Advertise
(4 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)
Loading ...
Bala [Tamil Cinema]
Mani Ratnam finds him the most exciting of the new lot. He must be around 5 feet 3 inches. Frail figure almost like he might die of malnutrition. In his first interview to a television channel after his acclaimed Pithamagan he recounts his first encounter with Death. The death of his cow. The family on the verge of poverty had to sell the cow. This man claims the cow was found dead the very next say the deal was finalized. He claims the cow committed suicide by licking the “chuna” on the wall. He was sure it was not a natural death. The man in question…..Bala. The maker of “Sethu”, “Nanda” and “Pithamagan”.
Much like the interview….his films are full of such shocking, morbid….heart wrenching moments. Bala broke into the Tamil film Industry and shocked everyone and gave the Tamil Industry a new star…the almost forgotten and out of work Vikram. The Bala Vikram combo gave Vikram and the Tamil Industry it’s 3rd National Award for an actor. The other two being Kamal Hasan and MGR.
Sethu has it’s own story to tell. In the making for almost 2 years. The careers and aspirations of Vikram and Bala riding high on it. “69” nine preview shows after it was completed and no buyers. Then someone brought and released it at a Single theatre…that too a matinee show…No one came to watch it that Friday…and the few who did spread the word and how….within a week “Sethu” was showing in all the major cinema halls in TN and was declared a huge hit. Vikram became an over night superstar and Bala a film maker the industry looked up to.
Nanda was made that too with Surya….Surya then was just like any other star son trying to make a careerout of cinema. Till then he was the most annoying lover boy on the Tamil cinema scene for me…..Nanda changed it all. Shot breathtakingly in Rameshwaram Nanda gave a new leash of cinematic life to Surya who went to be become a matinee idol after Gautham Menon’s Kaka Kaka…..But Nanda made me sit and look up to an actor called Surya…
Nanda is the story of a juvenile who killed his father. He returns to his home after serving term in jail to be shunned by his family. He takes refuge under the local goon and becomes his right hand man. The climax with a Mother Indiaish ….mother poisons her own son. Ok agreed no pathbreaking story line but the way it was shot and the performances…..Nanda is a must watch Bala film. If nothing else have a look at this song from Nanda “Munpaniya”…..SPB at his best and Rameshwaram never look so beautiful before….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-EPiVjW2R8
[youtube]2-EPiVjW2R8[/youtube]
Then came “Pithamagan”…shook me…..It brought all Bala protégés together…..Vikram, Surya, Laila…..Vikram plays a man who has grown up in Crematorium….his playthings have been skulls and bones. He has not spoken a word to any human being and one fine day after his caretaker at the cremation ground dies…..”Jittan”[Vikram] sets foot in the normal world inhibited by people who talk and laugh and fight…..There he meets Surya a con man and Laila a college student. Pithamagan is a tragic journey of Vikram’s and Surya’s friendship. Vikram’s character knows no emotions as he has never interacted with humans. The only song Vikram know is the song that is sung when one dies. He has seen women wailing at dead bodies and sing…..There is a scene where Surya and the other are singing….Vikram too wants to be a part of the motion…he sings the only rhymes he has heard…there is a hush after that…all are stunned….Vikram unaware of that goes on and on…..Bala gave me Goosebumps…..an unforgettable moment.
Another beautifully shot son from the film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up5vevahEBg
[youtube]up5vevahEBg[/youtube]
Bala is all geared up for his next. “Naan Kadavul” [I am God]. It was to have Ajith in it but constant delays in the shooting schedule created fiction and Arya an upcoming actor stepped in. Can’t wait for yet another morbid journey thru Bala’s turbulent characters…… Arya is already a star……but am sure Bala will catapult him to even greater heights as he has done in the past with Vikram and Surya.
18 Responses to “Bala [Tamil Cinema]”
Leave a Reply
Our Comments Policy : The following kinds of comments are troll capped, blocked and/or commenter's identity reported publicly: Verbal abuse, personal attacks, hate statements, spam, trolls, advertising. Please assist us in keeping the comments clean. Use the contact form to let us know if you find unwarranted comments on PFC. Thank you.
- Singh is Kinng… reviews begin….
- 1 year - 1 story - 1 minute
- Films to Watch Out for in 2009
- Announcing PFCOne 2008 : Call for Entries
- AapKe Deewane : Ram and Raheem love Sameera in the debut film of Hritik Roshan
- Announcing PFCOne 2008 : Call for Entries
- Singh is Kinng… reviews begin….
- 1 year - 1 story - 1 minute
- Films to Watch Out for in 2009
Recent Posts:
Hottest Today:
but theres a lot of overacting involved in all his films….dunno but a lot of shouting and fighting and typical thambi dishum dishum meks me disintrested.
[Vasan's comment]
Exactly….that’s what I am coming too….it’s not for those who have been fed with European cinema…we Indians are verbose and we show a lot of physicality
Good one.Need more such articles on Tamil cinema.Mani Rathnam is the torch bearer right now…the others will have to come out of the shadows.
Keep it up.
Ravi
Bala is more like Barathi Raja, very earthy and has rural feel in his movies. He is definitely one of the best filmmakers in India in recent times. Sethu and Pitahmagan are wonderful movies, I didn’t watch Nanda, I’ll try to watch ASAP.
In pithamagan, I liked Surya and Laila, I was kind of shocked seeing the way they acted and offcourse Vikram has already proved himself with Sethu.
Ravi: Mani seems to be the only torch bearer because of his Hindi remakes. I might not mention everyone, but there are definitely a few others like Bala, Ameer (the director of Paruthiveeran that Vasan mentions) and Gautham (Kaakha Kaakha, Minnale etc.) who have made rapid strides in the past five years.
Tamil cinema faces quite a few hurdles just like Bollywood’s penchant for the K-Jo branded stuff. But the hurdles are not too tough because there are quite a few producers willing to take the load. Besides Tamil cinema is not run by patriarchal “movie families” like Bollywood. Even the one or two family run production houses (like AVM) do decently when it comes to meaningful cinema.
Btw, Sethu was re-made in Hindi as Tere Naam by Satish Kaushik (I think), where Salman Khan’s prep for the role involved a special hair do and nothing more. OTOH, Vikram’s physique changes drastically from the first half of the movie (when he’s a college student), to the second half when he is in the asylum.
If i see Bala’s name on a films credentials, trust me, im gonna see it!
Yes his films are shocking and difficult to view, but they have a unique and strange hold over the viewer.
I saw ‘Sethu’ a few years ago at a friends house and remember being struck by this knock-out performance by Viram!
The film didn’t even have subtitles, and i don’t understand tamil all that well, but was hooked!
Again, with ‘Nanda’ there were no subtitles, but the acting, the narrative..the flow…all these factors and the music (excellent!!) made this film a must see!
It was after this film that i started to notice how wonderful an actor Surya is!
Luckily i had subtitles with ‘Pithamgan’ and again was blown away!
How extrordinary was Vikram in this film?!!
Even Laila, who can be annoying, was very good in this.
Surya rocks all the time!!
Mani Ratnam, Shanker and Bala….you cannot ignore there films!
[If i see Bala
1. Mani
2. Shankar
3. Bala
…
…
…
Also, the direction of ‘Kaadhal’ impressed me too, although the story was the usual.
But it was directed well.
I have heard alot about ‘Autograph’ too.. i must check that out at some point!
Kaadhal was a gutsy attempt by Shankar to promote his prot
Just loved ‘Kathal’, thought it was the gutsiest, most realistic love-story ever (esp the difficulties they encounter after eloping). Shankar’s prod-stable has proiven fairly reliable, so far at least.
Cheran’s ‘Autograph’ is well-written, but begs a decent editor IMHO - the movie really drags after a point. Also, the Mallu angle was not very authentic - the Malayalam they speak in the movie provided a lot of unexpected comedy. But yeah, it was a great effort, and the story behind the movie is the stuff of legends, like ‘Sethu’.
Bala, Selvaraghavan are much better than the rest. Again I didn’t like Pithamagan with its heavily contrived plot. Vikram’s acting just made it worse. He basically tried to pull out a chimp-mimic act. I am no big fan of that. BTW I liked Vikram’s acting in Sethu better(its the only bala movie where I enjoyed the protagonist’s performance). Surya’s acting in Pithamagan was better than ‘Nanda’ which was again too easy to pull out except that Surya for once acted in a serious subdued role unlike the lover-boy roles before that movie, needless to say IMHO.
Few good things about Bala,
1) Mostly he brings out these great supporting performances. Like Sivakumar,his wife(in the movie), Vikram’s crush(in the movie), his friends and her brother in Sethu. Or few characters in Nanda (especially Karunas was great). Characters like Sangeetha’s, Surya’s, Karunas’, Mano bala’s were pretty good.
2) his movies has few better sub-plots than the whole plot. Like In Pitha magan - the whole ‘con’ angle. I think the movie could have made a better ‘comedy’ if they had cut out this whole stereotyped ‘revenge’ angle from a best-dosth. Or atleast he could have made Vikram more believable.
As I said, Bala might be pretentious. But he is still, one of the better directors to have come out from the recent tamil film industry.
Bala is certainly a man who knows the craft and has stories to tell. I do enjoy his movies mostly. Though the Pithamagan character was over-the-top and incredible, kudos to the acting and movie-making! Sethu remains evergreen while Nandha seemed pointless except for Surya’s rebirth…..
What I hate in Bala’s movies is the violence. Does every story have to be so violent? It probably reflects the creator’s mind; but it is a put-off beyond a point.
Also, isn’t it better for us to avoid pirated videos on PFC, though it was a good idea to show samples of Bala in a post about him?
oops….sorry…randramble…actually did not think on those lines….
Yes, Bala is the best among the crop.
Vasu Anna, Just saw Nandha (remembered that you’d written about it, so googled it) without subtitles. I was wondering from where Bala gets his plots? There is a monotony in how heroes are sketched (Suriya in Nandha & Vikram in Pithamagan). And, sorry to say Nandha didn’t offer anything original.`
SEX STORY