Balu Mahendra, who died yesterday of cardiac arrest, was one of the handful of filmmakers who, in the 1970s, changed the face of Tamil cinema. He was also one of the handful who could be termed an auteur. Every film he made was distinctly his. Part of this was, of course, due to his roots in cinematography, his first passion. A single frame from Chattakari (1974), Mullum Malarum (1978) or Sankarabharanam (1980) is enough to announce that the film was shot by Balu Mahendra. You could sense this from the exterior shots, from the colour of the leaves as sunlight streamed through them. That translucent green had rarely been seen on the Tamil screen, though we’d seen it around us – this wasn’t colour obtained through heavy processing in a laboratory, but the colour of life around us. The interiors were equally lifelike, bathed in light that flowed through doors and windows or perhaps a lamp at a corner, leaving the room in a twilit state. As for the actors, they were revealed as if for the first time. Finally, we were seeing faces stripped of pancake and sheathed in skin.
This naturalism was Mahendra’s signature. You could find it in the way he shot his songs, forsaking choreography for speechless conversations. You could find it in the dusky actresses – most prominently, his muse Shoba – he repeatedly worked with, once he turned director with the Kannada film Kokila (1977). You could find it in the stories (either of his own devising or derived from works by others) that interested him, stories about ordinary men and women who found themselves in situations that didn’t require them to declaim – they simply spoke. You could find it in the steady pace of his films, and in the silences that filled them. Barring a brief period in the mid-1980s when Mahendra went “mainstream” with a vengeance – Neengal Kettavai, Un Kannil Neer Vazhindal (though even this was quite restrained for a Rajinikanth starrer) – his films strove to infuse a certain kind of lyricism into commercial cinema, whether heavy (Olangal, Vanna Vanna Pookkal) or light (Rettai Vaal Kuruvi, Sathi Leelavathi).
The apotheosis of his art is Moondram Pirai (1982). As a “package,” the film was as commercial as they came – huge star-actors in the form of Kamal Haasan and Sridevi, a chartbusting score from Ilayaraja, the biggest music director of the time, and a story that, on the surface, seemed ripped from a throat-grabbing pulp paperback. (Amnesia! Prostitutes! Extramarital lust! A rape attempt! Thwarted love!) But the film that resulted would not have been recognised by someone who’d heard the outline – so muted was Mahendra’s handling of this material. This is what he did time and again, making the most outrageous contrivances seem so… natural.
An edited version of this piece can be found here. Copyright ©2014 The Hindu. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
ram murali
February 14, 2014
it was sad to see that Balu Mahendra passed away. He has been unwell for quite a while now.
To me, his greatest film was Veedu. Taking a very simple outline for a story, he crafted scene after scene of exquisite human emotion and exercised his patented restraint in even the most ‘dramatic’ situations…The way he utilized Chockalinga Bagavathar’s talents was the stuff of legends
Hope to watch his ThalaimuraigaL sometime…
RIP, Balu Mahendra Sir…
LikeLike
Shankar
February 14, 2014
Thanks, da! This is a constant reminder that time is slipping away all the while…all these greats who are leaving us! It’s sad…especially for many of us who grew up with BM’s films…
LikeLike
Ajay
February 14, 2014
RIP Balu Mahendra 😦
The memories of Moondram Pirai which I saw more than 30 years back on screen is still so fresh in my memory.
And of course the lump in the throat when I watched Veedu on DD in the late 80’s,the something different in the shots which I felt on watching Mani’s first Pallavi Anu Pallavi,the very refreshing humour of Sathi Leelavathi,the beautiful Mini-series he created for SunTV,the way he shot the songs and the taste he had for music
Cannot stop the eyes welling up.
LikeLike
Keshav
February 14, 2014
The link to the URL given is wrong.
I guess it this :http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/naturalism-was-his-signature/article5687161.ece
LikeLike
venkatesh
February 14, 2014
RIP sir.
LikeLike
Rajesh
February 14, 2014
My sincere condolensces to his family.
BRangan – I do agree that Munnampirai, inspite of having all pop elements looked like an off beat or parallel movie.
But, for me, his best as a director, should be either Veedu – Tamil or Yaathra – Malayalam.
I saw Veedu only once, in DD, but was quite moved by it. We would immediately place that as a movie which came from a different side of the Tamil cinema industry, the artistic side.
Yaathra – was a classic. We had read that Mammooty was shaving his whole head for this movie, the director who also made another hit some years earlier- Olangal (I only remember the songs from this movie now, it was excellent too and had Amol Palekar). However, Balu Mahendra created ripples even in the way he started promoting Yaathra, through news paper ads, before its release. You were sure that you were looking at a classic and what a movie it turned out to be. Inspired out of an English poem, for me, it is always one of the best love stories from India, which was like ‘parallel movie’ at its best. (It did have two songs, though, but still). If you havent seen this movie, please do, you are missing one of the best or arguably the best of one of our finest technicians.
*** parallel cinema – In Kerala this term was used(mostly in 80’s and 90’s – I dont see anybody using this term now) when a movie took a middle path between artistic and entertainment.
LikeLike
Rajesh
February 14, 2014
Wow! So surprised that you didn’t mention Veedu, which BM himself acknowledged as one of his most perfect films.
LikeLike
MANK
February 14, 2014
RIP, Balu Sir…
@Brangan,
That was a great obit. You absolutely nailed everything i cherished about BM’s movies . the realistic photography, the make up free faces of the actors and the way he explored the complexity in relationships, very much with an auteur touch.The other key point was the great collaboration with ilayaraja and the great songs of his films.
I agree with @Rajesh that Yatra was perhaps his best film. I never tire of re watching the film . It contributed a lot in turning Mammootty into a superstar and establishing the career of shobhana.Some great songs by ilayaraja.And so was Olangal.I dont think *Parallel cinema * was the term to describe it . it was more like madhyavarthi (middle of the road) cinema with people like bharathan,padmarajan, K.G.George were the main proponents and BM belonged to that. Parallel cinema was the more extreme art cinema of Adoor, Aravindan,Shaji n. Karun etc.
Ironically K.G.George actually made ‘lekhayude maranam oru flashback ‘ about the love story between BM and Shobha.In the film Bharath Gopi played BM. BM claimed never to have seen this film. he said, had already made their love story as Moonam Pirai, where Kamal and sridevi were stand ins for himself and shobha.I agree with you about everything you wrote about the film except that horrible item dance between Kamal and silk smitha, that appeared to me to be a comm. compromise.It was rather sad that he found it difficult to get his pics made in the later years. Even after a successful film like sati leelavati, he had to wait for 5 years to make another film, real tragedy…
LikeLike
Athulya
February 14, 2014
such a joy to see someone mention Veedu! Illayaraja’s music and that scene where Chockalinga Bagavathar goes to inspect the unfinished house just before he passes away – iconic!
LikeLike
brangan
February 14, 2014
Rajesh: I agree that “Veedu” and “Yaathra” are better films, in the sense of being less compromised, truer to an organic vision than “Moondram Pirai.” But one of my abiding interests is in filmmakers who infuse artistry and a personal signature into mainstream cinema. This is something that I’m completely fascinated by. How do make a film that many people are willing to watch, yet without giving up the things you want to do? And that’s why “Moondram Pirai” will rank higher as an achievement for me — though he’s certainly made other films that are “better.”
Rajesh: Why should there be surprise that I didn’t mention a film that BM mentioned? I happen to think “Veedu” is a terrific film, but even if I didn’t, why would anyone expect my tastes to coincide with the director’s? 🙂
And as an aside, I wonder if it’s possible to write *anything* these days without offending someone. Got this gem of a letter today 🙂
Dear Editor,
This is regarding the article written by Baradwaj Rangan about Balu Mahendra in “The Hindu” dated 2/14/2014, Chennai edition.
My humble request is to publish this message in the “letters to editor” section, because I feel it is every Tamilian’s duty not to forget Kaviarasu Kannadasan who was the best poet, lyricist, philosopher. writer, novelist and film producer of 20th century, thanks !
The message in quote needs to be published.
“How can Baradwaj Rangan who has written an article about the contemporary film director of Tamil Cinema, Balu Mahendra who died on 13/2/2014, forget to mention about the Great Poet of of 20th century Mr. Kannadasan who has written lyrics for the film “Moondram Pirai” when he mentioned about the big time hit of Balu Mahendra, Kannadasan and Illayaraja combination. When he mentioned about Illayaraja he must have mentioned about Kannadasan too !. I am just wondering how Bharadwaj Rangan can forget to mention a word about the great lyricist Kannadasan!! Is it because he didn’t know about Kannadasan or he really forgot to add Kannadasan who is not live now. I just want to make it clear to Bharadwaj Rangan that though Kannadasan is not alive now, he is ever living in the heart of millions of Tamil people”
Thanks & Regards,
Vageesan Sivashanmugan
LikeLike
Rajesh
February 14, 2014
BRangan – I understand, but if a first timer reads it, he can always wonder about you. My wife read your article on Hindu and asked me If I knew this director and was ‘Moonrampirai’ his best….and a conversation followed…
I think there are two Rajesh here. The second one , the Rajesh, who wonder about Veedu omission is not me.. I didnt worry at all about Veedu omission though. But people perceive differently about you and you dont have any control on that..
nice letter.
Any idea, what is the criterion for The Hindu to publish the readers letters / to reply? I have wrote to them a lot – mostly about their terrible treatment of sport and football especially – and not once have they been published.. Does the quality of English matter , or the signature , or what is it?
LikeLike
Rajesh
February 14, 2014
@Mank – sorry friend may I disagreee here on parallel cinema.
Adoor, Aravindan etc were always from the art house. And Padmarajan, Bharathan, K G George (my favourite director from Malayalam) were the madhyavarthis – the one in between art and entertainment, I have read a lot of people stating them as parallel – in English – rather than translating madhyavarthi into any strange English word.
Yathra immensely contributed to Mammooty being a star who CAN act and take risks. I think before Yatra, Mammootty was only getting this family man hero role mostly. Yatra was a risk and became successful in all ways. I think BMahendra also have stated Mammootty surprised him as an actor or something like that…
It was ‘Nirakkoottu’ (which released just before or together or immediately after Yatra) which helped his career more, and later New Delhi which really made him a mass super star. Immediately after New Delhi, he also got Thaniyavarthanam – which cemented him as an actor. (one movie, which I think, Mammooty can boast of being world class, like Bhoothakannady)
If my memory is right, when New Delhi was being shot, Mammootty didnt had any other movie to follow.
LikeLike
Ceaser
February 14, 2014
Brangan, dude that was a gem of a letter indeed , and i thought ur life was easy 🙂 First IR fans and now kannadasan fans,what next for u , i shudder 🙂
Rajesh,buddy u still havent got it do u, It ain’t the language or sign , its ur damn attitude man 🙂 imagine ,complaining about the bad treatment of football(not even cricket) ha! 🙂 Big mistake,big fuckn mistake. just send them a letter praising their editorials, then u see 🙂
LikeLike
Nathan
February 15, 2014
While on “gems”, I wonder if anyone read this “gem” of a tribute 😉
http://www.rediff.com/movies/report/kamal-haasan-balu-mahendra-and-i-shared-a-very-close-relationship/20140214.htm
LikeLike
MANK
February 15, 2014
@Rajesh,
Oh , i have heard Shaji n.karun and Shyan benegal directly refer to their films as parallel films .They termed it as looking at life completely from a honest and raw POV without any form of songs or gloss. I have also read an old interview in Indian express where K.G. George refers to his films as middle of the road cinema. That term was actually used in the press of the time and isnt strange at all.But i respect your opinion.I am sure the term ‘parallel’ must have been used in many english publics to describe the films as well. There is no absolute consistency about these things you know. Today there are many in the press who would describe K.G.G. or even Padmarajan as an art filmmakers..Anyway, whether its adoor or its K.G.G. i consider both of them equally brilliant filmmakers nor do i think Adoor’s films are lacking in entertainment. I find elipathayam ,mathilukal and parts of vidheyan great fun. Humor is actually a great component of Adoor’s films.
Yeah and speaking about Mammootty, before yatra , he was stereotyped as the family hero and that totally ruined him and led to his downfall coupled with sudden rise of mohanlal to superstardom through an array of diverse roles.Nirakkoottu came after yatra and thaniyavarthanam. New delhi was a big project and started shooting before yatra , but by the time the film was completed Mammootty’s stock had fallen so low that nobody would release it.Yeah and Mammootty didnt have a single film at the time. It was after thaniyavarthanam got released and became a big success that the dist. agreed to release New Delhi and of course after that he was back in a big way. Speaking of thaniyavarthanam it was infinitely better than Bhoothanakanadi. BK is a good film but Lohitadas the director was no patch on himself as a writer. It really required directors like Sibi malayil , Sathyan Anthikkad or Bharathan to execute his scripts .perfectly .After he turned director, Lohitadas really became insignificant and just lost his way . He was forced to make compromises that he would have never made as a writer.
LikeLike
Shankar
February 15, 2014
“And as an aside, I wonder if it’s possible to write *anything* these days without offending someone
Baddy, there are worse things that can happen…like being ignored!! 🙂 It’s a good sign that people are passionate enough to take it up with you, though from your side as well, you do have a point.
LikeLike
Nathan
February 15, 2014
Looks like there’s a less kamalissistic version on Business Line:
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/kamal-haasans-tribute-to-balu-mahendra/article5688417.ece
LikeLike
Raj Balakrishnan
February 15, 2014
RIP Balu Mahendra. My personal favourites, of his work, being Rettai Vaal Kuruvi and Veedu.
LikeLike
Ajay
February 15, 2014
I do not even believe the ones they publish on rediff. Seriously,it is so unlike Kamal,looks like Subhash Jha compiled what Kamal randomly mentioned and published it as a tribute.Infact,check out Kamal’s FB page where he has published what he thinks in Tamil.That would be the authentic one that can be discussed.
LikeLike
brangan
February 17, 2014
Rajesh: Okay, I checked with them and they said the letters are published based on (1) relevance, (2) content, and (3) they don’t want to repeat the same letter writer too often. But I also guess that the volume of letters means that some are going to fall through the cracks.
Ajay: That’s the way a lot of these pieces are done. Someone hastily calls up an actor, who gives them some sound bytes — and that’s strung together as a standalone article.
LikeLike
Rajesh
February 17, 2014
@BRangan – Thank you boss. So it is quite clear for me then, (1)sport is not important for them, or anything outside Cricket isn’t. (2)they had more like praises may be, as you can see from their published letters. Recently even my comment on their website was not published, may be because, I pointed out how absurd their report was(3)Not even one letter of mine was published/acknowledged, and if you look at the published ones, you always see the same names.. Thank you so much Sir for this. I should not waste anymore time writing to them. Already, I have started skipping their sports pages in the last two weeks.
Also Sir, If I may, do you by any chance know why there are not many articles of P Sainath, these days? (ignore this, if you do not want to talk about this here)
@ManK
In fact, most Benegal films are really the correct parallel or madhyavarthis as you say. I think Except for his second film, Shaji too is not from the pure art side. But I agree, these terms are open to interpretation. Sure, Humour is always there in Adoor’s films. But I am not a fan of Adoor, even if I would always argue that he is one director from India, who gives the technically perfect frames on screen.
Sorry I dont remember, Thaniavarthanam as being a hit. It was a disaster in the theatres. It got critical acclaim, but not in the box office. A lot of Keralites watched it and liked it only when it came on TV.
In fact, the best of Lohithadas – both as a script writer and director, his debutes, were both rejected by the so called ‘elite and educated good film enjoying’ Malayaalee audience. Those debutes were his best, as he didnt go for any compromises** in both.
** I watched the very second show of Bhoothakannadi at Kochi Padma theatre, on release, and there were hardly 30 people. But at the end of the movie, all these 30 people were sitting as if, we all had a heart attack – that was the effect of the film. We came back to watch it in a few days and found that the final shot was changed – to leave some hope. And the effect was different too. So even if Lohithadas didnt go for any compromises initially, after the first day when he realised that people were grief stricken, very hardly – and that it wont help financially – he just shot just one shot which left some hope. Thereafter, most people only watched this revised climax though.
LikeLike
Mambazha Manidhan 2.0
February 17, 2014
My favorite has got to be Sathi Leelavathi. A rip-roaring comedy that doesn’t bother concealing that his roots and influences lie in cinema verite’.
LikeLike
MANK
February 17, 2014
@Rajesh:most people only watched this revised climax though.
Thanx for that info. I didnt know that. Is the ending available now on dvd and other discs the original ending or is it the revised one?. Yes by the time Bhoothakannadi was released in 1997 , the malayali audience had changed. post 1994\95 it was really a dark phase for cinema with TV completely conquering the malayali psyche and the kind of films that the likes of MT,Hariharan,Sibi and lohitadas stood for had become irrelevant at the B.O.And as far as i know thanyavarthanam ran for 100 days in theaters.Sibi mentioned something to that effect in a recent TV interview bemoaning the fact that it would be impossible to make a film like that today.
.Btw did you know that Bhoothakannadi was to be Mammooty’s directorial debut, Rajnikanth was to play Mammootty’s role. They had discussed the possibility of making this film after they had done Dalapati and Rajni had agreed to do it.Lohitadas had written the script as early as that.But soon enough Mammootty got rid of his directorial ambitions. Perhaps he took the right decision.
LikeLike
Rajesh
February 18, 2014
@Mank – I am also desperate to find the original version friend. I cant recollect anything as heart breaking as Bhoothakannadi climax, ever in Malayalam cinema. Thaniavarthanam too was heart breaking, but we were slowly lead to that ending… I am in fact desperately hoping, somebody would make dvds, with subtitles, of those brilliant Malayalam films from 80’s.
I will never agree that Malayaalee audience changed only post 94. Many brilliant movies in 80’s too never made it in the BO, for eg – Irakal, Thaniavarthanam, Padamudra, Thazhvaaram, and many more..
I am shocked, if Sibi boasted so.. Never.. We were so much following these aspects in those days. Looking at news papers (the only place through which you can look at bo success those days – completing 100 days at least in the trv, cok and ccj or district capitals; and occassionally buying or stealing:)- movie magazines..) and arguing on each success story were our favourite topics. If my memory is right, even Kireedom hardly played only 50 days in Cok. It was not like a superhit of 100 days at many venues, as it is claimed now. They played it long with a noon show only. Thaniavarthanam didnt go past couple of weeks. Bhoothakannadi, didnt complete two weeks I think. However this was a big lesson for Lohi , that he did leave some hope in his script for Kasthooriman. I have heard he had quite a different ending in his mind.
Yes, I have heard about this plan of Mammooty. Do you know that if not for Mammooty, Lohithadas might have never entered cinema. Even then, Mammooty was always looking for something different.
LikeLike
MANK
February 18, 2014
@Rajesh
Yeah Mammotty started looking for something different after that low phase in his career and i guess after he got back his superstardom , he has always taken a risk with new directors and new scriptwriters and making sure he never gets typecast again.
About thaniyavarthanam, i accept your assessment, guess you were more qualified than me .But more shocking is your statement about kireedom, i mean not just sibi,lal or lohitadas, but even the producer Unni calls it a super duper hit at every available forum, hell he even opened a production company by the name of kireedom films. Well goes to show that assumption is far from reality.Also there must be the fact that today’s film environment is so terrible that even whatever little success they achieved with those films at the time seems really exaggerated for them today.About bhoothakanadi, i know it was an utter flop at the B.O.But really that was no reason to change the ending.Guess after that he made some really out and out comm. films like soothradaran,chakram,joker etc. completely unbecoming of him.i felt betrayed!
i agree with you about Padamudra, Thazhvaaram etc, terrific films that flopped at B.O.You know everybody talks about sholay being this great indian western . Terrible no body talks about Thazhvaaram . It was on par with any sergio leone western, those shot compositions of Bharathan are to die for.Another terrific film that came out at the time was sadayam which is one of my favorites but didnt work at the B.O.Like bhoothakannadi,There was pressure on Sibi to change the ending, but he stood firm.But the thing was that in those days even if these films flopped, there were equally good ones in the same year like amaram, thoovanathumbikal etc that worked at the B.O as well. but post 94, even that was not there.Rampant comm. took over completely.
LikeLike
brangan
February 18, 2014
Mambazha Manidhan 2.0: Sathi Leelavathi. A rip-roaring comedy that doesn’t bother concealing that his roots and influences lie in cinema verite’.
Neenga sonnaa seri 🙂
MANK: You know everybody talks about sholay being this great indian western . Terrible no body talks about Thazhvaaram
So get someone to write about it, no? The reason Hindi cinema is known is everyone is because it’s endlessly promoted and written about (and also watched). The watching part isn’t possible with regional cinema, owing to the very disorganised way DVDs are made, subtitled etc. I mean, even Mani Ratnam’s films older films are not available on good DVDs (whereas you can find fantastic prints, remastered ones, of Raj Kapoor and Guru Dutt films). So what’s stopping regional filmmakers from insisting on good prints, with subtitling and making their cinema known to people beyond the state? It costs very little in the grand scheme of things. The reason they don’t is the reason regional films stay regional, save for the rare “Drishyam.”
The minute the DVD/subtitling aspect is taken care of, at least a core cinephile group will begin to see and appreciate these films. They’ll begin to talk about it on blogs etc. More people will be interested in watching them. But without that, how can you expect anyone to talk about “Thazhvaaram” in the same breath as “Sholay”?
In the absence of being able to watch these films, the next best thing is to write about them. Tell you what. You seem to know about these films. You seem to be quite passionate about writing (given that you comment on practically every preceding comment 🙂 ) I’ll give you my blog space. Write guest posts on these films and start discussions. This space has a fairly decent readership — I mean, not rediff levels, but at least there’s a decent cinephile crowd that visits this space fairly regularly. Use that.
And I extend this to everyone who’s familiar with films from a region. We’ll title the series with a catchy label, give YouTube links if available, screenshots if possible, and see where it goes. I mean, let’s do something about this rather than just grumbling about it 🙂
LikeLike
Rajesh
February 18, 2014
@BRangan
sir I typed a long comment as reply to Mank and you. Seems it is lost… oh. I am too lazy to do that again.
LikeLike
Rajesh
February 18, 2014
well, it was still on here. good
@Mank
sorry to have shocked you. If my memory is right, I am sure Kireedom wasnt a super hit. In those days a movie had to go at least 100 days in 2 or 3 release centres (hardly 12 – 20 release centres in Kerala) to be called a super hit. But many movies would go from like 30/50/75 days to 100 days by doing just a single show- morning/ noon show – in a theatre in the metros and still advertise as super hit. But most of the time, these single shows would have only the minimum seats – 30 or 40 – required for the show. Kireedom got lot of critical acclaim, it was not a loss you see, and elevated the unknown producer Unni as a class producer and for long he was called Kireedom Unni. In those days there was this person, film representative, a rep of the producer or distributor who would be stationed in a theatre and there were couple of them in our village. So we got a lot of news. I have vague memories of discussing Kireedom Unnis high claims about Kireedom being a super hit. May be he is right, but as an ardent follower of movies in my teens, I dont know, based on what we saw from the public’s perspective.
Yes, Lohithadas made lot of crap films after B.kannadi, thats why I mentioned his debutes were the most unadultered stuff from that brilliant writer.
You are right Thazhvaaram, Padamudra, Sadayam, none were hits in BO. (I got beaten by the crowd controlling police for the first show in Kochi for Thaazhvaaram, but the crowd pull came down in a week or so). I was very sad, especially when, Padamudra and Sadayam flopped. I got almost mad when the National award committee denied the best actor award to Mohanlal for Padamudra, with the reason that it had a lot of sexual overtones. But one thing, not Sibi,not Bharathan no one could have altered the climax of Sadayam, an MT script. Sibi was most happy he got to work with MT, and just went with it.
Another shock for you – Thoovanathumbikal was not a s.hit. Nor were many of Padmarajan movies which are all highly regarded now. I mean they were all critically acclaimed, but not in the B.O.I still remember Moonnam pakkom staying for hardly one week in Ernakulam. Thoovanathumbikal, Namukku Paarkkaan etc hardly went upto the 25 or 30 days only, I think. There is very little truth about this myth of ‘highly literate Malayalam audience who support great movies’.
LikeLike
MANK
February 18, 2014
@Brangan,
Ha, Ha, you never came across so excited\agitated\well what not all together. Dont know whether to feel elated or apologetic for bringing about this reaction from you.
That was some rant and some offer!. Got to take you up on that. Yeah, but you see i am a creature of moods and right now i seem to be in a mood to write about these things.I followed your blog for 5 or 6 months without writing anything then suddenly one day i wrote something here and then havent stopped since. Chances are that i might go back to read only mode pretty soon. you see I am very passionate about cinema but not so about writing 🙂 The reason why i tend to comment about everything is basically due to a passion and love for the subject matter thats put across by you as well as the different commenters and hope that will get other people writing about it as well.
Also there has been times when i had tried to write some original posts here along the lines you proposed, tried to get a conversation started about something but got no response from anyone (including you), so i just lost interest i guess. I am sure there must be people who agree\liked what i wrote , may be just not interested in putting in words or following up on that.. Also i need to be instigated to write something like this and need good sparring partners to spur me on like Rajesh did here. It was really great to find a kindred spirit who feels so passionately about malayalam cinema of yore and that just forced me (and perhaps him as well) to unwind like this.Or like Abhirup does related to hindi films or Madan does wrt music ..But your offer is great and hope many people would take it up.i am all for it .
p.s. : the point you made about the prints of these films are bang on. Even the original vcd,dvd of these films are terrible man and i mean really terrible. Movies like thazhvaram are uploaded in youtube as well, but dont have the courage to ask anybody to see it like that, Its an insult to master directors like bharathan that their greatest works have been reduced to this.Whatever on thinks about the doordarshan of old, one thing was that they always used to insist on brand new original subtitled prints of regional movies when they used to show them on the afternoon slots. But once that was done with even that impetus to producers for making new prints was gone.Once a question about restoration of films were put to a famous producer of mal. films and his answer was that he was struggling to find funds to make new films , so how can anyone even think about restoring old films. How do you argue with that ? Wish we had something like Martin scorsese’s film foundation or even NFDC would do something about that.
LikeLike
MANK
February 19, 2014
Rajesh: I got beaten by the crowd controlling police for the first show in Kochi for Thaazhvaaram, but the crowd pull came down in a week or so
Ha, i can believe that , the film was advertised as the ultimate revenge film of mohanlal i guess which it was but not the kind that audience expected or wished to see. All the people who came in expecting dishoom dishoom must have been totally appalled by what unfolded, something that psychological an artistic must have bored the general audience and die hard lal fans to death.something similar happened with Rajashilpi as well, I think cops had to be called in at all the major centers for first 2 days to control the crowds who thronged to see the ultimate sexual fantasy with lal and bhanupriya that the posters promised , after that there as no one in the theaters.Rajashilpi is another of my favorites and a very rare film that showcased the shiva parvathi myth so beautifully (before the whole thing was so crudely dumped down in such films as aaram thampuran and narasimham) with such terrific songs by raveendran. Another great legend lost forever from mal. cinema.
True about padmarajan films, But they were always very profitable because he made films on a tight budget and big stars including mohanlal only took a fraction of their salary for his films. So he never had any dearth of producers. the film that really lost money was his last film njan gandharvan, no wonder he died of a broken heart!
LikeLike
venkatesh
February 19, 2014
@BR: Kudos. That is a great offer.
I would take it up if i had knowledge of anything more than “soft core” 80’s films (language no bar 🙂
@MANK , @Rajesh: This is a great discussion , I know of the “new” Malayalam cinema (or as i call it Fahadh Faasil cinema) and some of the old classics. A lot of new names being thrown here , thanks for that.
LikeLike
MANK
February 19, 2014
@Venkatesh
You are welcome Man .the names of films that we are throwing around here are really great films, but as i noted , their quality today is so bad that i dont have the heart to recommend them. But still, if you are courageous enough , please check out those titles, You may get aleast an approximation of the quality of those. Its now i realise that how lucky i was to watch those films at the time of their release in the theaters when they were in pristine condition.
Oh by the way do not shy away from writing about soft core 80’s , if that’s your specialty. There will be enough admirers for that. count me in for sure 🙂
LikeLike
Shankar
February 25, 2014
I was away for a week and so much stuff got discussed! 🙂 I do believe that really good films got made in the 80s because there was an audience for it. Not all movies ran, but the ones that did and didn’t were because film makers were willing to try making them. Kireedom was a bonafide hit, no question. Thaazhvaram was a classic as well, though not well known. Again speaking of Padmarajan, Kanamarayathu was a well regarded film. The reason I say the audience spurred film makers to create such films is otherwise a Perunthachan or Chidambaram couldn’t have been made. Similarly, Adharvam was another film that didn’t hit the mark, but was really different, in my opinion. There are so many films to discuss from that period….
LikeLike
brangan
May 24, 2015
Just saw Thalaimuraigal on TV. Maybe I was expecting too much based on all the raves I’d heard, but I was somewhat underwhelmed.
This is one of those cussed-old-men-begins-to-thaw films — and as this cussed old man, Balu Mahendra is very good. There’s a scene where he’s learning English from his grandkid. He reads out n–o-o-d-l-e-s and pronounces it “nood-less.” It could have been a hideously “cute” scene with the wrong actor, but he makes us buy it. The naturalism that’s such a part of his films, that’s there in his performance too. I wished he’d acted more.
But the film is very simplistically handled — not that that’s a problem in itself, but it is a problem when the themes are complex. The stupidity of religion. The need to return to one’s roots. The importance of forgiveness.
All these messages are put across through la-la-land scenarios. How does the “embrace your roots” message get across? When the city-dwelling son (he’s come to visit his father in the village) agrees, after one small discussion with his wife, to leave their son behind so the boy can learn Tamil and learn about the village and spend time with his grandfather.
Remove the arty filmmaking and this has the subtlety of a Visu movie. Lifelong behavioural patterns are changed like that, after one well-meaning talk.
The grandfather-grandson relationship is easy to watch, probably because it’s less prickly than the one between father and son. The film’s best portions are the ones where the son returns home after 12 years and begins to live with his father again. You can make out things weren’t easy between the two men, and now it’s worse — with the younger, more accomplished son having the upper hand over the aged father.
This is a movie of its own, but it gets shunted aside. So does the very problematic angle of the daughter, whose dreams were crushed by the old man. She’s shunted aside too. All so we can have scenes of grandfather and grandkid cavorting in the rain. Heartwarming stuff, I suppose.
Lots of little scenes that work, though we’d have to look towards Anjali Menon and “Manjadikkuru” to know what a director working at a top levels can do with a story of a city-bred kid returning to an ancestral village.
And yet, it’s a hard movie to dislike. It’s so calming and leisurely paced, and such a change from the horrible editing rhythms we are subjected to. It does for grandfathers what Vaaranam Aayiram did for fathers.
Let me just say I’m glad it exists.
LikeLiked by 2 people
sharmila rao
September 29, 2015
i watched ‘veedu’ years ago but the one scene which remains in my memory is when the protagonist’s boss asks her to sleep with him in return for some loan approval… and he has a telugu-sounding name…. and my parents said, “see… this is how telugus are always portrayed in tamil films…” i lost my respect for balu mahendra since… no matter how brilliant he was… same goes for magendran… the one who made “Johnny”…. good films ruined by hate-fuelled stereotyping…
LikeLike
Rajesh
March 27, 2017
I watched Sandhya Raagam today in youtube. I really love the story and screenplay for the film… especially scenes like Bagavathar taking bath in a pond in his village. and 10mins later he is taking bath using a bucket in chennai … bhagavathar crying after his wife is death… the conversations between archana and her husband on the night after Bagavathar comes in … and the anger with which Archana yells when her daughter gets food poisoned – something like bhudi illai for e.g.. quite natural .. later the close-up shot of bhagavatar’s feelign bad when the house owner questions him what happened to his grand-daughter to be taken to hospital…
and i loved the photography … many scenes.. especially the scene where Bhagavathar tells story to his granddaughter with just a candle when there is no electricity … I don’t know if any other film maker has captured such things like that …
after watching the film… i personally felt both Chokkalinga Bhagavatar and Archana deserved national recognition for that film
What do you think about that film and the photgraphy?
LikeLike