7 Sep 2012
‘Films are subjective-what you like, what you don’t like. But the thing for me that is absolutely unifying is the idea that every time I go to the cinema and pay my money and sit down and watch a film go up on-screen, I want to feel that the people who made that film think […]
31 Aug 2012
‘An essential element of any art is risk. If you don’t take a risk then how are you going to make something really beautiful, that hasn’t been seen before?’ – Francis Ford Coppola How many Tamilians are there who don’t know the Nayagan theme song, including the prelude? How many Tamilians are there […]
25 Aug 2012
‘No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls.’ – Ingmar Bergman Imagine the scene where Malaichami (Sivaji Ganesan) helps Kuyilu (Radha) to catch fish using his veshti (dhoti). Or when he adoringly invites a house sparrow to […]
19 Aug 2012
My films are therapy for my debilitating depression. In institutions people weave baskets. I make films.’ – Woody Allen That nerve. That audacity. Who else but Balachander could dare commit such atrocity? It is difficult to find out what effect the film had on the mid 70s audience, but it was clear enough […]
15 Aug 2012
6. Nenjil Ore Aalayam ‘Oh, how Shakespeare would have loved cinema!‘ […]
13 Aug 2012
8. Andha Naal ‘All you need for a movie is a gun and a girl’ – Jean-Luc Godard Before K Balachander The Revolutionary, there was another one. S Balachander, famously known as Veenai Balachander, was equally experimental, albeit less successful. In 1955, when the entire Tamil industry […]
11 Aug 2012
‘It’s up to the audiences to decide if it’s entertainment, the critics to decide if it’s good, and ultimately posterity to decide if it’s art.’ – Robert De Nero 10. Moondram Pirai If Balachander brought revolutionary content, Bharathiraaja brought villages, Balu Mahendra brought in quietness to Tamil […]