The Balaji Mohan interview

Posted on June 14, 2017

My video interview with Balaji Mohan, on the eve of the release of his web series, As I’m suffering from Kadhal.

Copyright ©2017 Film Companion.

Posted in: Cinema: Tamil, Interview, OTT / TV / Online

34 Responses “The Balaji Mohan interview” →

Vidhya M

June 14, 2017

Look forward to this – as I love this Director’s sensibilities. Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Epoadi was an endearing rom-com. Vaai moodi pesavum was quirky as well. Maari kinda damaged his image, but from what I hear, the movie tried to be deliberately over-the-top, but the audience dint quite get the tone.

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praneshp

June 15, 2017

When do you plan to make the video available?

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Jyoti S Kumar

June 15, 2017

Sir, link is not working. Not able to find the video on YouTube as well.

Love all his movies, including Maari… It is one of our favourite time pass movie along with naanum rowdy thaan, naduvula and the likes…

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priyazzillionthoughts

June 15, 2017

Sorry. But couldn’t help. Where did this interview happen? The place looks gorgeous!

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brangan

June 15, 2017

The interview is up.

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shaviswa

June 15, 2017

This interview made me look up his new offering on hotstar. The trailer was excellent. The language though in one of the scenes by the actress was quite crass. Could have been avoided. Why is there a need to use filthy language? He cannot justify that this is how people speak. There is always room for good content without filthy language.

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Jyoti S Kumar

June 15, 2017

Very interesting interview. Frankly, even I felt it was a good thing that a “known” director as Balaji Mohan is entering this web series space. I’ve watched quiet a few web series in YouTube in hindi, Tamil (by put chutney) and also Telugu. Right now, the content creators are amateurs, trying to make a mark. Maybe a person who knows some craft could also bring about a change in terms of the technical quality in future web series.

Funnily enough all the web series that i had watched was in the space of rom-com. Not sure whether I consciously chose such series and whether there are other “serious” content also. So maybe the answer to your question why there are not more rom-com in cinema, I guess they have all turned to YouTube.

I still remember the ruckus that was created when Kamal sir wanted to release viswaroopam on the same day as theatre release on DTH. The people who created the ruckus was from the distribution channel. But I had always felt if this change was set of by smaller names, smaller movies, in the time to come probably the change would be more concrete. So similarly, if Balaji Mohan has entered this platform, it might encourage all the smaller movie makers, the multiplex movies to simultaneously release in such platforms, so that, any person from anywhere can watch it. Say, I’ve been wanting to watch ammani for a long time now, since I read your review, but that has not been possible, because I am living in a country which does not have a theatre or bookshop. But i do have an internet connection. So, the books part is taken care of now by Google play and Kindle… But movies? So kudos to Balaji Mohan.

His point that if anyone is to being change it will be the Tamil industry is not without base. In FMCG, many a time a new product has to be market tested, it will have TN as one of the launch markets, because TN market is supposed to be a mature market. So hopefully, good things are in store.

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Balaji Mohan

June 15, 2017

@Vidhya M

Hi Vidhya,
Yup I guess u got it right urself.

Those who got it enjoyed it and those who didn’t didn’t 🙂

But now I have 2 diametrically opposite groups of fans. The big bunch of Maari fans some of whom don even know my other work and the KSY, VMP and As I’m suffering from Kadhal fans. I have the best of both worlds 😀 So more the merrier. Happy 😀

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Aadhy

June 16, 2017

Shaviswa : Why is there a need to use filthy language? He cannot justify that this is how people speak. There is always room for good content without filthy language.

I think this is precisely the reason filmmakers are beginning to explore digital platforms. The non-necessity to censor language or make it palatable for ‘family’ audiences. This specific character in this series seems to have swearing as one of her character traits. Why don’t we wait and see the character in the context of the story? Don’t these kind of characters make it interesting to watch, rather than the demure, cutified ‘loosu ponnu’ types that we are forever subjected to, in Tamil cinema? Why should we expect these characters to behave in our own perceived versions of reality, which differs with every different group of people? For example, the people in my age (mid-20s), those I know of, use profane language very often, not just to swear at someone, but also to express joy, excitement or to fondly address a friend. So I find this relatable. If you don’t find this relatable, that is also fine. But let different kinds of content atleast exist.

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Ravi K

June 16, 2017

Is there a way to watch this outside of India?

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Jyoti S Kumar

June 16, 2017

Ravi Kumar: you have to subscribe to hotstar and then you can watch. I believe there is a monthly subscription of rs 200 or something.

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Naveen

June 16, 2017

everytime anyhting about Maari comes on TV, my son ( 11 yrs ) makes sure everybody watches it. actually it seems finecrafter deliberately in a certain endearing way. and dhanush makes it nobody else would have been Maari. it also shows that Balaji has the guys to step out of expected niche and be successful in it.

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mohan

June 16, 2017

Maari is the worst movie Dhanush has done in last few years!

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Kertu

June 16, 2017

Saw the series.. Interesting. Did not exactly love it but it was a lot of fun. One thing that was refreshingly different was the portrayal of women in such a non judgemental way. I usually hate the either the loossu ponnu or kuduba kuthuvelaku with no flaws type characterisation. Here there were 3 women who seem human and relatable and most especially flawed. Was not a big fan of the divya badri portions seemed a lil dull. However I guess there is something to relate to a low conflict well adjusted couple. Not entirely sure it can remain the same though.

Thank you Balaji sir for a different take on relationships specifically for 3 strong female characters. Looking forward to season 2.

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Ravi K

June 16, 2017

Jyoti S Kumar, I tried to watch and it says “this content is currently not available in your region.” Unless it is put on some US-accessible site or I use a proxy server or something, I’m not able to watch it.

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Rakesh

June 17, 2017

BR,

At multiple occasions you sothapified trying to pronounce the word ‘sothapuvadhu’ (deliciously ironical though) , the last time I saw such distinct discomfort was when my colleague from Pune tried to pronounce ‘Shozhinganallur’ !!

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brangan

June 17, 2017

I know. I realised it even as I was speaking 🙂 But it’s a hard title to pronounce at that speed. I really should have slowed down a bit 🙂

This is one of the things I miss about print. I make a thousand mistakes but no one is aware of them because they are always corrected before publishing. Here I make one mistake and the whole world zooms in on that.

Not complaining, though. This medium is fun too 🙂

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Jyoti S Kumar

June 17, 2017

Ravi K- I am in Africa and I am able to watch it. It is not premium content, so able to stream like YouTube. Maybe US / Canada and the likes has specific regulations on content and distribution.

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Filistine

June 17, 2017

I remember a TV series called Ramany vs Ramany in the late 90s or early 2000s. It revolved around a very urban, newly married couple. A very under rated series. I was reminded of it, when I was listening to the series. I wonder if anybody here remembers that series.

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Kay

June 17, 2017

Filistine: I remember the series though I don’t remember the specifics. It’s available on YouTube I guess.

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Aman

June 17, 2017

What’s the criteria for these interviews? Is it about interviewing people who know english or are willing to talk in english? Also please ad subtitles for us non-tamilians, hate to miss out on any words, be it a film or an interview.

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rkjk

June 18, 2017

Yes. Since the interviews have to be necessarily done in English, aren’t you locked out of interviews with people like Bala or Sasikumar or Samuthirakani who may not like being interviewed in English even if they speak the language. The corollary question is this: When you were a print journalist did you conduct your interviews in English? If the person spoke in Tamil/Hindi, was it translated before being published?

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Jyoti S Kumar

June 18, 2017

Aman- the most important factor seems to be that the person has a release in the forthcoming weeks.

I watched the series. I guess the key word in the interview was “friends”. The characters of Santosh and Balakumar amalgamated together gives Ross. And yes, this series is for the group of people who grew up binge watching on Friends!

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shaviswa

June 18, 2017

I saw the entire series in two halves. 5 episodes each. My comments below:

This entire thing could have been done in less than 10 episodes. Felt it was a bit dragging after a point.

The English was too pretentious. Dont think the actors were very comfortable speaking so much in English. Could have been more natural with a mix of Tamil and English words.

Too much drinking and cussing. After point the final episodes were becoming intolerable.

The Badri character came out very well. The guy acts really well.

Meera reconciling was not too convincing.

All three couples were shown to be upper middle class or rich folks. Felt they were all uni dimensional in their portrayal of the characters.

The Gautam Menon audition scene was really good. 😀

Expecting better writing in the next season…..with characters that portray more depth. This is a good beginning though.

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praneshp

June 18, 2017

2:00-2:22 someone walks in the background, which was quite distracting.

Great interview otherwise, but it’s your norm these days 🙂

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brangan

June 18, 2017

praneshp: thanks. quite a few people said they lost interest in this interview because it was more about a web series, so there was no ‘connect.’ So it’s nice to know at least a few liked it.

Others: People seem to be mystified by these videos. Why are these people chosen? Why are they speaking in English? So on and so forth.

Mani Ratnam happened because we launched around then and his film was round the corner and he was making himself available. But Mysskin happened because we happened to connect and he instantly said yes. We shot it, and it was such a joy doing the interview that we decided not to wait until Thupparivalan, whenever it comes.

It’s just like in print. There’s no “criterion” other than the fact that a certain amount of content has to be put out there (it was pages in print, now it is videos), and to create this content, we chase a number of people and then see who’s free, etc.

The idea is to have people from non-Tamil industries as well, but due to certain logistical issues, that’s taking some time. For some reason, some stars/directors down south seem to be more comfortable with TV than digital.

As for the language, just like I write about Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada films in English, I interview people in English. That is the language I do my work in, and that is the language of the web site. Most people WILL NOT READ subtitles. We have a team giving us readership stats etc. So there’s a plan in place. Yes, maybe we’ll miss out on some stars or directors, but that’s the case even in print. Bala said no to me long back, and I had to create an imaginary interview. So it’s not as if he’s waiting to talk to me on video.

There’s nothing more (or less) to any of this.

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rkjk

June 19, 2017

Sir, my point was that a newspaper interview could be be half Tamil-half English and the readers will never know because it is translated when it is published. Clearly a video interview has more restrictions. Vadivelu has been interviewed plenty of times by The Hindu. If those interviews were in English, I’d pay to listen to the audio. My guess is they were done in Tamil and then translated for publication. Even if your questions were always in English, I’m sure some people involuntarily shifted over to Tamil or Hindi after some time. This is obviously a problem now because you need people who are articulate in English for these videos to work, the English requirement being non-negotiable.

As for Bala, that was when Naan Kadavul released right? Maybe he has warmed up to you by now. Try getting a recommendation letter from Myshkin.

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shaviswa

June 19, 2017

Actually I liked the interview. When I see it now after having seen the series, I can relate to some of his answers better.

I do not have a problem with the interviews being in English. But when you are speaking about digital content, then language should not be an issue at all. You or someone else from FC should look at doing interviews in the regional languages as well. Restricting to English may mean that only film makers belonging to an exclusive club get their views aired. Some education may be required to get others also on board the digital medium. It will soon happen though.

You did ask a question on the “strong language” in this series. I wish you had probed further – maybe you had seen only the promo before doing this interview. The profanity was over the top and seemed forced. Was that needed?

Secondly, the climax was bland. Didn’t Balaji Mohan not come up with a different ploy to make Badri blurt out? Was all that drinking really needed? Someone who was so ingenuous in Vaayai Moodi Pesavum could have worked on that aspect better.

Hope Balaji Mohan corrects these in the next season. Also I am looking forward to see characters with diverse background and a bit more depth in them.

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Rahini David

June 19, 2017

Well, we know that not everyone is queuing outside your gate going “BR, please interview me” with the possible exception of the Motwani sensation so we do know where you are coming from.

When Simran or other non-Tamil speaking actresses where interviewed for Tamil channels, they spoke in English and the videos were subtitled but these interviews are different and I agree that not many people will watch either Tamil videos subtitled in English or vice versa in these long conversations.

People probably have this concern with Simi Garewal or Karan Johar shows too. We can’t ask them so we ask you. We feel that there may be someone who’d feel self conscious in English. We may lose their interview.

Agree with rkjk.

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Badboy

June 19, 2017

It might be a small number now, but with the growth of tamil movies and the increase in number of non tamil watching tamil cinema, there will be an exponential rise in audience for baradwaj videos

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praneshp

June 22, 2017

Has anyone outside India managed to watch the series?

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Chandra Prakash

June 24, 2017

linky winky of trailer

Oh man, the comments section is a fun roll as always …. especially for the dialogue by one female character “Othaaaa Kitta Vandha Kottaileye Midhipen”

one comment:
“ithey oru ambala.. ponna paathu k****iye othaipen nu solliruntha feminists elam thookinu vanthurupanunga”

rendu pakkamum self appointed guards irukkanga plus blog le satham podra male chauvunist and feminists kkum ippo panjam ille, like what Mohan Balaji said for web series, web posting also gives every one freedom

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Chandra Prakash

June 24, 2017

@shavishwa,
The “strong language” is something that has evolved to appear in a very restricted way in Tamil media (cinema), online youtube and other channels have paved way to liberalize the expression, narrate the comical or sometimes emotional content.

I am sure many of us have grown up watching people use foul language in streets at some time or the other especially if you grew up in a metro urban city

During Manirathnam interactive session here at NY Museum of Moving Image after screening of Bombay movie, when there were discussions on censor issues he faced when he released Roja or Bombay, somehow the discussion transgressed towards even use of cuss words on cinema and he mentioned how Censor Board after multiple representations and discussions from film makers (including himself) finally agreed to, by narrowing down to use 3 or 4 tamil words with out the beep sound.

It took decades to even show or depict funny dialogues or witty comments relating the mundane natural phenomenon as simple as farts (remember, Apoorva Sahodarargal, satham kettruchu? just prior to killing scene of Delhi ganesh), and then the ” Autograpgh” movie with full pledged sequence of their school teacher.

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Honest Raj (formerly 'V'enkatesh)

June 25, 2017

About the usage of foul language/cuss words, are we aware of Agni Natchathiram? Beep sounds would not have made any difference there. 🙂 Of course, we had KB and Kamal before Mani Ratnam.

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