Balachander: The man who inspired a generation of filmmakers

Balachander garu, please don't rest in peace. If you take rest now, who will question this ruthless society, who will educate this ignorant world and who will rehabilitate our handicapped brains? – Krishna Vamsi

While he has a vast body of work in his mother tongue Tamil, Balachander churned out several classics in Telugu too, albeit most of them were remakes of his own original Tamil works. Films such as ‘Anthuleni Katha’, ‘47 Rojulu’, ‘Akali Rajyam’, ‘Maro Charithra’ and ‘Rudraveena’ inspired a generation of Telugu filmmakers too. Be it drifting away from the stereotypes, boldly talking about the taboos, portrayal of women, love or the middle class section’s constant clash with modernity, his films dealt with human emotions and that is the reason why Ram Gopal Varma rates him as the only true maverick and path breaking director of all time. “I learnt the basics of direction from him,” he states.

For Krishna Vamsi, Ramu’s protégée, Balachander is a bold and very creative director. “He has proved himself all his life through his decisions and executions. As a director he would have left us 15 years back, but his body left us now. Let us try to understand his ideology, pain and anger on the world of human beings. If we could understand and follow his philosophy in an all crafts of filmmaking, world and life, he will be very happy I bet,” he says, while adding, “Balachander garu, please don't rest in peace. If you take rest now, who will question this ruthless society, who will educate this ignorant world and who will rehabilitate our handicapped brains? Please come back fast!”

Tamil-Telugu filmmaker Sri Raghava thought of Balachander as someone who always valued what his juniors had done. “After watching my first film, he wrote me a long letter which I would cherish all my life. He always treated me as his son.”

It is the same love on Raghava that made Balachander, a Dadasaheb Phalke awardee, warn the former when he was indulging in stunts on a two-wheeler. “When he saw me racing on my bike one day, he grabbed my collar and made me promise I would never do it again,” he says.

Director Trivikram Srinivas says the departed soul, who was instrumental in moving the hero-centric Tamil cinema to a content-based one, redefined south Indian cinema. “He touched all dark corners of middle class with dignity and sympathy.”