Express News Service
Stories about girls aren’t any novelty to Tamil cinema. Did you already know we had our first feminine director, TP Rajalakshmi, within the yr 1936? But to chart the course of women-centric cinema in Tamil could be unimaginable with out mentioning the movies of K Balachander. KB, as he’s fondly known as, is usually remembered for introducing two superstars (Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth) to Tamil cinema, however the director’s true legacy was his model of women-centric cinema and its firebrand feminine leads. KB girls had been hardly ever excellent, however they had been actual.
In his Kalyana Agathigal, there’s a line that claims, “Happy women won’t create history.” It nearly looks like KB took this too significantly to coronary heart. His girls had been headstrong, fiercely impartial however they had been additionally cynics, who harboured a sure acidity in direction of the society which had repeatedly crushed their expectations. Often, his girls had been educated, they usually wielded this training to struggle their warfare towards patriarchal dogma. Their lives had been recognized with their relentless struggles towards a society that refused to deal with them on par with its males.
The most refreshing facet of the director’s girls characters is how most of them had no meekness, a top quality related to main women in the course of the time. Independence of girls was a recurrent theme. They shied away from marriage, selecting to go away relationships they didn’t appear match. They might need not had the normal fortunately-ever-afters, however discovered solace of their independence and company. They swore, and spoke about intercourse and need. They additionally didn’t draw back from elevating their voices, even their palms if want be. In Kalyana Agathigal, Ammulu slaps her mom-in-regulation when requested for dowry (Rs 5,000 for her dusky pores and skin, Rs 5,000 for being plump, and one other Rs 5,000 for her top). Not to say, the movie additionally touches on marital rape.
In Achamillai Achamillai, Thenmozhi spots the corpse of a lady who’s a sufferer of an honour killing. She is enraged, however she doesn’t simply sit round wailing ready for different individuals to return. She lifts the corpse herself, taking it to the household. I needed to remind myself that these had been movies made within the 1980s. A serious criticism KB confronted was that his movies invariably had the texture of a stage-drama. While the director’s model wasn’t as slick or lifelike like that of Balu Mahendra or Mahendran, he actually created a number of highly effective visible moments along with his staging and blocking.
In Achamillai Achamillai, he selected to have a single-revolving lengthy take of Saritha for round three minutes, simply focussing on her reactions with audio overlay. The shot took a complete day to be filmed and used 400 ft of movie (a complete journal, in movie parlance). Music is one other robust weapon within the KB arsenal. Remember how ‘Adhisaya Ragam’ (from the director’s personal Aboorva Raagangal) will get utilized in 47 Naatkal? Stuck in a overseas land with an abusive husband, not realizing the language, that track seems to be her solely probability of hope for assist. And years later, now, I can nonetheless bear in mind the surge of reduction that second created. KB would have turned 90 this week, and the shadow of his filmography looms giant every time I consider girls illustration in Tamil cinema. Most of what we take into account daring now, was already executed within the 70s and 80s by filmmakers like KB, Balu Mahendra, Mahendran and Rudhraiya. It is inconceivable to understand the gaps in illustration immediately. From such wealthy portrayal of girls, how did our girls get decreased to arm sweet, to instruments that provide dramatic reduction ?