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Written by: JBR
The 30th edition of Book Fair began in Chennai yesterday. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi inaugurated the Fair. Bearing generosity as part of his name he delighted the organizers by issuing a liberal cheque.
He made an announcement that Kalaignar Foundation is donating the fund to the South Indian Publishers and Traders Association. From that corpus, every year 5 best writers will be awarded Rs1 lakh each. The total donation is for Rs.1 crore. The cheque for this purpose was handed over yesterday (Jan 11, 2007) to Gandhi Kannadasan, the President of the Publishers Association.
More important than this formal event is the collection of books in the Fair. The society that reads books will be an enlightened society – it is the truth that lasts even in the 21st century.
The Fair features fiction, poetry, novels, research work, politics and so on. There are a large number of volumes in the cinema section.
Excellent work on cinema have been brought out by Kanavu Pattarai, Uyirmai, Nakkeeran, Charupriya, Eastern Publications and Nizhal. Nakkeeran Publications have brought about a large number of volumes on cinema. Some of them are titled as 'Sivaji 100,' 'MGR 100,' 'Kalaivanar 100,' 'Kannadasan100,' 'Kamal 100' and 'Rajini 100.'
These books featuring 100 landmark events in an actor's life is able to present a cross section of the action. Journalist Sabita Anand has compiled these books.
'Kalavu Thozhirchalai' is a book released by Charupriya belonging to Nakkeeran group. This book is a compilation of essays written by journalist J Bismi on how people involved in cinema like directors, camera persons, producers, actors and others are working against cinema and reveals such activity with instances. 'Kalavu Thozhirchalai' is a book that brings to light the dark side of cinema.
Yet another book that is being released coinciding with the Book Fair is Rajamanikkammal Publications' 'The Firsts in Tamil Cinema.' Compiled by P.R.O. Peruthulasi Palanivel this book identifies the first producer, first director, the first colour film in Tamil cinema.
The new publication company Mitra Publications has brought out the last film of Balu Mahendra's ' Adhu Oru Kanaakkalam' in book form.
Uyirmai Publications' Ramakrishnan has brought out a book that elaborates on the intellectual discussions that Satyajit Ray's 'Pather Panchali' generated in the art field. This is the first effort to review a single film in such details in Tamil. Thus it is considered as an important work.
As ever Kanavu Pattarai has released a large number of books. A translation of internationally celebrated Adoor Gopalakrishnan's essays on his cinema experiences titled 'Cinema Anubavam' has been done in Tamil by poet Sukumaran. Meera Kadiravan has rendered another compilation of Adoor's essays as 'Cinemavin Ulagam' in Tamil that is on sale.
The most important of all publications that are released this year, is Padmarajan's 'Peruvazhi Ambalam.' The screenplay of this film is translated and written by Meera Kadiravan and brought out in a book form by Kanavu Pattarai.
Ajayan Bala has rendered in Tamil the story of the landmark war film 'Bicycle Thieves' and is available in a book form.
The rare essays written by director Mahendran on acting have been compiled in a book form. The book 'Nadippu Enbadhu' will be a great contribution to cinema.
The remarkable work released by Nizhal Publications who is known to serialize the stories of great films is 'Battleship Potemkin.' This celebrated film directed by the Russian director Sergei Isenstein is considered to be an all time great. A J Khan has translated its screenplay in Tamil.
Kalaichelvan has translated director Isenstein's ideas on 'Battleship Potemkin.'
Attached to this book is the essay by Rogant describing the event 'Odessa stairs' in 240 shots. This could form an effective guide to students on how to evaluate a film. As ever, Nizhal Publications has done a yeomen service by its unique contribution in books on cinema.