Forrest Gump based on Swathi Muthyam?
Kamal has often been criticized for “copying” Hollywood movies, be it Avvai Shanmughi (Bhamane Satyabhamane / Chachi 420) or Tenali. In a rare occasion, he provided his take on the controversy in Singapore. Thinnai (a Tamil Webmag?) covered it.
Kamal feels that it’s not wrong to use stories from other language movies. Defending himself, he says that Forrest Gump could have been based on the lead character in Swathi Muthyam (Sippikkul Muthu). The movie starring Tom Hanks in an Oscar-winning role released in 1994 and was based on a book that came out in 1986. Kamal’s movie was out in 1985 itself. There is a piece on Forrest Gump on a Web-site, said to be based on an Wikipedia article, which mentions the original Telugu movie. Similarly, Sigappu Rojakkal was said to have been plagiarised from Visiting Hours, whereas the Hollywood movie actually released 4 years later! In the end, Kamal calls for having belief in and appreciating the talent of fellow Indians.
September 25th, 2007 at 5:54 am
No wonder about the double standards. Anyway, If Kamal is accused of inspiring from films to make superior films, then I would like to see more of it.
Because the quality speaks at the end of the day. I’m grateful to all the sources
(history books, films, fiction, etc) For example, An Autistic protagonist with a mythological metaphor in a detached world (to him) could have never been thought of without acquiring knowledge and understanding.
September 26th, 2007 at 5:13 am
HAL,
Anyway, If Kamal is accused of inspiring from films to make superior films, then I would like to see more of it
Well said.
And if ur referring to Guna, he was not autistic.
September 26th, 2007 at 8:35 am
Bala,
If not ‘autism’, what’s the technical term? Is it some form of psychoneuroses?
September 27th, 2007 at 10:33 am
HAL,
Some of Guna’s traits also resemble a schizophrenic - delusions, hallucinations, violent behavior at times, etc..
September 27th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
I think I heard somewhere that it’s called paranoid schizophrenia…