He has just won one of the highest honours in the land in his field, but apart from a telltale happy glow to his face, director Balaji Sakthivel is just as normal and unassuming as ever. The man, who made the acclaimed film Kadhal, which is remembered by one and all even today, has proved yet again that the spark is still shining bright within him. With his Vazhakku Enn 18/9 bagging the National Award for the Best Regional Film, Balaji has every reason to heave a sigh of contentment.
But he is eager to share his success with his producer and those who believed in him. Says Balaji, “A film like this would not have been possible without the complete freedom given by the producers, Thirupathy Brothers. They have a big hand in the recognition that has come to me today. I thank my mentor director Shankar, who produced Kadhal. His words ‘express yourself clearly and simply on screen’ still ring in my mind. I wanted to make a film that is equally understood by the layman as well the intellectual. And receiving such an honour was totally unexpected. But then, ‘expect the unexpected’ is the motto I live by.” Vazhakku Enn... won an award at the South Asian Film Festival in Paris this year and also at the Chennai International Film Festival.
Speaking about the film, producer Lingusamy recalls, “I had a good feeling about this film right from the start. Once I was watching an early version of it with my mother, and I remember I felt that we were onto something really big and different. For me, it had the same hidden spark as Mother India or Slumdog Millionaire even back then.” The producer is really proud that his close friend has won the award. Says Lingusamy, “It has been seven years since we started producing films. It’s a great honour one of our productions has won a National Award for the first time.”
Cinematographer Vijay Milton, who has a long-standing relationship with Balaji, recalls, “We worked together in Kadhal as well. In Kadhal he asked me not to use any artificial lights. In Vazhakku Enn..., he asked me to try something different once again. I thought over it a lot and came up with the idea not to use a standard camera at all. So we shot the entire film with Canon 5D, a 21 mega pixel still camera with video facility.” Milton listed out the pros and cons of such a move and the sought to overcome the defects of using such a technology. The results were extremely satisfactory. Recalls Milton, “We felt liberated with such a small camera. We could keep it anywhere between the artistes as it didn’t need a stand. So we could record their natural behaviour and movement, lending greater creditability to the nature of the story. For instance, by fitting a body camera to actor Shree, we were able to credibly convey the experience of feeling famished as he faints and falls to the ground. The way the shots were composed and formatted in rectangular and square effects also conveyed the four different angles of the story, namely, the flat, the platform, the police station and encounters between the boy and the girl.”
Working with Balaji was exhilarating for Milton. He says, “Balaji creates the film in his mind. When he shoots, he’s merely re-creating it on celluloid. So if its even 5 per cent less than what he has conceived, it will plague him. I would act like a bridge between the actors and the director since I have become familiar with his style of working. Balaji is like a matchbox. If we are the matchsticks, that’s enough for him. He can ignite our talent and take it to the next level. He knows how to bring out the best from his actors and technicians. Once we are on the sets, nothing matters except getting the shot right. The frustrations and arguments are forgotten by sunset and we are one big family with the film as our sole focus. That’s the secret of his success!”