The cutaway technique is a visual relief in filmmaking that shows the expanse of a scene. Similarly, storytelling in the verdant setting has its own charm and offers the much-needed departure from urban neon lights. The landscape and soundscape are a treat to the ears and eyes if made well. As some great person of the past said, "Something more beautiful will also be more dangerous." This phrase cannot be truer concerning forests and mountains. The danger likely is what adds to its beauty.
In addition to its visual appeal, such films also accentuate the storytelling flair. In some stories, the forest facilitates the blossoming of love (Kumki, Gunaa), it can morph into what people seek from it (enlightenment - Raam, refuge - Asuran, seclusion - Kadhal Kondein), can serve as an apt prop to heighten tension in a commercial film (Peraanmai and Captain Prabhakaran), and can turn into a grandmotherly figure retaining mysteries and lore for posterity, and totally transports us to another existence (Kantara and Neeya/Naagin).
As Rishab Shetty's Kantara: Chapter 1, prequel to the 2022 film, captivates audiences by immersing them in the wilderness, here are some of the Tamil films that have effectively utilised this setting to express emotions, create drama, convey truths, and impart valuable lessons.
KUMKI - 2013
This story can easily feature two more Prabu Solomon films. No matter the genre, he never forgets to hat-tip to Mother Nature. His 2013 film Kumki, marking the acting debut of Vikram Prabhu, could be called the second installment - 2010 Mynaa being the first - to his NCU (Nature Cinematic Universe). Films of his that followed Kumki religiously captured the natural backdrop against which the drama and conflict between the characters are set. Right from the curiosity-evoking title, the film moves with the God's eye perspective of the forest and mountains. The forest is classified as the Mullai thinai in ancient Tamil texts, and Sangam poems set the theme of romantic separation in this landscape. The romance and helplessness of Bomman (Vikram Prabhu) and Alli (Lakshmi Menon) culminate in eventual separation, driven by passion and pain. There is a certain bitter romance that unfolds in Kumki in the alluring view of the pastoral village, hills, waterfalls being a foil to Bomman's string of losses: his uncle Kothalli (Thambi Ramaiah), friend Undiyal (Aswin); Alli, his newfound love who cannot be his, and the only living being that masks Bomman's loneliness, the tusker Manickam.
GUNAA - 1991
Unlike the previous film, this classic starring Kamal Haasan has the thicket granting the protagonist the love he has yearned for in this harsh world, but not in the real world. This film will always be a trailblazer in Tamil cinema for introducing the forest as a character, or perhaps more accurately, as a portal. It serves to calm troubled souls and guide them to a better place, one with less pain. The lonely Gunaa (Kamal Haasan), with a mental illness, falls in love, according to his understanding. The world never has a place for Gunaas and Abhiramis/Rohinis falling in love. The forest provides refuge for them and serves as a purgatory for Rohini, as she begins to see Gunaa in a way unlike the rest of the world. The wilderness becomes the last place of suffering for such 'unfit' and 'not meant to be together' couples. It hardly seemed coincidental that films like Kaadhal Kondein (2003) and Kadhalil Vizhundhen (2008) feature couples confronting their imminent end, or a character choosing to abandon their outdated mindset. Though viewed as having sad endings, these movies depict the forest as offering some inexplicable esoteric enlightenment.
RAAM - 2005
Speaking of enlightenment, the jungle does not just teach people to 'let go' with its vastness. It also gives the strength to fight back. In this film, where Jiiva plays an autistic person, filmmaker Ameer would have questioned the society's definition of a 'normal person'. On one side, we have a group of spoiled 'normal' kids engaging in mischief, while the 'abnormal' Ramakrishnan (Jiiva) grows up to be an ideal man with his doting mother. Losing the only person who was a respite in his troubled life, Ramakrishnan walks into the sylvan that brings him a profound transformation. With the renewed energy after his tryst with the wild and some saints, he reenters civilisation to fight injustice head-on. The forest has blurred the difference between the 'normal' and 'abnormal.' And makes Ramakrishnan deliver justice to his mother's death after getting the instructions, like how a judge pronounces his/her verdict. In Raam, the wilderness is a provider of justice and acts as an equaliser.
ASURAN - 2019
It is perhaps this quality of the forest that makes Sivasamy (Dhanush) shake off his passivity in Vetrimaaran's Asuran and rightfully claim what is his. Sivasamy and his son Chidambaram (Ken Karunaas) hide in the thickets because of the latter's revenge attack for his elder brother's death. The grand forest and mountains won't yield to wealth or by virtue of someone born into a particular community. It treats everyone the same across the social and economic spectrum. This landscape cannot and will not snitch Sivasamy. The forest is the last refuge, after Sivasamy's relatives have all proved to be ineffective in protecting his family from the enemies. He is being accorded what he was denied in the inhabitation. Now he is determined to extend this equality back to his dwelling place. An anarchist society is usually described as a 'jungle raj'. In Asuran, it is the other way round. The forest treats all people equally, regardless of their background.
PERAANMAI - 2009
The jungle doesn't just provide grief, refuge, enlightenment, equality, and courage to fight back; it also offers a space for introspection, disillusionment, and the discernment of judging people without hypocrisy. The group of college girls taking everyone for a ride indiscriminately, without giving any of their actions any thought, is forced to plunge into action in the wake of a serious national security issue. While there is a battle to be fought against an enemy nation, the girls (played by Vasundhara, Dhansika, Saranya, Liyasree, and Maha) face an internal struggle over treating Duruvan (Ravi Mohan) with respect and dignity. Like in Asuran, the forest blurs the lines drawn by society between different social classes. The setting humbles the girls, enabling them to overcome their personal biases as well. Peraanmai is one such film where, at times, the subplots are interesting than the main plot itself. While facing the wilderness challenges, the girls and Duruvan learn to respect and embrace each other despite their shortcomings. Here, too, there are costs in the form of human life. The forest in Peraanmai could be called the microcosm of the concept of life itself. You love, laugh, ridicule, get schooled, embarrass yourself, suffer personal losses, and learn.