Thiraikavi 2019

Thiraikkavi is an exciting new event initiated by NTU TLS to present Tamil Literature to students and the public through short films. Movies and videos have become a primary source of entertainment and information in the 21st century. With the rapid growth in technology, smartphones have become better equipped with cameras, making it easy for anyone to make their own videos. Needless to say, the youth have caught on and now take videos almost every day to upload on their social media accounts. It is in line with this lifestyle, that our TLS decided to bridge Tamil Literature as well as Short Filmmaking and organise Thiraikkavi, a short film screening and dialogue session, during the Tamil Language Festival.

During the event, short films created by students were screened, and dialogue sessions were conducted in between films to engage the directors with the audience. Questions about the filmmaking process, elaborations and suggestions on certain ideas and concepts, and the general feedback were given during these sessions. The second half of the event saw an engaging panel session with experts from the academic sector as well as in the film industry. They include Ms Bharathi Rani, Mr Saleem Hadi, Dr Vasugi Kailasam, and Dr Elavazhagan Murugan. This panel discussion was moderated by our very own alumnus, Mr Arun Vasudev.

Some key discussion points included the ability to preserve the Tamil language and culture through film mediums and the potential to spread Tamil Literature to the rest of the world and not just be limited to a Tamil speaking audience. The extent to which films/videos would replace books, or whether they could be considered literature was discussed as well.

Indeed this key discussion points sparked a variety of responses from the panellists and audience alike. With such rapid growth in technology, it is important for us to adapt quickly and act in the interest of preserving our culture, and finding solutions to problems that may arise. We believe that Thiraikkavi is a step in the right direction to strengthen the bridge between Tamil and Films, and hope to continue this tradition in the years to come.