Four unemployed young men get a chance to make a few bucks to have a complete meal that is long due. Not knowing about their situation, the friend who brought them the opportunity in the form of a role in a Stage Play tells them to finish their lunch before starting to the auditorium and waits in the living room. Young men, desperate not to lose the opportunity by any chance, pretend to act as if they are having the meal that doesn't exist, by merely passing the empty utensils around, pouring water back and forth between two glasses, praising the taste of the imaginary soups and pickles. The bored friend peeps into the kitchen through the window in the living room ending up finding out what's going on. She then takes them to her house insisting to offer lunch. Each of the young men help preparing the meal. Seconds before they get to eat it, age old, sick grand father of the friend dies. Since it is neither the tradition, not a good gesture to eat food in the house that has a dead person, they abandon the meal and start to help in the rituals. One of the four men, couldn't resist but look towards the plates filled in with fresh food, passionately, all along !
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An orthodox Brahmin father, who is also a very good karnatic classical singer and a master in rendering Bilahari ragam, is angry at his liberal son for attempting to simplify the complex karnatic music for the illiterates. On the other hand, he grows affection for one of his obedient students. The student and the daughter of the old man fall in love and the old man agrees for their marriage. A concert is arranged at the wedding venue for the old man to sing karnatic classical in Bilahari tune. Right before the wedding, the student, to take grudge on the old man against a past insult, asks the old man for dowry. When asks what he wants, he tells the old man to sacrifice 'Bilahari' tune for him, for life. Old man's son performs the concert, while the old man is shedding tears !
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A young woman, the only bread winner of her large family feels ecstasy when she finds out that her father who abandoned the family several years ago to become a saint, finally returned to home. She tells her boy friend that the responsibility is off of her shoulders now and that she is ready to get married with him. But when she hears form her father that he is not planning to stay back, but only paying a visit, taking a short detour in his cross country spiritual tour, she agitates and tells her father to 'get out' of the house. Her mother and siblings say that she is arrogant and disrespectful !
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These are just a few samples of a long list of scenes from the movies of K Balachandar that touched my heart, and bogged my mind. There probably isn't any other filmmaker who wrote and directed characters and movies that were a perfect reflection of life in India of his times, particularly touching the subject of objectivism, poverty, unemployment etc. Since KB turned inactive, our film fraternity not only missed a Filmmaker who made several timeless masterpieces but also a mentor that brought the best out of the actors and stars like the Kamal Hasan and the Rajini Kanth. That might be the reason why, even after three decades, we don't see a star as megalomaniac as Rajini or an actor as top class as Kamal, who could sustain the test of the time.
Remembering and missing KB... !
