Jayam Ravi-starrer Vanamagan is releasing tomorrow, and the trailer has made it apparent that the actor is playing the role of a tribal man who finds himself trying to come to grips with life in a city. The scenes show that the character is bamboozled by technology. The story of a man from the jungle who tries to get used to life in a city to comical effect... Tarzan anyone? Or George of the Jungle perhaps?This isn't the first time that a fictional pop figure has inspired a Tamil film director. Here are some of the other Western characters that have seemingly influenced the making of our films:
Gopinath Rajendran
James Bond - This British spy is known for a few things: his 'shaken, not stirred' martini cocktails, beautiful girls, the uber-cool gadgets and of course, being the inspiration for countless filmsAs far as Tamil cinema is concerned, the character of a sophisticated spy has resulted in quite a few films The 1970 Jaishankar-starrer, CID Shankar, comes to mind. Or how about Kamal Haasan's Vikram?Sherlock Holmes - Created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the stories of Sherlock Holmes have, over the years, been made into plays, feature films, direct-to-DVD films and television series.While the detective angle has been something many Tamil films, including Chidambara Rahasiyam (1985), have explored, Mysskin's upcoming Thupparivaalan seems like a better comparisonNorman Bates - A young handsome man can be anything but a psycho killer thought the world until Robert Bloch wrote Psycho in 1959, which got made into a cult-classic film by Alfred HitchcockKamal Haasan's Sigappu Rojakkal in 1978 had him play a similar character. The anti-hero of Nadunisi Naaygal (2011), by Gautham Menon, bears a striking resemblance to Norman Bates tooTony Montana - This cult character from Scarface is a refugee, who rises from being a petty criminal to becoming a dreaded gangster.Sounds quite similar to our own David Billa, especially in Billa 2? The iconic climax scene in which Al Pacino finishes all his enemies with a gun is also replicated in the Ajith-starrer.Robin Hood - The idea of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor is an age-old Tamil cinema tropeRight from MGR's Malaikkallan (1954) to Rajinikanth's Sivaji (2007), the story of a hero, who takes from the rich and passes it on to the poor, is one many movies have been made on.Jason Bourne - Yet another character taken out of a novel, Jason Bourne is a Foreign Service Officer who loses his memory, only to restart a new life with the aim to figure out his pastKamal Haasan's Vetri Vizha (1989) is also about a cop who goes undercover, gets shot, and loses his memoryRomeo and Juliet - One of the greatest love stories ever written, this Shakespearean tragedy has inspired countless films across the globe.The idea of a couple deciding to be together in death has given its share of Tamil hits. Some examples include Kilinjalgal (1981), Punnagai Mannan (1986), and more recently, Mynaa (2010)