Comedy has always been an inseparable part of tamil movies. Entertaining the audience is the primary purpose of movies and while any good movie can be entertaining, a successful comedy is probably at the top of the list as far as providing entertainment goes. Laughter is the best medicine and what better doctor than a comedy movie, to make you forget your troubles, even if for only a couple of hours! While the script writer, who pens the jokes, puns, one-liners and 'kadi's coming out of the comedian's mouth, is ultimately responsible for generating laughs, the contributions of the actors spouting these jokes cannot be taken lightly. In their tone, delivery and timing lies the final fate of the lines. A talented comedian can evoke laughs with the lamest of jokes while even the funniest joke can fall flat when delivered by an inexperienced actor.
Tamil cinema has had its share of talented comedians. The black and white era had the husband-wife team of N.S.Krishnan and T.A.Mathuram, who usually combined comedy with sensible advice. Then came the incomparable Nagesh, who held sway for more than a decade and was ably supported by dedicated comedians like Balaiya, Thangavelu and 'Thengai' Srinivasan. Several of their old comedies are still fresh and never fail to make me laugh(Kaasedhaan Kadavulada is one of my favorite full-length comedies and Nagesh's performance as Karumi in Thiruvilaiyaadal is legendary). But my exposure to them has been limited to the small screen. This article looks at some of the more recent comedians; the actors who have been successful at making us laugh over last decade and more.
With Koundamani and Senthil, it is hard to think of one without the other. But they did have successful solo careers before coming together for the pairing that became the staple of so many movies. While Koundamani has been around since 16 Vayadhinile, the earliest movie I remember seeing him in was Udhaya Geetham. His role as the fake godman who gradually turned richer(this was indicated in his mode of transportation - first a cycle, then a moped, then a car - to pick up his collections from the collection box!) was hilarious. Though he and Senthil have appeared together in movies before, it was Gangai Amaran's Karagaattakkaran that established them as an indispensable comedy team. Apart from the legendary 'vaazhappazham' routine, Koundamani's fequent rants against Senthil and the latter's activities that needled Koundamani(with the uniquely delivered "Anne") became funny and extremely popular.
The guiding policy in tamil movies has always been that we can never have too much of a good thing. So, Karagaattakkaran's success was followed by several movies which featured a Koundamani-Senthil comedy track. The interactions between them gradually turned more violent(comically ofcourse) and crude, with Senthil being at the receiving end of both physical and verbal abuse from Koundamani. The blows and kicks increased and the name-calling turned more vicious as script writers tried to make up for the paucity of new ideas with cheap shots. There were some bright spots like Chinna Gounder (where Senthil's unique questions had Koundamani stumbling for answers) and Jai Hind(?) (where policeman Koundamani's policeman was prodded into doing stupid things by Senthil appearing in different costumes in his dream) but the majority of their comedy tracks during this time were poorly conceived. In the hands of the right directors, they also proved they had it in them to make us laugh individually with movies like Mannan(Koundamani solo) and Veera(Senthil solo).
The comedy pairing's effectiveness declined and director-turned-actor Manivannan was the next comedian to catch the public's fancy. Manivannan was a fairly successful director who made several successful movies starring Satyaraj and was instrumental in his metamorphosis from a villain to a hero. His mentor Bharatiraja cast his as the villain in Kodi Parakkudhu and he appeared in many of his own movies, most notably Amaidhippadai. But Sundar.C, in what can be called a stroke of genius, cast him, in a double role no less, in his breezy comedy Ullathai Alli Thaa. His comic talent was apparent in this meaty role and he became the new star on the comedy horizon. His Coimbatore dialect and dialog delivery became very popular and he became a common ingredient in most movies during those times. Kaadhal Koattai and Janakiraman were some of his notable movies.
Monotony turned out to be Manivannan's undoing. His appearance and manner of talking remained the same, irrespective of whether they fitted the role or not, and the lack of clever scripts did nothing to help. His comedy routines began to take on a vulgar touch (Paattali and the recent Unnai Kodu Ennai Tharuven being cases in point) and became rather unpleasant. His stock declined and he has since been reduced to playing marginal roles. His downfall has coincided with the rise of Vadivelu and Vivek, who are the comedians ruling the roost today. Infact, Manivannan's miniscule role in movies like Sandhitha Velai, where he appeared alongwith Vivek, illustrates their contrasting positions perfectly.
Vadivelu, who has earned the sobriquet 'Vaigai Puyal' since he hails from Madurai, follows Koundamani's way of thinking that shouting out a piece of dialog automatically makes it funny. I have personally found very few of his solo routines to be funny but he is undeniably popular in the B and C centers(as they are known in movie parlance). In my opinion, Vadivelu needs to be reined in and paired with a bigger star in order to be effective. His pairing with Parthiban in Bharathi Kannammaa was hilarious and even the encounters in Unnaruge Naanirundhaal were quite funny. But the current rage is to team him up with 'Kovai' Sarala and have him on the receiving end of blows from her. While this was innovative and funny in the beginning(for instance, in Tirupati Ezhumalai Venkatesa), their repeated occurrence in movies like Nesam Pudhusu has begun to get tiring. But the scenes must still be popular since they show no sign of abating.
It is Vivek who is undoubtedly the biggest star on the comedy marquee today. He has been around for a long time too but it was the 1999 hit Vaali that brought him into focus. His funny and surprisingly thought-provoking routines in movies like Aasaiyil Oru Kaditham and Tirunelveli were enormously popular and his separate comedy track in the latter was considered one of the key reasons for the movie's success. His comedy routines are now so sought after that they are insisted upon by the distributors and he has been given a free hand to script his own comedy track. Many of these self-created routines are bringing the house down these days.
Ofcourse there are several other comedians in tamil movies today. Charlie and Chinni Jayanth have been around for a long time and have had many good moments. Perhaps anticipating the decline of their comeic popularity, both seem to have turned their attention to heavier roles, Charlie with a memorable performance in Vetrikkodi Kattu and Chinni Jayanth, in his own, eminently forgettable Unakkaaga Mattum. Several other comedians have since stepped in to take their place. Ramesh Khanna, who has followed in Manivannan's footsteps and turned comedian from being a director (he was the director of Thodarum), showed lots of promise in Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen but has not capitalised on it and has showed up in only marginal roles. Dhamu has risen from being a bit player to a major comedian capable of making us laugh in movies like Kannukkul Nilavu and Jodi.Vaiyapuri, forever reduced to playing one of the hero's four friends, has had some good moments but is a long way from being a successful comedian capable of carrying his own comedy track.
As we have seen so far, the comedy landscape in tamil cinema has never been barren and worthwhile performers have always been around to make us laugh away our sorrows for a couple of hours inside the darkened cinema hall. They, more than anybody else, are the people responsible for keeping cinema the topmost entertainment it is. Lets hope that the comic well never dries up and we have a lot more laughs both in reel life and in real life.
© 2000 Balaji Balasubramaniam