The Fading Magic of T.N Seetharam
By Deepak M. Rao

Renaissance never ceases to amaze. That's one reason why we fell in love with Munna Bhai. It's also why we so liked the previous trail brazer Rang De Basanti. And T. N. Seetaram too. At a time when serials in Kannada were mostly about tobacco chewing villagers or terribly dressed, West (read N India) emulating city-dwellers, he came in like a fresh breath of air, just when you are suffocating in the heat. Think of a cool breeze in a stinking, boiling hot cinema hall, which is a full house. A breeze made soothing by a pleasant mix of average looking people, living in barely-own houses, riding scooters and making many ends meet. Like you, me and the rest of us. Yes, there was always a dash of power thrown in - a politician or a top-grade government official. But just about enough to not stifle the audience. In more ways than one, it was like watching your family on screen. It made good viewing and well, TNS became the change we wanted to see in cinema, and he became a brand, so unique, and so, real.  If you wanted to see a film about real people, only TNS it was who could get the package right.

Alas, all good things do not last long. Here comes the twist in the story. After two or three of his serials, I cannot stand TNS. All the horses in his stable are just the exact replica of his initial serials. It is the same middle class family that has roots in the village. An old couple living in the same village, in the same house that we know like the back of our hand by now. The swing in the old house still creaks out the name of the first T.N. Seetharam serial. That same one-member connection with power. And worst of all, the way he portrays his male characters. What a skewed and limited imagination he betrays! Usually jobless, almost always joking, gambling, losing money, getting picked up by cops, hounded by money-lenders, and looked down upon by their always successful wives, who are also intelligent, smart and idealistic.

When imagination runs wild and sifts into the thought process of the script writer who desperately wants to stick to the popular genre, what results is chewed cud.