Posted on September 19, 2017
Anu Hasan talks about doing stunts, not doing the same roles, on whether she discusses her career with Mani Ratnam, Su hasini and Kamal Haasan, on nepotism and her famous surname, on playing sisters and mothers, and the culture shock between foreign and Indian productions.
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Baradwaj Rangan 
Srinivas R
September 19, 2017
Enjoyed this conversation, she is such a candid person, always seems relaxed and fun
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shaviswa
September 19, 2017
Very engaging interview. Anu Hasan came across as an actor who has a mind of her own. Very frank and forthright in her answers, while still not stating anything politically incorrect……especially against any of her family members.
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Kay
September 20, 2017
She talks about equality in non Indian (Hollywood? I’m not sure what others movies she has acted in) movies and how everyone calls each other by their first names and still are respectful. Which reminded me of the recent promotions for Mersal in which even seasoned anchors and others call refer to the director as ‘Atlee sir’. Since when did Atlee become sir? (Rhetorical. Don’t really need an answer) Even successful (by Tamil movie industry standards – white skinned, non Tamil speaking, bad lip syncing and such) heroines refer to heroes and directors as sir. Can we just move on already?
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Kay
September 20, 2017
Very nice interview. Used to love her coffee with Anu interactions.
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Madan
September 20, 2017
It is strange that Anu Hasan has to stress that ‘she is not good looking and she doesn’t care about it’. I think she looks fine, especially given she is approaching her fifties. Guess the pressure on actresses to flaunt drop dead gorgeous looks is extreme now; somebody like Radhika wouldn’t be a leading actress in today’s climate.
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Srinivas R
September 20, 2017
Kay, I think this “sir” thing is uniquely south Indian or should I say Tamil cinema idiosyncrasy. Even in Bollywood, Alia Bhat or Sidarth Malhotra refer to Karan Johar as Karan. It is a pretence that needs to be dropped
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shaviswa
September 20, 2017
@Srinivas R – it is a cultural thing. I have seen my father talking to his colleagues and calling them sir and they would also call him sir in return.
I have friends from Tamilnadu who are my age. We call each other sir quite often. We also call each other by name. The term sir has nothing to do with hierarchy at least in the Tamilnadu context. This is used predominantly by people who grew up outside Madras. The film industry is dominated by people from the hinterlands and it is no surprise that they use sir to refer to each other.
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Kay
September 20, 2017
Shaviswa, I can understand people belonging to our parents generation using ‘sir’. But now things have changed with most of us working in a corporate setup and calling people by their first names. Secondly, I think it’s stereotyping when you say people from places other than Chennai tend to do this. I don’t think this is about where a person is from. Rather it’s about how we mentally perceive the person we are referring to. Most small companies still have the culture of calling the bosses as sir or madams.
Atlee during raja rani times was a nobody and I remember the TV anchors referring to him just by his name. Now after two successful movies suddenly he has become sir which is what I’m finding difficult to accept. This mental superiority that we give to people who are successful or famous, irrespective of their age.
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Rahini David
September 20, 2017
Kay: When you said “I think it’s stereotyping when you say people from places other than Chennai tend to do this.” it sounded as if you think appending a sir or madam to someone’s name makes a person gauche and unsophisticated whereas dropping it off is the very sign of sophistication. It is true that it is very difficult from smaller towns to not call older people with a akka or anna or sir or madam for we just are not used to it. And I say this as a person from a small town.
I worked in an auditor office where everyone addressed me madam and I addressed every man “sir” and that included everyone from Driver to lift man to office boy. To not address them that way would have sounded very disrespectful to those people and everyone was from very small towns. When I moved to an IT company I was told that here we are not expected to use such suffixes for ANY person and that is ok too.
The movie industry is a very old industry and new people try to go with the flow of the older ones. IT industry was very new 15 years back and onsite opportunities enabled people to adopt a more western way off addressing people. Nurses always address doctors as “Doctor”. It is the only acceptable way to address doctors in their workplace.
Whatever maybe the way people address each other, hierarchies will exist. And the Japanese. You are “San” to them. Your age, sex, experience or position does not matter at all. You are “san” by default.
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Madan
September 20, 2017
Apropos “Sir”, on a domestic flight in the US, this White, well dressed chap about my age or only a little younger used the word “Sir” to get my attention because he offered to swap seats with me so that I could be in the same row as my parents. He clearly said it to be polite and not out of any veiled sarcasm or whatever. I am saying this because the US is one of the countries where “Sir” is regarded as an anachronism and yet here he was, using that very word. And he spoke with a strong American accent, as in unlikely to have migrated from a culture where he was expected to use Sir.
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zara196
September 20, 2017
Real change happens only when there is a fundamental shift in how people communicate- in a circle way rather than the old hierarchical pyramid way.
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KP
September 20, 2017
” I am saying this because the US is one of the countries where “Sir” is regarded as an anachronism.”
Its pretty common here, the cops use it all the time 🙂 .
-KP
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shaviswa
September 20, 2017
@Kay I was born and brought up at Madras. I learnt it the hard way when I had to interact with people from smaller towns in TN when I went to – of all places – Kanpur. It was a shock for me to hear people refer to each other as “neenga vaanga ponga”. Sir, anna, are other terms that were commonly used and this was done irrespective of age.
As Rahini said, IT and other businesses which deal with multinational clients may have adopted the western way of calling people with their first name, not using sir, etc. But that is a smaller % of the population. The large majority are still in their age old traditional ways of communicating to others. Not much has changed. And I dont think why it should. I do not necessarily see this first name calling as something that removes hierarchy.
I can call the CEO of my company by his first name….so what?
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sanjana
September 21, 2017
In hindi, ji is used and sometimes sirji!
There are two types of Sir or three. One is servile, other is due to force of habit and the last one is addressed to male teachers. Why not Mr.?
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Kay
September 21, 2017
Rahini: I agree with what you say. But I’m just saying let’s not restrict it to only people from smaller towns. Even in metros and other urban cities, depending on the culture followed in the company people use sir/madam. Which is what I meant by “Most small companies still have the culture of calling the bosses as sir or madams.” I agree not just the bosses but others too. I was wrong there. My comment was in no way an implication that using those words make one unsophisticated.
I think unintentionally some of my words have taken this topic to a different level of discussion. Which I would be happy to address, but it’ll be digressing from what I wanted to say originally.
My pet peeve here is that the same people who called Atlee by name couple of years back are now suddenly addressing him as sir. Which I find unnatural and annoying. And the habit of using such words for people who are more successful, even if they are of an equal age or lesser. I have noticed this more in the movie industry. I remember one such interview in which a successful heroine, can’t remember who, saying just dhanush first and then for subsequent questions she changed it to Dhanush sir etc. I wish I could corroborate with more specific examples, but for the life of me I’m just not able to remember. But hope you get my point.
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sanjana
September 21, 2017
Kay, at the end of it, it is ego massaging of established stars. And accepted and applauded by most. Otherwise one will be trolled as disrespectful and arrogant.
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Rahini David
September 21, 2017
Kay: I do get the point. It MAY be just a point of passage of time. Dhanush was much younger when he debuted and is plainly older now.
If Atlee remained an assistant director, the person whom you are talking about MAY be addressing him with just his name. But it may also have to do with the person not being very close to him now.
When I called erstwhile classmates to arrange a school get-together, many classmates address me “neenga” just because we were plainly out of touch. It disappeared after starting a Whatsapp group.
One of Vijay’s friends specified something like “Avana naan innum avan-nu thaan solluvean. Yeanna naanga innum close thaan” but not all of his classmates will do so.
But seriously I don’t feel a warm glow around my heart when I am addressed madam and I don’t quite see it as a big deal. This is especially so as I don’t see it more in just one industry. Hardly so.
In fact, in programs where audience participate individuals may refer to Rajini or Kamal without the honorifics and the anchor will point this out by saying some thing like “So Rajini-sir‘s songs are your favourite” to give a hint on what is acceptable. But then again, if Rajinikanth had been a doctor or a professor, no one would have mentioned his name without honorifics in the first place. He is in his 60s.
P.S. Strongly reminded of a meme that goes “Dei Stalin, nee thalaila karuppu adichutta enna Paati nu koopudlama? Naan un kooda 5 std padicha Kala thaan” 🙂
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MANK
September 21, 2017
Phenomenal interview, i loved every moment of it , i wish there was a lot more of it. She is so candid and speaks so beautifully.She comes across as a very fascinating individual. someone who lives and works by her own terms and who is very self aware about her strengths and limitations. this is one interview where Brangan did not have to do much. Remember seeing Anu in Indira and then in that thankless role in Aalavandhan where she played her (real) uncle’s mother, dont know anything else about her. would have loved to know a little bit more personal details like is she married?, does she have kids?.She made a lot of relevant points about the current heroines and their emphasis on their looks rather than honing their craft. Overall a very riveting watch
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MANK
September 21, 2017
i think film directors , irrespective of their age or success , are addressed as sir by the rest of cast and crew. Even senior stalwarts like Rajnikanth and Amitabh address their (junior) directors as Sir. its an indian film industry culture..its giving respect for his position as the top member of the film unit.i dont think there is anything wrong in it.
Secondly – as Sanjana said- this an ego driven industry. people get ahead ahead by massaging egos and having their egos massaged. So worshiping success is the accepted norm.Success make an actor\director more powerful in the industry and its natural he acquires an aura that is respected.
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brangan
September 21, 2017
I think it’s also the multiple faces/languages we are. When I am at home or with family, I talk one way, a more Brahminical dialect of Tamil. But outside, it automatically slips away. Similarly, when I use English words while talking Tamil, I pronounce them one way (eg. “daak-turrr”) and differently when talking in English (“dock-tuhr”).
I don’t know how to explain this — but there’s some sort of switch that’s unconsciously activated. Does this happen to others?
So I was smiling — but not entirely surprised — when, in a recent interview, the word “Ajith sir” slipped out. In that milieu, that’s what people say, so maybe the same switch now tells me to go into “sir” mode.
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Vidya
September 21, 2017
This was a great interview.. it’s always good when you don’t have to lead on too much and conversation flows. if you keep wearing these floral shirts I’m going to stop referring to you as sir Mr BR.. 🙂
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Vidya
September 21, 2017
Sir is for an older mama..which you clearly are shaking off!! 🙂
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"Original" venkatesh
September 21, 2017
Why does she think she is not Beautiful? She looks awesome and talks so well.
Awesome this BR.
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Vidya
September 21, 2017
I would pay money to watch you and Anupama Chopra do those round tables towards the end of the year!! Please do it..i read another commentor wanting you to interview kangana..it would be awesome to watch.
Would be nice if you did a similar thing for Tamil and Malayalam movies and have Anupama as well there.
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Vidya
September 21, 2017
Most of the hindi movie actors and directors respect you BR..I’m sure some will even touch your feet mentally ( pairi pauna types)..please round table maadi. Can some of the others second me guys!
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Raju
September 21, 2017
I agree with BR, the unconscious switch is definitely there. But then, I have also been in situations where the switch does not happen automatically and you find yourselves in an awkward situation. And it happens both ways. You think the mileu demands a “Sir/No Sir” conversation, and you end up being horribly wrong. I have been in both situations. I guess experience helps us avoid them (hence the unconscious switch) eventually.
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shaviswa
September 21, 2017
“Ajith sir” 🙂
Yes – the environment makes us speak the way we do most times. I understand the Tamil at home part – having lived the better part of my life at Madras, my Tamizh dialect is neutral – cannot really distinguish anything from the way I speak. But when I got married, my in-laws (not from Madras) and their relatives were horrified to hear me speak 🙂
Didn’t we learn to call our managers and other seniors at office by their first name? Didn’t we learn to start our emails with “hi ” rather than “Dear Mr. ” like how our parents used to type their memos? Even today, when I write a mail to my child’s school principal or teacher, I start with “Dear Madam.”
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Kay
September 21, 2017
Quite an interesting discussion this has been. I switch between dialects too. At my parents’ place, which is in Coimbatore, I tend to use the Kongu Tamil, and at my in laws I automatically switch to the southern dialect. And at office and with friends it goes into the unaccented (?) Tamil or sometimes Tanglish.
And Rahini, you have raised some really good points. That reserve that we feel with our friends when we talk after a long time has happened with me too.
I thought about it a bit more and also realised that the conflict comes only when the other person is equal to our age or lesser. For someone much older, we go into an auto ‘sir/madam’ mode, because it’s an ingrained habit to respect our elders. I find it painful (if that’s even possible) to call my colleagues who are into their 50s by their first names, no matter what the hierarchy is. So I always say X sir or Y ma’am.
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Naveen
September 21, 2017
a friend from Ajmrt would always say “Charan Sparsh” over phone when he talks to family seniors. literal conveyance of “touching feet”. though i found it funny then, later realized how these things are so critical in many circles, this applies to all status, not just a northie/southie behaviour. many of my TN frnds would call their dads “Ayya” and not “appa”
sir, ji, sir ji, boss, guru are common terms used within friendly circles irrespective of age, in an informal manner. it could include seniors too if they are more pally with you
out in the society, Sir seems to denote some kind of hierarchy or class.
film industry is full of hypocrites and sycophants. anybody whose film was a hit last Fri will be a Sir till his or her films bomb consecutive fridays
a director would not like his assistant to sit in a chair along with his co-directors formally in a forum….
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Rahul
September 21, 2017
Different uses of Sir
1 . The workplace and college “sir”, Addressed to someone senior.in age and/or station This only happens in India (and maybe other similar countries.). My college juniors still call me Sir. To be honest I would feel a bit awkward if they dropped it.,though I am a chill guy.
Addressing a stranger, trying to get their attention. This only happens in the West. In North India, the equivalent is “Bhai saab time kya hua hai?” , “Uncle ji zara side hato” , “Bhaiya tumhari cycle painchar ho gayi hai” etc. This western usage of Sir has nothing to do with being polite.
The informal “Sir ji”, that Naveen talks about above. This address is normally used when friends meet after a long time – After a few rounds of “Sir ji kaise ho” , etc. it transforms to bosedk, bc , mc soon, in the same affectionate tone.
The Udit Narayan “Sir” or “Saar” – Sonu nigam has illustrated this usage in his mimicry of Udit , it must be on youtube. Here Udit uses the word Sir as a placeholder for reflection . Like “hmm” ..
Music Director : Udit ji, will you sing this song?
Udit: Sir ….ok Sir i will let u know
Music Director : Udit ji, Lets go for lunch
Udit: Sir Sir, ok Sir lets go.
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Moonpenn
September 21, 2017
“My pet peeve here is that the same people who called Atlee by name couple of years back are now suddenly addressing him as sir. Which I find unnatural and annoying. And the habit of using such words for people who are more successful, even if they are of an equal age or lesser. I have noticed this more in the movie industry. ”
This. As if only the successful people are more worthy of respect. I bet Vijay TV anchors like Gopinath have to call Sivakarthikeyan “Siva Sir” now, whereas they used to be able to call him “vaada” “poda” before.
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hari
September 22, 2017
My US masters professor used to mock us when we used to call him “sir”. From then on no sir business to denote respect. But sirji, saar casually comes when we talk to friends, peers in office etc.
Good discussion.
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hari
September 22, 2017
Coming to the interview, Anu Hasan has always been cheerful. But I’m not sure if she was that successful in movies. The movie trailer that is getting referenced in the interview is at best B gradish and looks to be very outdated, looks like it was made in 2015 or something.
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Naveen
September 22, 2017
Anu seems to be on an interview spree, probably asked to be visible in local media for Valladesam’s sake.
there is one adorable interview of hers with CineUalagam, she is at her best in it. very very good discussion.
was suprised to see her refer to Simbu as Simbu Sir….
while on the Sir thing, i find it funny how north indian girls quickly learn to call everybody Anna, i guess that is the first lesson in their PG hostel or flat.
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Amrita Ravimohan
September 22, 2017
@hari: this reminded me of an incident during my days as a PG student in London, when one of my classmates from Chennai insisted on addressing our professor as Sir, despite being told on numerous occasions by him that it was unnecessary. Finally he got exasperated & exclaimed “I haven’t been knighted yet!”. The look of incomprehension on her face was priceless 😂
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sravishanker1401gmailcom
September 22, 2017
Very very interesting thread.
My 2 cents. “Sir” is a term of address used by one Tamil adult male to another Tamil adult male.
I used to dabble in the stock market in college and some of the brokers who were double my age used to call me “Sir”.
So also the VP Finance 15 years older than myself in my first job.
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Shankar
September 22, 2017
“especially given she is approaching her fifties.”….ayyo! Madan, don’t remind us of these things pa! 🙂
Baddy, you had a grin on your face throughout the interview…I sure can understand why. I can only imagine how the outtakes might have been! 🙂
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Raju
September 23, 2017
Amrita: At least, in your colleague’s case, it was a London professor, and hence at least reasonable (Their land, their rules). But just consider this: I was in a similar situation during my PG days in Chennai with a chennai professor. The way I see it, one section of people in India are trying to emulate non-indian culture, whereas another section is trying to stick to home culture. As with everything else in India, this difference in attitude within ourselves is causing lots of confusion and awkward situations. The ugly side of diversity, I guess!
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Kay
September 23, 2017
BR, will you review Kingsman: TGC?
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Guru
September 25, 2017
“Sir” culture in Tamil cinema is definitely a reflection of hierarchy. Otherwise, why would Chaari, when talking to Ambi (characters of the movie Anniyan) in a train, say “idhukaaga Kamal sir a ya kootindu varamudiyum”…
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vijay
October 7, 2017
Anu Hasan was a natural conversationalist in her programme. I am glad she walked out though because Vijay TV always used to force their own movie promotion agenda. None of these channels can survive without the movie industry even for a week
“Sir” is another peculiar Thamizism
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vijay
October 7, 2017
“I think it’s also the multiple faces/languages we are. When I am at home or with family, I talk one way, a more Brahminical dialect of Tamil. But outside, it automatically slips away.’
BR, for many it doesn’t slip away. They are just not that self-conscious.Take for instance, Malgudi Subha and the way she speaks in airtel super singer programs.
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vijay
October 7, 2017
To add, the thing that set apart Anu, was that she was a good listener and seemed genuinely interested in knowing more about her guests. Contrast this with her cousin, Mrs. Mani Rathnam, who invites guests too, but does all the talking and wants to quickly get on with the next question
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Kay
October 7, 2017
Vijay, may I ask why you didn’t use Suhasini’s name?
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