‘Subramaniapuram’, 15 years later, still leaves you awestruck

It stunned the audiences 15 years ago, launched its all-new cast and crew to stardom, inspired Anurag Kashyap to make ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’, and attained a cult status in Tamil cinema; ‘Subramaniapuram’ is now back on the big screen and it hasn’t aged a day

(Originally published in The Hindu on August 04, 2023)

The credits open with a grainy film montage of the streets and markets of Madurai. We then follow from the first-person perspective of a convict in a prison, who minutes after being released, gets stabbed mercilessly by a hooded figure. A voice from the audience howls in joy; perhaps, the audiences know that when we come back to this moment later in the film, the tugging at our heartstrings will transfix us to our seats. 15 years after its release, Subramaniapuram is back on the big screens, it still continues to haunt and amaze the audiences, and it still hasn’t aged a day.

“It’s astonishing that it still looks so fresh in visuals, performances, and music. The fact that people have been celebrating this film every year on the anniversary proves the impact,” says Vignesh, a Chennai-based software engineer, who couldn’t get enough of the frenzy outside a theatre in Chennai on Friday.

There’s nothing like a dream debut film for a filmmaker, but Subramaniapuram was much more than that to actor-director Sasikumar. “Coming from the school of filmmaker Bala, there were a lot of expectations from me. I had to be more responsible towards that and at the same time figure out how I could stand apart from him. So I wanted to start with a bang.” Being his own producer gave him enough freedom to do whatever it takes, he adds. However, inching towards the release of the film on July 4, 2008, was tense, he says. “And just like then, I am once again overseeing the release, giving tickets, and so on. But I am not letting myself get too worked up this time because this re-release has no commercial goals. This mixture of excitement and fear I feel is more about celebrating the film we did.”

The director says that the team had planned only a get-together to watch the film at a preview theatre. “But we realised that an entire generation watched the film only on television — they’d have been in school or college when it was released. And this is a film that has to be watched in a theatre with a crowd.” There lies the answer to why Sasikumar chose to have this celebration on its 15-year anniversary instead of, say, waiting for 5 more years — there can’t be a…..

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