one-man design pattern ! A very smart and decidedly muscular and handsome chap, his very presence is magnetic.
18.PS: Please see this video to understand his insanely charismatic personality:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/848704/sreeman/
19.Karan – Refer to Design Pattern # 17
20.Thalai Vaasal Vijay – Architect Level ISO certified, Agmark stamped “Character” Actor. One of the most important components of Design Patterns # 1 and 2, Mr. Thalai Vaasal never disappoints.
21.Vijaykanth movies – “Captain” Vijaykanth, always in Police Officer / CBI / Election Commissioner / FBI / CIA / Interpol roles. Dialogues by Liaquat Ali Khan. Featuring North Indian ladies in roles with screen time equalling 30 mins (intro song, 3 duet songs, climax scene)
22.“Trustable Round” Prabhu – Always comes as a very responsible and extremely trustable round figure. His roles include solo-hero movies, second hero / younger rounder brother to Rajini / Kamal / Sathyaraj, and now as round trustable figure in movies and TV advertisements
23.Murali – Very Senior level “Group” actor / “College Student in Love” Actor. An important component of Heart Licking Design Pattern. Shines in big “star” studded movies. Here, Star refers to Murali and other actors of his level.
24.Village subject movies – This design pattern encompasses actors who usually wear rural clothings in most of their roles, comprising of lungi, drawer, hairy chest revealing upper torso wear. Prominent are “Naatamai” Vijay Kumar, Sarath Kumar, Napolean, Radha Ravi, Anand Raj, Vinu Chakravarthy. This design pattern very closely follows the design patterns # 1 and 2 and are mainly designed to make money in B and C centers. Famous movies include Ejaman, Chinna Kounder.
25.Vijay Kumar – Most Experienced Architect level “Village Subject” actor. His callsheets are always sought out first, whenever a village subject movie is announced. Only due to his inability to allocate callsheets, does the opportunity go to Radha Ravi, Anand Raj and other B level Village Subject actors. Legendary for his hair chest revealing garments and mouthing loud dialogues. Spends his non-working time in promoting the career of his 2 daughters and 1 son.
26.Flash back scenes with dyed hair - A major component of Design Patterns # 2 and 23. Scenes involve 50 years plus aged actors dyeing their hair / having a black hair wig to tell flashbacks. Otherwise, there is absolutely zero change in their voice modulation, body language or posture. Just dye their hair black or have a black wig. Prominent players include "Captain" Vijaykanth, "Spreme Star" Sarathkumar, Rajeev, Radha Ravi, Anand Raj and "Village Subject Actor" Vijay Kumar.
27.Ramarajan – Senior level “Village Hero” actor. Famous for bright colored clothes.
28.Arjun - “Action King” Arjun produces, directs, acts in his own movies. He mostly appears as Army / Navy / Air Force / CBI / Police officers with very high sense of patriotism towards the nation. Now and then, he works with Shankar, Sundar C. Recently, he has formed a relatively successful comedy team with “Vaigai Puyal” Vadivelu.
29.Double / Triple role movies – Actors ( and very rarely actresses) appear in double / triple roles. They are usually twins, brothers, grandfather/father/son, father/son(s) and very rarely as unrelated individuals. Most prominent feature of this pattern is the total absence of efforts on the part of the actors and make-up man / director to distinguish between the different persons using body language and / or makeup. Most Senior level actors include Sarath Kumar and Vijaykanth.
30.Exception: “Universal Hero” Kamal Hassan in MMKR, Aboorva Sagodharargal
31.Suspense movies – A very unused design pattern, as far as Kollywood is concerned. Due to perceived lack of box office money making capacity, this pattern is highly ignored in favor to Heart Licking movies. Notable exceptions include Anjathey, Athe Kangal, Yaavarum Nalam.
32.Horror movies – Refer Design Pattern # 29
33.Gautham Menon movies – Inspired by Design Pattern # 8. Shoots major parts of his movies in famous US cities like NY to make up for lack of originality. Frequently casts Surya and Mrs.Surya.
34.Fast Screenplay movies – A very close follower of design pattern # 4. Here the hero is usually a very common man, faced with extraordinary circumstances (usually avoidable in real life scenarios; brought unnecessarily upon himself by hero's ego / hotheadedness). Lot of scenes involving almost fatal encounters with bad guy and escaping at last minute due to some big object obstructing the villain's view of the hero and other more outlandish reason(s). Zero logic and Maximum Adrenaline Flow. Famous examples include Run, Ghilli, Dhool, Dhill, Sandaikozhi. Regular directors include Dharani, Lingusamy.
35.Telugu-remake movies: These movies were made in AP and accordingly made with higher noise levels and more brighter costumes and very very unmelodious music. Remake movies typically use same actresses, same crew and same director. Prominent actors include “Ilayathalapathy” Vijay and “Jeyam” Ravi.
36.Revenge Subjects: Heavily uses Design patterns # 23, 25 and 28.
37.Realistic movies: This design pattern is one of the least used design patterns in Kollywood. Major players include Balu Mahendra, Bharathiraja, Mishkin and to a certain extent, Bala.
38.Comedy movies: While out and out comedy movies are relatively rare, most movies include an integrated / separate comedy track. Prominent players include MR Radha,“Vaigai Puyal” Vadivelu, Rajini, “Wash Basin Vaayan” Erode Pandu.
39.M R Radha: MR Radha represents one of the earliest design patterns in Tamil Cinema. Outspoken critic of blind hero worship. This design pattern represents visionary thinking far ahead of the prevailing times and fearless outspoken nature against populist thinking. Most Unique Design Pattern and so far peerless !
40.K S Ravikumar: Represents hidden satire for prevalent pop culture. Some of the applications of this design pattern are listed below:
41.Minsara Kanna for Jodi and Poovellam Un Vaasam
42.Samudhiram for Vaanathai Pola and Aanandham
43.Ethiri for Run and Ghilli
44.Naatamai for Ejamaan and Chinna Kounder
45.Visu: This design pattern represents the dramatization of Kollywood. Prominent features include women-centric themes and scene-by-scene application of Design Pattern # 1. Visu later branched out to host a TV talk show titled “Useless Talk Auditorium”
46.Pandiarajan movies: Short and blessed with an innocent-looking face, Pandiarajan made a nice fortune with a string of movies in 80s with his unique brand of screen presence. Having worked with Bhagyaraj, his movies tend to follow Design Pattern # 16. Recently, acted as villain in Anjathey, one of the rare Tamil suspense movies by Mishkin. A design pattern, quite unique and possibly wont be seen again !
47.Parthiban movies: Again, influenced by Design Pattern # 16, due to his past association with Bhagyaraj. Parthiban's attempts at meaningful cinema make sense to only him and his fanbase, if any. His only claim to success is his mostly successful on-screen collaborations with “Vaigai Puyal” Vadivelu. Not a very practical design pattern!
48.“Superstar” Rajinikanth: This is one of the most famous design patterns in Kollywood. This itself is an example of an extremely successful application of Design pattern # 4 - Mass movies. A genuine Superstar in Kollywood and in Japan, US, Malaysia and other countries, Super Star is a true phenomenon. With genuine charisma and screen presence, he invented his own style of flicking the cigarettes, stylish / fast mannerisms in walking / talking. Post-Baasha period has seen a steady decline in the quality of his movies, with the possible exceptions of Padaiyappa and Baba, with the latest movie being a complete dud. All said and done, this design pattern represents innovation at early stages and the danger of getting stereotyped. It shows the risk of blind and non-stop application of the same Design Pattern over and over again.
49.“Universal Hero” Kamal Hassan: This design pattern represents versatility, constant innovation and persistent refusal to be tied down by populist / commercial tendencies. Able to successfully handle acting, direction, production, screenplay, singing, dance / fight choreography, lyrics and editing, Kamal represents true craftsmanship and technical excellence. A design pattern, that transcends the boundaries of cinema and can be applied to any chosen field of specialization.
Originally Posted by HonestRaj
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