கே. பாலசந்தர் மரணம்

அனுதாபங்கள்!

பாடறியேன் படிப்பறியேன் :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klM3XfIM-qg



நானொரு சிந்து காவடிச்சிந்து (திரையில் அழுகை):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_UYCfldYAY

http://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/filmmaker-k-balachander-passes-away/article6719693.ece

Came from middle-class to go to the top :
http://sudhishkamath.com/2009/01/15/memories-of-madras-k-balachander-when-directors-wore-the-pants/

KB wrote:
In the night, if I spotted a policeman, I would get off and walk along my bicycle. My cycle didn’t have a dynamo. It was costly.
I would get back on the seat only when he’s out of sight.
One day, the policeman laughed at me.
Out of habit, I had got off even during daytime. 

Can't believe this news. I heard he was recovering well. Phenomenal talent and the term Legend can only be given to this director having given wide spectrum of films, bold thinking. The way he portrayed women in most of his films deserves a huge huge applause. Not just this one, his achievement list is endless. Very sad to hear him leave us. Rest in peace sir! 

Kamal pays homage

அவரின் 30 படங்கள் சரியில்லை என்று தூக்கி போட்டுவிட்டாலும், 70 படங்கள் பேசப்படும். அவை, இளைஞர்களுக்கு வழிகாட்டியாக இருக்கும். பாலசந்தர் விட்டுச் சென்ற இடத்தை என்னைப் போன்ற பலர் நிரப்புவார்கள். நிரப்ப வேண்டும். நான் ஒரு மகனாக இருந்து அதை செய்வேன்.

Possibly customary condolence words...

Otherwise, as a director, KB had been pretty much inactive for more than 2 decades (his flops pArthAlE paravasam / poi were after Y2K....but his films that had been marketed with some clout  and / or expectations ended way back in 90's).

That way, there's nothing that others need to "fill-up", in practical sense.

I dont think Kamal is the kind of guy who pays customary condolence, especially in the case of someone like KB, his mentor.
He meant that "filling up"  in the creative sense, not in terms of commercial success.Even when Sivaji passed away, he wasnt commercially relevant for close to 20 years or more, but one could  say that many actors would have to strive to fill the void singularly created by him. Kamal meant it in that sense I guess. Not comparing Sivaji with KB, just as an example.

KB is certainly one of a kind. The kind of tributes that has been pouring in from all over is but a testament to the
foundations he has laid in this industry. Apart from being an avant garde filmmaker, he was the best talent spotter/groomer bar none in Indian film history.
The KB tree had had many a pigeon nesting in it and then flying away to glory.

Well said counterpoint!

Yet another tribute to KB. I really loved the one by Yugi Sethu

could some one list those 36 films that KH got to do with KB? kannaku romba edikuthey.

Apart from being an avant garde filmmaker, he was the best talent spotter/groomer bar none in Indian film history.
The KB tree had had many a pigeon nesting in it and then flying away to glory.

all these platitudes on KB tree are getting insane, are there any worthy technician whose craft we could track it back to him?
talking of trees and pigeons, how do they compare to BRaja/BMs. if anything Rajini/KH had their best spell after quitting KB school.
Rajini's allegiance should be geared much more towards SPM for his commercial success /Mahendran for getting the best out of him than towards KB who used him mostly in set pieces. wrt KH it was mostly from Anantha Krishnan aka Ananthu and he wasn't even in talking terms with KB for most part of 80s until they patched up during Fefsi issue in the 90s.

MiMike testing 1 2 3..

Welcome back k_g  Mic is fine now, please share your thoughts

vaaya kittumani  heard your team is flying high this season

Heeeyyyyyyy Viiiiisssi, yeah yeah plying high 

VS,
Sheer, will do. Good to see you're all alive. 

Groucho,
How r u doing mate?

ezhavu veetla ennada seettiyum gummaalamum. vera threadla poayee mudhugu sorinjukkung..

Wizzy wrote:

all these platitudes on KB tree are getting insane, are there any worthy technician whose craft we could track it back to him?
talking of trees and pigeons, how do they compare to BRaja/BMs. if anything Rajini/KH had their best spell after quitting KB school.
Rajini's allegiance should be geared much more towards SPM for his commercial success /Mahendran for getting the best out of him than towards KB who used him mostly in set pieces. wrt KH it was mostly from Anantha Krishnan aka Ananthu and he wasn't even in talking terms with KB for most part of 80s until they patched up during Fefsi issue in the 90s.

director's job is not to teach craft to technicians on the set. Technicians in fact help execute director's vision and they can only finetune on the set what they learnt in film school.which world class technicians came from Bharathiraja school? Whereas a director can groom/mentor actors and other assistant directors. In BM's case, since he himself  was a good cinematographer he might have had some influence in that craft.Even there, The PC Srirams and the Santosh sivans of the world did not come from BM school.

And reg Kamal/Rajni's success with the likes of SP muthuraman, if you are talking about commercial success in masala movies thats not clearly what I was alluding too. I was talking about the talent spotting/grooming which played a part in their initial years(think of their roles in Avargal, aboorva raagangaL, thappu thaalangal,varumayin niram sivappu etc.). The likes of SPM mainly used their star image in paayum pulis and sakalakallavans to make money in the 80s. Regardless of difference of opinion Kamal might have had with KB over the years he would never fail to mention KB as an important mentor in his career and if he writes his biography(on his film career), rest assured KB would be present in the first few pages

When a Rudraiya dies, KH will be brought up by a mainsteam critic in a 'what could have been' angle, and folks will get tiffed. Extra credit, narrative, praise, debauchery, disdain, or what have you, is all possible, because TFI has one too many agenda to spare.

director's job is not to teach craft to technicians on the set. Technicians in fact help execute director's vision and they can only finetune on the set what they learnt in film school.which world class technicians came from Bharathiraja school?

in technicians I meant ADs/Writers who had their balapaadams @ Kb-school, 
In KB-school we have Thol Vaayan Vasaanth and Eithupona Saran/Suresh Kissna and compare these to those
to who learnt their balapaadams @ Braja/BM school, its not even a contest. does KB-school 
even have a writer equivalent of R.Selvaraj/Vetrimaran?

I was talking about the talent spotting/grooming which played a part in their initial years(think of their roles in Avargal, aboorva raagangaL, thappu thaalangal,varumayin niram sivappu etc.). The likes of SPM mainly used their star image in paayum pulis and sakalakallavans to make money in the 80s.

spotting ellam okay but gromming? Rajini was mostly used as sidekick and for cigarette flipping exercise by KB, check out how many of Kavithalaya production movies featuring Rajini had SPM at the helm.
RK was quick to realize this facade of KB gromming and jump the ship,KH was tad slow to envisage and it almost cost his career.

in technicians I meant ADs/Writers who had their balapaadams @ Kb-school, 
In KB-school we have Thol Vaayan Vasaanth and Eithupona Saran/Suresh Kissna and compare these to those
to who learnt their balapaadams @ Braja/BM school, its not even a contest. does KB-school 
even have a writer equivalent of R.Selvaraj/Vetrimaran?

Working with a KB or BR is not exactly equivalent to "schooling" in screenwriting. ADs get treated like crap anyways in  Tamil cinema. BR's success unfortunately spawned a bad trend of village idiots like Bhagyaraj,Manivannan, Manobala and others who went on to make mediocre movies. I dont think BR promoted writing either. In  fact there were strong rumours that he stole stories from some of them like Selvaraj

spotting ellam okay but gromming? Rajini was mostly used as sidekick and for cigarette flipping exercise by KB, 

really? Have you watched thappu thaalangal or avargaL? were that cigarette-flipping roles? You seem to be biased against KB for some reason as well as ignorant of his works

BR's success unfortunately spawned a bad trend of village idiots like Bhagyaraj,Manivannan, Manobala and others who went on to make mediocre movies. I dont think BR promoted writing either. 

calling them village idiots is bit of a low blow, KB mattum enna Pune film institute gold medal'a? 
if anything these men went through hard grind of being a AD and never had any crossbelt buffers of power to handhold them.
genres that Manivannan daggled with will put city bred Gundumani/GVM to shame.

In  fact there were strong rumours that he stole stories from some of them like Selvaraj

guess you have heard it other way around, check out Brangan's recent freudian slip 

really? Have you watched thappu thaalangal or avargaL? were that cigarette-flipping roles? 

KB basically had 2 strokes each for KH/RK, if it was varying grey shades of RK, 
KH was mostly reduced to
good-looking love flunkee/loser, had they stuck up with KB they would have ended up being yet 
another Jai ganesh or Sumarkumars like Vijayakumar/Sivakumar.

You seem to be biased against KB for some reason as well as ignorant of his works

stop judging me, other than full-bosomed female leads and ithupona ADs  that I mentioned, care to enlighten us with this legacy or something
in his art which ought to be trolley forwarded?

Bhagyaraj and manivannan village idiots? Shows the prejudice and closed mind of the commenter. No wonder they prop up KB who tried the ilayarajanu oru gramaththan folk music dhAn layakku vandhurukkAn in 1970s and failed in his attempt.

One closed group openly exhibiting their prejudices and still able to confidently be contemptuous about "gramththans" (and not even accurate at that - KB more of small town than village)

"Village idiot" in the context of bagyaraj/Manivanaan doesn't mean everybody who hails from a  village is an idiot.  And their films are the reasons for it. Even BR is from a village but did I address him that way? Whereas "crossbelt buffers of power" indicates definite prejudice. which crossbelt power handheld barathiraja by the way?

"genres that Manivannan daggled with will put city bred Gundumani/GVM to shame."

Just because he made bad movies of different flavors doesn't make him a versatile talent. He will be remembered, if at all, for milking sathyaraj's nakkal style. But mostly he might be remembered more for his own nakkal while acting in comedy roles and not for anything related to his godforsaken films.Take away whatever little Sathyaraj had to contribute in a film like say, 24 mani neram, and it instantly becomes a torture-fest.

"other than full-bosomed female leads and ithupona ADs  that I mentioned, care to enlighten us with this legacy or something
in his art which ought to be trolley forwarded?"

The writing. The dialogue. The way he weaved music into his films,characters, stories. The characterizations. The bold themes in a pre-liberal era. And apart from all this the talent that he spotted/groomed which reads like a who's who list of Tamil cinema.
You can read the numerous interviews of Kamal and others over the years and also read their recent tributes if it isn't obvious by now. Or, If you still want to pretend that Manivannan was say, a better director than Manirathnam or that Bagyaraj was the torchbearer for new wave tamil cinema then go ahead and enjoy yourself not that I care.