Difference between vulgarity and glamour - Does 'Irandaam Kuththu' director have a clue?

Director Santhosh P Jayakumar made the passable adult comedy 'Hara Hara Mahadevaki' based on the viral audio/video by a talented anonymous person who imitated a godman's voiceover style to relate naughty sex tales. Fans would vouch that the anonymous person was way funnier and innovative than the film that he inspired.

Mistaking the response to 'Hara Hara Mahadevaki' as a shout out to him SPJ went on to make 'Iruttu Araiyil Murattu Kuthu' a blatant adult comedy that mildly tickled the funny bones at a few places and fell flat on most other aspects of writing and execution. But the film made money once again due to the genre being new (Shakeela movies stopped releasing by then) and expecting a lot more fun than what they got.

The film industry always backs filmmakers who make money and content is pushed to the backseat and that's how Santhosh got his next film 'Ghajinikanth' starring the top hero of the time Arya in the lead. Remaking a hit film 'Bhale Bhale Magadivoy' should have given the young director a chance to prove his craft but 'Ghajinikanth' turned out to be so dull and drab that it managed to only evoke snores from the audiences.

Now Santhosh P Jayakumar is back with a new film 'Irandaam Kuthu' this time he himself playing the lead with the mildly funny Daniel Annie Pope as his sidekick. The first look poster had the duo raising hug bananas as a bikini-clad girl passes by, which has received a lot of flak due to its suggestive vulgarity. The teaser that was released yesterday contained a barrage of raunchy scenes with humour conspicuously absent.

The most respected doyen of Tamil cinema Bharathiraja slammed the 'Irandaam Kuthu' poster calling it extremely vulgar and detrimental not only to the Tamil culture but also the medium of cinema which has been instrumental in educating people. He said that taboo subjects should be projected in a subtle manner.

Santhosh P Jayakumar has reacted to Bharathiraja's statement by posting a still from the veteran's 1981 movie 'Tik Tik Tik' that has hero Kamal with three bikini-clad heroines. He has questioned whether Bharathiraja's eyes were not uneasy when he shot the scenes.

The 'Tik Tik Tik' still is glamourous no doubt but in no way vulgar and Bharathiraja handled the film with such finesse that even to this day it is lauded as one of the best action thrillers in Tamil cinema.

SPJ no doubt has the right to make adult movies and act in them and also cast Daniel Annie Pope to dilute the humor. But when reacting to a veteran who is celebrated throughout the country and around the globe he should do better than this. He sure does express himself verbally very clearly in his interviews but when it comes to doing it visually is where the problem lies whether its a film he is directing or an image he is posting.

'Irandaam Kuthu' director could do well to understand the difference between vulgarity and glamour and also that raised bananas, jerky body actions or simply naked bodies thrown on each other seldom titillate the audiences. For that, you need to write vibrant characters, cast sexy actors, have real funny situations, and the ability to translate that visually on screen a lot like punk music orchestration. Hope your second punch is a little like that.

Meanwhile, Bharathiraja will forever remain the Iyakkunar Imayam who changed the very face of Tamil cinema and has inspired every filmmaker who came after him for well over four decades. His visual language will continue to touch film lovers transcending generations.