Top heroes woo kids to add commercial value to their films

When actor Vijay���s recent film Puli started getting pilloried on social media, everyone expected the film to become one of the biggest flops in the actor���s career. However, the film managed to do decent business surprising many, and if you could single out one particular reason for this, it was because the film was targeted at kids. Enticed by the fairy-tale plot and the visual effects, kids brought in family audiences, and proved to be face-savers for the filmmakers and the star.
Like Vijay, quite a few actors in Kollywood are opening up to the idea of making kids friendly films, as they consider them a safe bet financially. From comedy tracks and mannerisms to songs and dance moves, these actors are ensuring that their films prove irresistible to kids.
Actor Sivakarthikeyan, who has a considerable fan following among kids, agrees that kid-friendliness is a factor that he looks at while choosing scripts. He credits the songs in his films as the main reason why kids like him. ���When I was shooting Varuthapadatha Vaalibar Sangam in a village, a lady pointed me out to her kid as the mama who comes in the Dang Dang song. Fortunately, almost every film of mine had a song that connected with kids ��� from Boomi Enna Suthudhe to the recent Ennama Ippadi Pannreengalema,��� he says and calls Maan Karate (another critically panned film) as the film that helped him reach out to kids. ���From the pose in the poster to the comical way in which I box in the arena ��� they were attracted to that film,��� he recalls and says that children are able to understand and relate to his comedy tracks.
Now, he has also started including kids in the songs in his films. Child dancers were part of a song in his Kaaki Sattai, and his upcoming Rajini Murugan will also feature kids. ���The film���s story is not something kids will relate to, but we have included them in the songs to catch their attention,��� he explains and adds that kids will love his character in the untitled film that he is currently shooting for.
And it is not just character, but also content that matters, he says, ���That is why I try to avoid elements like smoking on screen, vulgarity and bloodshed.���
Like Sivakarthikeyan, actor GV Prakash, whose recent Trisha Illana Nayanthara was targeted at college-going youngsters, is also currently shooting for Bruce Lee, which will have kid-friendly elements. ���Kids liked the comedy portions in my first film, Darling. We included the Ghost Gopal Varma character and the scenes where I act scared in front of the ghost especially for kids. Bruce Lee is intended for all segments of the audience and not just kids, but kids will find it cute,��� he says.
GV Prakash adds, ���When a kid wants to see a film, you are selling a minimum of four tickets, as their family also accompanies them. So, they add to the box office value of a film and I���m working towards satisfying that section of my audience.���
The director of Pasanga-2, Pandiraj says that Suriya was looking out for a role like Aamir Khan���s in Taare Zameen Par, which attracted every section of the audience. ���Since he has been involved with kids through his Agaram Foundation, he naturally has an affinity towards them. He wanted to do a meaningful film that would send out a positive message to kids and be a role model for them,��� he reveals.
A specialist in making children���s films, the National Award-winner says that kids are the only segment of fans who remember the dialogues, mannerisms and dance moves of their favourite star for a long time. And when kids adore a star, their family members also start liking him. ���The kid also talks highly of his favourite star to his friends, and they too start getting attracted to the star due to peer pressure. So, every hero has a desire to attract kids,��� he says and hopes that after the release of his film, many more heroes will start showing interest in doing children���s films.
An industry insider, who did not wish to be named, feels that it is the competition from the likes of Sivakathikeyan, GV Prakash and Raghava Lawrence (whose Kanchana franchise has an enviable number of kids among its fans) that is forcing top stars like Vijay and Suriya to take up films targeted at children. ���Kids are the next generation of fans. So, if children like a hero, the actor can be assured of a fan base in the future. That is why I feel Suriya is producing Pasanga-2, and even agreed to play a supporting character,��� the insider says. The person also adds that these stars are taking a leaf out of Rajinikanth, who includes elements that attract kids in his films. He points out to the line in the song ���Superstar-u yaaru-nu kaetta china kozhandhaiyum sollum��� and says that such image building through innocent characters, comedies involving snakes, and style has endeared the Superstar to children.
However, film critic-turned-filmmaker Sudhish Kamath, who is writing a book on the Superstar, thinks that Rajinikanth would not have thought about kids as a future fan base. ���Before the cable TV boom split the audiences into male and female audiences, and filmmakers were forced to target the men as the ladies had switched over to watching TV soaps, family audiences were the biggest segment of the audience. And the surest way to reach out to them was by making films that kids will be interested in watching. That is why Rajinikanth would have done a film like Anbulla Rajinikanth or had animated characters in the song in Raja Chinna Roja,��� he says.
He opines that Rajinikanth cleaned up his act fairly early on in his career after realizing that kids were getting attracted to him and calls Anbulla Rajinikanth, the point of transformation. ���The rape scenes started going out of his movies, which became cleaner and cleaner. Even his trademark style of flipping the cigarette was less about smoking as a habit and more about the swagger,��� he says.