An ode to KB, the Grand Master!

K. Balachander was a visionary who had an eye for talent-spotting. His inquisitive eyes have been a wonderful lens which found out actors, actresses and technicians who went on to become legends. It was not alone that K. Balachander introduced amateur and raw talents that went on to make it big, but he also provided good breaks for the film personalities which proved a huge turning point in their careers. Nagesh, who enjoyed a good showing with Nenjil Or Aalayam as a comedian played the protagonist Server Sundaram in the movie written by Balachander from whereon there was no looking back. He lapped it up with Ethir Neechal, Bhama Vijayam and enjoyed a successful career. Can we forget the legendary duo of Tamil Cinema, or shall we say Indian Cinema as a whole? Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth, two household names now were talents duly spotted and streamlined in the right manner by this 'Midas'. Sridevi is one other heroine who was popular throughout India getting her first female lead role with Moondru Mudichu. Prakash Raj is another character artist, Vivek a comedian and the list goes on and on like how the scale of the peak of this Iyakkunar Sigaram's peak goes up above the skies!

How many of us have watched Ethir Neechal?! Not the one from Siva Karthikeyan, of course! This is a movie that even the present generation audience would watch and feel a sense of pity and empathy at the plight of the protagonist played by Nagesh. Or let us take an Unnal Mudiyum Thambi, where the protagonist, for all his proud family lineage, takes the road less travelled to work for development of the poor and their upliftment. Take Arangetram for example; it had all the ingredients to create a furore among the audiences then, and it did. But it was Balachander's persona and a brave gamble that a high impact theme and a strong story will definitely win the viewer. Indeed it did and after a lot of time, the audience had a platter to choose their food from. They were being served a buffet and they did take it earnestly. Balachander created a wave of cinematic output that focussed on story-centric films that provided a good fillip to another dimension of film-making.

The unique thing about Balachander was that he would make a good script and a screenplay out of the themes and storylines as mentioned above. Will any viewer forget the movies mentioned till now? We wanted to wait till this point to add one of most critically and commercially acclaimed movies - Varumayin Niram Sigappu to this list. Again, Balachander adds that surprise element from his own repertoire to sweep the carpet off the floor and take his viewers for a visual treat with his distinct film-making. He scripted a protagonist from a wealthy background and made him go pauper in search of a satisfying job for himself. Sindhu Bhairavi will also find a prestigious mention in this category, since this time, Balachander was trying to make it a statement that art should reach the common man. When it does, it will find the due recognition it deserves. Moreover, art is basically to satiate the people. So he took the temple of Classical music and scripted his screenplay to make it more accessible to the layman by making his protagonist realise that in order to make the layman happy, he should understand the song! As simple as that.

Balachander's impeccable eye for humour is something that is evident in most of his films right from his early days. To drive home the point, citation of a few examples seems necessary. Towards the end of Varumayin Niram Sigappu, a cameo played by Thengai Srinivasan reveals this subtlety of KB the best. Afraid of being tended to by a 'Graduate barber', he talks of the possibility of Kamal scribbling his thoughts on his face with the knife! Numerous roles played by Nagesh in KB films (Ethir Neechal, Baama Vijayam, Poova Thalayaa) elevate and use his full potential as a comedian. The usage of Vivek & Janagaraj in Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal, Kamal in Manmadha Leelai, Punnagai Mannan (Chaplin Chellapaa had the KB stamp written all over it!), Rajnikanth in Ninaithaale Inikkum, Netrikann (where he wrote the screenplay) & Thillu Mullu (where Visu wrote and KB directed), the family of Bilahari Marthandam Pillai in Unnal Mudiyum Thambi, the kids and Madhubala in Azhagan stand testament to his uncanny knack of placing comedy without hindering the plot's progress! Not to be forgotten are the comedy characters he has written for talented artistes like Ramji & Renuka in his teleserial avatar. If one had to complaint, it could probably the repetitive close-ups, motifs like the famous Chettiyaar dolls used excessively in many of his films to explicitly express some comic situations.

There has not been another director from the tamil film industry (if not from India) who has written as many films themed around women and/or showcase things from the perspective of women as KB has. In some, he dug so deep that, to this date, some consider KB an outcast and a man of fickle ideas. But that is just a minority. The majority have been moved by Arangetram's Pramila (through who he showcased the levels to which an elder sister in a family could be pushed to), Aval oru thodargathai's Sujatha (who shakes the viewer apart emotionally with the kind of sacrifices she is forced to make), Kalki's Shruti (who fights her way out against an infidel husband-of-three) , Netrikann's Saritha (who finds her way to a conniving pay back to a wealthy wolf of a man who takes women for granted), Sindhu Bairavi's Suhasini (who is tangled in a relationship she struggles to come out of), Sollathaan Ninaikkiren's sisters, Iru Kodugal's Janaki, Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal's Sithara, the three women behind Azhagappan in Azhagan and many many more. No wonder he is considered the favourite director of independent women born in the 50s and 60s & an inspiration for modern day directors who attempt heroine oriented films - the likes of Selvaraghavan, Gautham Menon etc. While on the topic, one also needs to mention the characters he has built for actors like Renuka & Rathi in some of the serials.

His entry to television was through the Doordarshan serial Rail Sneham which ponders over a father daughter relationship in a nostalgic setup. He followed that up with lively sitcoms like Kaiyalavu Manasu, Kadhal Pagadai, Kaasalavu Nesam, Ramani vs Ramani. The fact that these were made in the early and mid 90s when the Satellite Televison industry was still fledgling and the concept of Mega Serials & sitcoms were non-existent reiterates his quality as a visionary! Even his long worn out emotional potboilers like Anni, Sahana, Premi, Jannal, Shanthi Nilayam were much better compared to the monotonous and retarded serials we get to see today. Just like how Kavithaalaya Productions was a trampoline for many promising film directors, his TV Production house Minbimbangal produced others' works as well. The one venture that stands out is Naga's intriguing conspiracy thriller series Marma Desam, which, to this date hasn't been rivalled by any other series attempted in that genre.