Monday, June 26, 2006
Lost History of Tamil King Raja Lakshmi Mittal
I've always held that today's globalised Tamil/Indian audience is itching for its history to be retold (to itself and to the world) and for Tamil Nadu/India to find its place in the rest of the world's scheme of things.
We watch Discovery and the Beeb make programs on Rome and Egypt (with more than decent production values); we read Ponniyin Selvan; we find that we once were an imperial power; we read about today's geopolitics in South-East Asia; we find that India's global visibility is increasing; while some Tamils fume that Bollywood has cornered western mindspace, yet we pride ourselves that Rang De Basanti had its first few shots in London with a white actor; likewise Mangal Pandey; Aishwarya at Cannes; Shashi Tharoor at the UN; Nuclear Deal; BPO; Dilbert etc (Billy Joel, here I come).
Consequently we exhibit immense pride in this video (via and many others) that is sometimes historically inaccurate, mostly simplistic, geographically challeneged, but very very pleasing to the current Tamil/South Indian psyche.
I've also maintained that as a filmmaker I would certainly exploit this desire in the Indian/Tamil audience to find their narratives with an international relevance and perspective; but would still prefer to keep my head screwed on.
Yeah, Lakshmi Mittal was born in India. So?
Comments to Lost History of Tamil King Raja Lakshmi Mittal
Except, Lakshmi Mittal should be Lakshmi Muthiah
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Ravages/CC
Here is a bit of vetthalai-pakku for leaving a comment on my blog!
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Now, I have to admit, I don't get your joke(?)
posted by Anand
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