K Balachander — Iyakkunar Sigaram who trod a path which other directors dreaded

In this series, we take a trip down memory lane, back to the Madras of the 1900s, as we unravel tales and secrets of the city through its most iconic personalities and episodes

Madras has always attracted migrants. But very few have made others’ lives as interesting as those who came scouting after the entertainment industry. Born in a rural middle-class family to a munsif in a village near Tanjore, K Balachander’s interest was evident when as a youngster he got together a band of boys and did plays on the thinnai (elevated lobby) of his house. He studied biology and became a schoolteacher and soon thereafter migrated to Madras for a career in the AG’s Office.

Working in the Accountant General’s office and doing theatre in the evenings became his lifestyle. He even formed a drama troupe of his own while acting in others’ plays as well. With no ambition to enter the cine field, KB kept concentrating on the stage and innovating in it.

There were English plays, there were plays in which the three characters just sat on chairs and discussed the whole plot without even getting up, there were stages without curtains or backdrops and there were plays where characters sat amongst the audience and would stand up and mouth their dialogues.

MGR would attend one of his plays and unlike many others who were fervently waiting for a chance to work with a superstar, he was given the opportunity to pen the dialogues for Deiva Thai. But then he noted that whole paragraphs of his hard work were just slashed by RM Veerappan, the producer to cinematise the script. Though later he would say, he learnt the difference between stage and reel versions of dialogue and direction from this movie, he would keep well away from MGR (and Shivaji as well) except for awards functions. But the superstar tag wouldn’t leave him. People he introduced became superstars on their own right in the next generation.

Deiva Thai’s victory at the box office turned the spotlight on Balachander. Some of his early plays were bought up by the big movie studios to turn them into films. Balachander was invited to write the dialogue and screenplay for them.

When KB became a cinema man, the field was dominated by superheroes. Heroines were just eye candy prancing around trees and he decided to create an audience for himself with his middle class, woman-centric stories. His ability to think like the heroine in knotty interpersonal relationships created masterpieces.

He talked about adultery, prostitution, bigamy and other taboo topics which made many a stomach churn. He trod a path which many other directors feared as they were filled with social pitfalls. Many of his movies were awarded adult certification for the theme, though he would never have a vulgar scene in his movie. He kept the audience on its toes for the unexpected and it was called the ‘Balachander touch’.

Thinking out of the box was his domain. Lateral thinking his forte. Comedian Nagesh was once portrayed as a terminally ill patient and would weep throughout the movie and actress Sowcar Janaki, who was known for her hysterically weeping scenes in tearjerkers, used as a comedian, thereby immortalising the roles they played.

Major Chandrakanth was written as an English play for an office function with the screenplay spread over one night with many flashbacks and its rights were bought and made into a Hindi film. And then KB would get a chance to direct this movie in Tamil. He would name the villain Rajinikanth — a name he would later use to christen a small-time Marathi actor struggling for a role in Tamil cinema he introduced in Aboorva Ragangal.

The songs KB would have in his movies were exemplary — both tunes and lyrics. In one movie, he would get poet Kannadasan to write most songs in the ancient andhadhi style (the last word of one stanza being used as the first of the next). It was a time when song sequences came up a substantial part of the audience used to go to the lobby to have a smoke or refresh themselves. In Balachander’s movies, one couldn’t do that. He kept the biggest twists in the movie in the course of his songs.

There were eras in Tamil cinema. First movies were called Gemini movies or AVM movies named after the producing studios. Then MGR movies or Shivaji movies after the heroes. Only with Balachander and Sridhar were the movies called by the director’s name attached to them.

From Rajinikanth to AR Rahman, he was credited with having nurtured numerous artists who later went on to become superstars. As a talent scout, he changed the face of Tamil cinema.

In a field, where careers were rather short due to a hastily fluctuating consumer taste, K Balachander succeeded for 50 years, in which he had contributed to a hundred films in several languages. An astounded industry titled him Iyakkunar Sigaram — the peak of directors. The nation awarded him the Dadasaheb Phalke Award.