Will you go to theaters to watch a movie? Most of you would answer in the affirmative. But there is also a counter side to this. There are people who do not frequent theaters and yet manage to catch up with all the latest releases. You got it, they rely on the unfair means which include internet downloads and the most popular means, the ‘thirittu’ VCD. It is indeed a booming business in Tamil Nadu at the moment, going by the number of street side vendors who are specializing in the sales of such VCDs. Some of them even function as video libraries, taking back CDs at half rates after regular clients have watched them once. There is also replacement guarantee if the disc provided does not work. Everyone is wise enough to not complain about the picture and sound quality though. That is the only front on which the pirated VCD industry is not able to compete with the actual film industry. The sound and picture quality can never be recreated. But new and emerging technologies in the form of high definition handy cams and other sophisticated equipments will soon enable them to be reproduced exactly too. It comes to your doorstep, it comes cheap and it comes with a replacement and payback guarantee. All these three can never be provided by theater owners; ever heard of ticket rates being paid back because the movie was awfully bad? With pirated VCDs threatening day by day, cinema was in a big quandary. Now, however, pirated VCDs are not the major problem, there seems to be an even more dangerous opposition, the TV.
What does one mean by saying TV? Well, we don’t know whether it was some sort of ploy by the producers to try and reduce at least to some extent the dominance of the pirated VCD industry. But, there has definitely been an increase in the number of films being handed over to TV channels in a hurry. No one is sure whether the current channel war has accelerated budgets of each competitor to acquire the most wanted productions and products. But, the overall process of getting a film from the big screen to the small one has become considerably faster, maybe by a huge factor.Look back at this Navarathri. The last two days of the festival are the most special and all channels preserved their arsenal for these couple of days. Do you remember the films that were played out across channels on those two days? Even a person with a sharp memory and a great interest in cinema might not able to recollect effectively. But, one does remember images of Abhiyum Naanum, Subramaniapuram and Poo flashing across the screen while flipping channels. The common factor between all these films is that all of them were released in 2008, got great critics’ views and did good business at the box office. Subramaniapuram was last year’s sensation while Abhiyum Naanum and Poo were revelations. In fact, all major hits of 2008, barring Dasavatharam have already been shown on the small screen; the likes of Saroja etc.All of a sudden, TV is flooded with new movies and more importantly with advertisements claiming it to be a historical landmark (varalaaril mudhal muraiyaga) that the particular movie is being telecast on that particular channel at a particular time - which of-late is also seen to be deliberately coinciding with similar plans of another channel.It is not just mere coincidence or a one off occasion. Almost all the small movies of 2009 have already been telecast including the reasonably successful Dindigul Sarathi. The movies that are less fortunate at the ticket window find themselves on the small screen before they can even blink. This year’s Anandha Thandavam is a good example which did not have to wait for much long after its theatrical release to get to the small screen.Is it a healthy trend? The common sense answer would be no. Already, families think twice, thrice and maybe even more before planning to watch a movie in theaters, the expenses and the stress demands that kind of planning. Imagine how their minds would change if the same pattern of big screen release to TV premier is followed. The difference is just a few months or even lesser which would not rob the movie of any of its freshness or novelty. A couple of years or so back, the big festival premiers used to be blockbusters fetched from at least 2 -3 years in the past. The new style is definitely welcome news for those who prefer that couch than the theater seat. But, it might ultimately turn out to be a self inflicted wound for the film industry. Maintain, preserve and use sparingly the unique appeal that TV can never have when compared to cinema. By narrowing down the distance between TV and cinema, it is the theaters that will finally go empty.
