What makes Shankar India's most celebrated director
Very few individuals make a mark in the world of art where their backgrounds or their initial ambitions seem to have no bearing with the heights they reach in their respective fields. Shankar Shanmugham wanted to be an actor and that too a comedian like Gowndamani and Senthil. He assisted SAC who is known to make low budget, family and political satires. He went on to direct ÂGentleman and the rest is history. As a part of ShankarÂs Birthday Special here we take a look at the unique traits of Shankar which make him stand in a league of his own among modern Indian filmmakers.
Socially relevant theme
The first thing that every Shankar film carries is a strong social cause and theme. In ÂGentleman it is the importance of education to all, in ÂIndian and ÂAnniyan the social evil called bribery and in ÂMudhalvan the need for a change of the very system. Even in his lighter movies ÂKadhalan and ÂJeans he touched the angst of a lower class youth and bonding between look alike twins. Grandeur
The images that conjure up in the minds when the name Shankar is mentioned are the cost no bar grand spectacles that he creates to give the viewer a pleasurable wide eyed entertainment. All his songs transport the audience to a different world like a visit to the Seven Wonders of the World with Prashanth and Aishwarya Rai in ÂPoovukkul Olinthirukkum or to down under the virgin beauty of Australia with Kamal and Manisha Koirala in 'Telephone Manipol'.
Strong Writing Team
Shankar backs up his onscreen grandeur with extraordinary writing behind the screens. Sujatha has been an integral part of ShankarÂs creations from ÂIndian to ÂEnthiranÂ. Other heavyweights include Balakumaran (ÂGentlemanÂ), Madhan Karky (ÂEnthiranÂ), Subha (ÂI) and Jeymohan (Â2.0Â).
Impeccable Casting
ShankarÂs casting is so perfect that one cannot imagine any other actor in the particular role, be it Arjun in ÂGentleman and ÂMudhalvanÂ, Superstar Rajinikanth in ÂEnthiranÂ, Vikram in ÂAnniyan and ÂIÂ, Kamal Haasan in ÂIndian or Vijay in ÂNanbanÂ. Similarly, his heroines also have memorable roles and benefit greatly from his films like Manisha Koirala, Aishwarya Rai, Amy Jackson, Nagma and Sada to name a few.
Great importance to Songs and Music
ShankarÂs movies always have not hit songs, but hit albums and one of his most memorable collaboration is with A.R. Rahman right from ÂGentleman to the upcoming Â2.0Â. His combo with Harris Jayaraj too has reaped rich rewards in ÂAnniyan and ÂNanbanÂ. The audience are pre-sold to his films when the audio comes out.
Top Notch technicians
Shankar has worked with the country's premier cameramen including P.C. Sreeram, Jeeva, Ravi Varman, Manoj Paramahansa and others. Thotta Tharani, Sabu Cyril and T.Muthuraj among others have done production design for him. Lenin V.T Vijayan, Antony and Sreekar Prasad have been his editors and other chief technicians, including the Oscar winning sound engineer Resul Pookutty have been a part of his films.
Innovative CG Work
Shankar was the first director in Indian cinema to completely stun audiences with computer graphics when he first used them in the ÂMukkala Muqabala song in ÂKadhalan and after that he regularly enthralled and touched the peak with ÂEnthiran which is on par with any contemporary Hollywood film. The talk is that he has outrun himself in the upcoming Â2.0 which will be the first of its kind in Indian cinema with path breaking computer technology.
Audience Pulse
Shankar is first and foremost a great entertainer who knows the pulse of his audience the best. On one hand, he keeps them gaping with innovative fight and action sequences like the slush fight in ÂMudhalvanÂ, the Varma Kalai in ÂIndianÂ, the long Kungfu fight in ÂAnniyan and almost all the action scenes of ÂEnthiranÂ. On the other hand, he keeps the audience in splits with the Gowndamani- Senthil shows in ÂGentleman and ÂIndianÂ, Vadivelu in ÂMudhalvanÂ, Vivek, in ÂBoys and ÂAnniyanÂ, Santhanam in ÂEnthiran and what is more he even spoofed himself in ÂI with Powerstar Srinivasan. He balances this with highly sentimental scenes like the Arjun-Vineeth friendship in 'Gentleman' or the family bonding in 'Indian'. Once again on behalf of millions of his fans we wish Shankar a Happy Birthday and many more entertaining years to come.
What makes Shankar India's most celebrated director
Very few individuals make a mark in the world of art where their backgrounds or their initial ambitions seem to have no bearing with the heights they reach in their respective fields. Shankar Shanmugham wanted to be an actor and that too a comedian like Gowndamani and Senthil. He assisted SAC who is known to make low budget, family and political satires. He went on to direct ÂGentleman and the rest is history. As a part of ShankarÂs Birthday Special here we take a look at the unique traits of Shankar which make him stand in a league of his own among modern Indian filmmakers.
Socially relevant theme
Grandeur
The images that conjure up in the minds when the name Shankar is mentioned are the cost no bar grand spectacles that he creates to give the viewer a pleasurable wide eyed entertainment. All his songs transport the audience to a different world like a visit to the Seven Wonders of the World with Prashanth and Aishwarya Rai in ÂPoovukkul Olinthirukkum or to down under the virgin beauty of Australia with Kamal and Manisha Koirala in 'Telephone Manipol'.
Strong Writing Team
Shankar backs up his onscreen grandeur with extraordinary writing behind the screens. Sujatha has been an integral part of ShankarÂs creations from ÂIndian to ÂEnthiranÂ. Other heavyweights include Balakumaran (ÂGentlemanÂ), Madhan Karky (ÂEnthiranÂ), Subha (ÂI) and Jeymohan (Â2.0Â).
Impeccable Casting
ShankarÂs casting is so perfect that one cannot imagine any other actor in the particular role, be it Arjun in ÂGentleman and ÂMudhalvanÂ, Superstar Rajinikanth in ÂEnthiranÂ, Vikram in ÂAnniyan and ÂIÂ, Kamal Haasan in ÂIndian or Vijay in ÂNanbanÂ. Similarly, his heroines also have memorable roles and benefit greatly from his films like Manisha Koirala, Aishwarya Rai, Amy Jackson, Nagma and Sada to name a few.
Great importance to Songs and Music
ShankarÂs movies always have not hit songs, but hit albums and one of his most memorable collaboration is with A.R. Rahman right from ÂGentleman to the upcoming Â2.0Â. His combo with Harris Jayaraj too has reaped rich rewards in ÂAnniyan and ÂNanbanÂ. The audience are pre-sold to his films when the audio comes out.
Top Notch technicians
Shankar has worked with the country's premier cameramen including P.C. Sreeram, Jeeva, Ravi Varman, Manoj Paramahansa and others. Thotta Tharani, Sabu Cyril and T.Muthuraj among others have done production design for him. Lenin V.T Vijayan, Antony and Sreekar Prasad have been his editors and other chief technicians, including the Oscar winning sound engineer Resul Pookutty have been a part of his films.
Innovative CG Work
Shankar was the first director in Indian cinema to completely stun audiences with computer graphics when he first used them in the ÂMukkala Muqabala song in ÂKadhalan and after that he regularly enthralled and touched the peak with ÂEnthiran which is on par with any contemporary Hollywood film. The talk is that he has outrun himself in the upcoming Â2.0 which will be the first of its kind in Indian cinema with path breaking computer technology.
Audience Pulse
Shankar is first and foremost a great entertainer who knows the pulse of his audience the best. On one hand, he keeps them gaping with innovative fight and action sequences like the slush fight in ÂMudhalvanÂ, the Varma Kalai in ÂIndianÂ, the long Kungfu fight in ÂAnniyan and almost all the action scenes of ÂEnthiranÂ. On the other hand, he keeps the audience in splits with the Gowndamani- Senthil shows in ÂGentleman and ÂIndianÂ, Vadivelu in ÂMudhalvanÂ, Vivek, in ÂBoys and ÂAnniyanÂ, Santhanam in ÂEnthiran and what is more he even spoofed himself in ÂI with Powerstar Srinivasan. He balances this with highly sentimental scenes like the Arjun-Vineeth friendship in 'Gentleman' or the family bonding in 'Indian'. Once again on behalf of millions of his fans we wish Shankar a Happy Birthday and many more entertaining years to come.
Very few individuals make a mark in the world of art where their backgrounds or their initial ambitions seem to have no bearing with the heights they reach in their respective fields...
Comments