It’s feel good time at the movies

doweshowbellyad=0; Cosy twosome: Genelia and Jeyam RaviApril saw two family ���feel good��� movies laced with sentiments, soft romance and good music, making it big at the box office. The remakes of Telugu toppers, Yaaradi Nee Mohini (YNM) and Santosh Subramaniyam(SS), designed to suit today���s multiplex audiences, are keeping the cash registers flowing.
What works in favour of these films largely, is the ���feel good��� factor they create, packaged with
romance, songs and sentiments.Both films bank heavily on wringing the emotions in a father-son relationship to the hilt. This seems to have hit the bull���s eye! Melodrama, sigh, always strikes a chordwith the Tamilian movie-going audience.
In Tamil cinema, each hero is strait-jacketed in an ���image��� once he becomes a star. Script writers and directors constantly work around the story to ensure the hero���s image remains intact.YNM is an example of how Dhanush���s on-screen image of an ���ordinary looking, irresponsible, laid-back loser���, transforms into this
responsible guy, who wins the beautiful Nayantara!
Our hero is always at loggerheads with his dad, a strict disciplinarian, whose death becomes the turning point in his life. This touched a chord with the ���aspirational��� dreams of young audiences here, and the film became a sensational hit. Similarly, Jeyam Ravi has ���chocolate-boy-next-door looks, who respects and values his family kind of image.
All his superhit films work on this format, and his brother, director M Ravi, who understands him the best, has used this formula to make Ravi, a hot-blooded star among the teenagers. SS is the Ravi-Raja
combo���s fourth film together. They have blended all the ingredients perfectly to suit the star���s image. The cute Genelia as his lady love, and popular actor Prakash Raj as his ���strict father��� only added to the ���feel good��� flavour.
The summer audiences, bored with blood and gore films have lapped up these ���family entertainers���. The aggressive television promotions and peppy music in sync with the youthful crowds also help.Another
factor, which worked in the favour of these two films, is the delay in the release of the summer biggies (Dasavatharam and Kuruvi). Moreover, these films were released before the IPL hype and hoopla in the city. By the time Chennai Super Kings played their first match in Chennai, Dhanush and Ravi had scored at the box office!! Gotcha!