CHENNAI: Aspiring filmmakers and ardent fans of the ‘KB’ style of filmmaking will be able to learn and pay homage to his greatness at his ‘writing’ room. Very soon, the room where he penned most of his scripts and worked out of for several decades will be turned into a film library and museum of sorts, to help young directors draw inspiration.
To ensure the legacy of late veteran director K Balachander doesn’t get lost in the sands of time, his daughter Pushpa Kandasamy has decided to begin the K Balachander Trust on his birth anniversary, that falls on July 9. KB passed away last December after a prolonged illness and the entire industry mourned the loss.
Balachander, whose body of work spanned several forms of media, was ,critically and commercially hailed as one of the best filmmakers of his time in Tamil and Indian cinema.
Most of his work that initially dealt with actors like MGR, hit its zenith with his work with the men who would go on to rule Tamil filmdom — Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan. “All his films will be digitized and kept here in the room where the work was born,” says Pushpa, busily gearing up the programme on Thursday, which will be spearheaded by none other than Kamal Haasan.
“Appa’s work is still in the form of written scripts, manuscripts, several awards and many, many documents which we will categorise and display very soon. This will completely help young directors to come and take a look into his world and probably get a little glimpse into his school of filmmaking,” she adds.
Another thing for KB fans to look forward to is that the KB anthem that has been penned by Vairamuthu as a tribute to the Thillu Mullu director. “From now on, whenever there is a programme that deals with him, this is the song that will be played. It is a beautiful piece of work and will be as synonymous to people as the Valluvar picture is to Kavithalaaya’s image,” she says.
On July 9, there will be a screening of KB’s last acting stint — Kamal Haasan’s Uttama Villain — and several other cultural programmes that celebrate the recently deceased genius. There will also be awards given every year to stalwarts in theatre, cinema and TV, who embody the principles that he worked to establish. “There is also a grant that has been started to help the children of people in the cinema industry who wish to pursue higher education. It doesn’t matter what stream of education they want to pursue, we will help them get there.
Appa always spoke about how important education was to people, especially children of those in the industry. We will make this larger and larger every year,” she adds.
K Balachander Trust will be launched tomorrow at TN Rajarathinam Pillai Muthamizh Peravai Hall, R A Puram, at 6.30 pm.
In Memory of a Legend