After watching the teasers of Neethane En Ponvasantham (Tamil and Telugu) sometime back, I have had a few questions at the back of my mind regarding the acting choices and dialogue delivery.
Consider the clips below, it is a good case study to me because so many things are common. The actors (at least the males) are quite decently skilled too, but the performances are so different for the same scenario.
Why shouldn't it be so? It is not necessary to make the same acting choices after all. But if we ask the other question, there is more to ponder.
'Why so?'...here are some of my questions to ponder further.....
Is it...
1. because of the acting choices of the particular actor ?
2. because of the director's choice ?
2. because of the language and target audience ?
Before I try to find the answers, let me say what is different in the performances in my opinion.
In the Tamil clip, I thought the acting choices were good and subtle. When the heroine speaks of the hero's singing and after a deep breath, says '"Anga naan kaali!", the expression is cute and original. The choice of words are beautiful and simple. The better part is when the hero responds saying "Ilayaraja " - Just one....ONE WORD! perfectly works for me! We know exactly what he is trying to say. With the camera tight to the face, with no big facial/bodily movements, the acting is so subtle and it sinks so well in to us. We could feel them getting very close to each other without being physical.Well done!
Now in the Telugu clip, with the same heroine, the acting seems a bit cliched. I miss the deep breath and expression is flat and not so cute. The 'resting-on-the-shoulder' does not work at all. I am not sure if its the actors choice here. Again, with the hero's response, the big hand movement and the facial expression seems to have all the stamps of a 'telugu hero' that we are used to- cliched to the core. Again I doubt if it is entirely the actor's choice.
Looking at both clips, I think its the director's calculated choice of acting. The framing of the shots has also been tweaked to accommodate broader movements in the Telugu clip. I suspect the choices were driven by the target audience. I would like to know if it does really work for a Telugu person. But, if what I suspect is correct, Gautham has made a mistake in tailoring scenes to the audience rather than giving what comes right out of his gut irrespective of the language. The director will be lost if such tweaks had to be done.
