Balu Mahendra: A poet who used shots and scenes to tell stories

Vetrimaaran won a national award for his film, Aadukalam. Here, he talks about his mentor, Balu Mahendra

If it hadn’t been for Balu Mahendra, I’d never have become a filmmaker. I studied English literature, and though I watched movies regularly, I had never thought of making one.

In Loyola College, Chennai, I was taking a post graduate course in visual communications. At the time, filmmaker Balu Mahendra was one of the visiting faculties there. In 1997, a visual media workshop he held turned out to be a landmark event for me. His lectures influenced me to such an extent that I wanted to join him as an assistant. That’s when I made up my mind to become a filmmaker. And I only wanted to work with Balu Mahendra.

Balu Mahendra had entered industry as a cinematographer but soon started directing films. He shot into fame with his first film, Azhiyatha Kolangal (1979). The film was refreshing. The Tamil audience were treated to an innovative style and a system of storytelling using distinct visuals. By ’97, he had established himself as one of the top filmmakers in the country.

As a follow up to the media workshop, I approached a faculty member and asked to be introduced to Balu Mahendra. As it turned out, Mahendra was looking for someone who knew Tamil. I went to his office and gave my professor’s reference. Mahendra asked about my knowledge of Tamil. I told him that I could speak, read and write Tamil. “But what do you know about literature?” he asked. I had not read much Tamil literature as my subject was English. At this, he ordered me to get out, and then immediately called me back and asked me to name two English novels I had read. I told him that Roots and A Tale Of Two Cities were two novels I loved. He told me to come back the next day.

The next day he told me he too loved those novels. This helped me get my first assignment as his associate. He asked me to read as many Tamil novels and short stories as possible. For the next few months, I immersed myself in reading Tamil novels and short stories. I’d get up early morning and start reading books I borrowed from libraries and my friends. In the afternoon, I went to his office where we discussed the books. It enriched me more than all my years in school and college. Some days, we talked right up until midnight. Each day I spent with him was a new learning process.

Then came Kadai Neram: it was a television series directed by Mahendra for Sun TV. Short stories by eminent Tamil authors were shot into telefilms of 30 minutes each. I was asked to write scripts based on selected stories.

Mahendra followed a distinct pattern while making movies. More than on characters, his focus was on shots. Each shot spoke a thousand words… words of complex emotions and of life. The characters conveyed everything to the audience through expressions rather than words.

Filming the serial was a 24x7 job. I had to read sixty short stories every week and write a synopsis of each, along with visual possibilities. Each story had to be shot in four days. The post production was completed in two days. A gruelling experience that went on for months. But the serial turned out to be the most watched TV programme in Tamil.

More than the nuances of shooting films, working with Mahendra helped me develop a certain process of spontaneous thinking. Also, during the production of Kadai Neram, I lost my father. Mahendra helped me to come out of the bereavement.

I worked on two other films — Julie Ganapathi and Athu Oru Kaana Kaalam — both directed by Mahendra. That’s when I learnt the difference between shooting a movie and a TV serial. Julie Ganapathy was a class apart. It was shot in six different locations spread across Ooty, Chennai and other places. But in the end, it looked as if the whole picturisation was done in adjacent locations.

Mahendra has a distinct style of filmmaking. Some of the biggest lessons I learnt from him are to find inspiring and challenging ideas, and to make the most of a situation against all odds. He taught me to think independently, and to chalk out entirely different styles. His works — Veedu, Sandhya Raagam, Vanna Vanna Pookkal — are all reflections of this thinking process. I learnt to tell a story visually from him.

For my film, Aadukalam, I owe a lot to Mahendra. I could get the best out of the actor Dhanush. This was inspired by Mahendra’s casting of Silk Smitha in a crucial role for his movie Moondram Pirai. Smitha, who had been forced to play the role of item girl in most films, gave a stellar performance because Mahendra could bring the best out in her. That’s what a director is supposed to do.
Balu Mahendra is a poet. But he uses shots, scenes and sequences, not words to write his poetry. He is the proponent of a new kind of cinema language.