POLLACHI: After the famed pine forests in Kodaikanal, the lush green coconut groves in the salubrious environs of Pollachi was the most preferred shooting spot for canning love duets for film makers in not just Kollywood and Mollywood but also those from Bollywood. But these days, heroes are not chasing heroines half their age around coconut trees here as often as they used to do earlier. Not that film makers have graduated from the ‘tree-chasing’ sequence. It’s simply that land sharks have gobbled up several coconut groves and converted them into plots. Location managers, who used to help out directors with choosing the right scenic spot in Pollachi, are no longer busy. “There was a time when within a 20 km radius in Pollachi, wherever you went, you would hear someone screaming ‘Start Camera,’ ‘Action’ or ‘Rolling’. You would invariably get to see film stars from all languages. Now, we have to hunt for an odd shooting that might be underway somewhere,” says M Rajarathinam alias ‘Pollachi’ Rathinam, a location manager with 25 years’ experience. “Even in 2009, around 30 films were shot in Pollachi. Now only around 15 movies have been canned here during the last couple of years,” says Raja, popularly known as ‘Pollachi’ Raja, a location manager, who has helped film makers find beautiful spots for 20 years. Rathinam says that in the nineties and in the early years of this Millennium, on an average at least four films were shot here daily. “During peak season, the number even touched eight or 10. Now, we consider ourselves lucky if our services are hired once a month,” he rues. In Tamil filmdom, almost all top heroes have shot here. From MGR’s iconic Mallai Kallan in the early fifties, to Rajnikanth’s Murattu Kaalai in the eighties, Kuselan, Kamal Haasan’s Thevar Magan, Vijayakanth’s super hit Chinna Gounder, the young hero Dhanush’s Yaradi Nee Mohini and Simbu’s Silambattam, the list of films shot in scenic locations in Pollachi is endless. Rathinam says directors have now switched over to green locations in Theni, Periyakulam and Dindigul. Some opt for Udumalpet. Azlam, a Pollachi-based upcoming director, who is currently directing the Srikanth-starrer Paagan, says that earlier directors hailing from Coimbatore such as Manivannan, Baghyaraj, R V Udayakumar and P Vasu shot a number of movies with rural theme here. “Now there is a shift from the rural theme and consequently, the number of films shot here has come down,” he explains. On the other hand, he feels that the overnight popularity of Madurai as a hub for rural-pocket based movies such as Paruthiveeran and Subramaniapuram could have also contributed to the decline of Pollachi’s fame.
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