There are times when I have a strange and uncontrollable urge to watch a good movie. I look at my long list of movies and have no mind to watch even one. I look at my DVD library in vain to find one Tamil/Hindi movie that I want to re-watch and I just cannot find one. And these are moments when even my most favourite movie in any other language (Its a wonderful life or Children of Heaven etc. for example) will simply not do.
And I go to flashback mode when DD would throw movies to us like a miser throws food to a beggar - one a week, not including the Hindi movie on Saturday and the regional snoozefest movie of the week on Sunday afternoons (which I still watched by the way!!). I have watched many many movies that would have scarred a normal person irreparably and came out unscathed (although a few others may claim to have discovered the mystery behind my weirdness finally). As a rule, DD would play movies that no person would pay a video lending library hard-earned money for. But DD did something wonderful too. It was (and probably is) the only channel that regularly screened old B&W movies. Thinking back, I think DD’s whole strategy was to make people appreciate B&W movies - Give the viewers a series of torture flicks that were not B&W until they beg for mercy and then give them a B&W movie, which at least had a story!!
I grew up with a healthy appreciation for the B&W movies, thanks to my mother, who would play old songs on radio and cassette players non-stop. I was at home last weekend, when my mom’s remote-crazy fingers finally settled on a channel. I looked up from my book to see one of my favourite movies of yesteryears called ‘Bommai’ (’The Doll’). I watched the movie again after more than 10 years and watched it with renewed appreciation for the style and the script.
It was almost like Hitchcock had made a tamil movie. The movie had a lot of novelties. For starters, it was a thriller and story happens over a period of 24 hours. None of the actors were stars and the script ruled. The movie was written and directed by the maverick director - S. Balachander, who was more popularly known as Veenai Balachander for his prowess with the Veena.
Another interesting tidbit about the music is that the movie featured a song which was sung by a beggar. The rhythm of the song is very slow and the lyrics very philosophical. The young singer who debuted in film music with this song, supposedly lamented that his career was starting off on such an unattractive note. However his career took off and he never looked back. He became one of the most popular singers in India, singing in all Southern languages and becoming quite popular in Hindi too. The singer was none other than K.J.Yesudas!!
The plot of the movie centers around a plot by a group of friends to kill their boss with a bomb hidden inside a doll. Each person in the group has a different reason to hate the boss, none of them noble. The boss, a wealthy old man, is on his way to Singapore and a few in the group have reasons to fear this trip. As a result, they plan to meet with him in the airport and hand over the doll to him, asking him to deliver it to a friend in Singapore. The paper containing the address is pasted to the back of the doll and the trigger for the bomb is attached to it. Unfortunately, they miss the doll in the taxi on their way to the airport. The taxi is then hired by a young couple who find the doll and decide to steal it to gift it to their daughter. The story follows the doll and its misadventures. Does the gang recover the doll? Does the boss get killed? These are questions answered in the end of the movie.
To say that the movie was ahead of its times would be grossly understating it. The nail-biter sequences rival classic thriller movies of all times. Cinematography was brilliant although it was a black and white movie. Songs were composed by S.B himself and are all very pleasing. I especially love the song- ‘Engo pirandavaram’ - a lovely composition in Sahana, which is a proof of S.B’s knowledge of classical music.
S.Balachander made about 4-5 movies in total, almost all of them were thrillers. I remember at least 2 others. ‘Nadu Iravil’ is another classic and was a trendsetter when it released. It was probably the first movie (and only one for a long time!) to have no songs. I remember being blown away by the way the screenplay was written, even at an age when I did not know what a screenplay was! The other is ‘Nadu Iravil’ - a thriller based loosely on the Agatha Christie mystery ‘And then there were none’ (Gumnaam was made much later).
Bommai’s uniqueness was present till the last slide showing ‘Vanakkam’. After the movie ends, SB appears on the screen and requests the audience to stay on for a few more minutes. He talks about the story and introduces the actors and all the technicians - every single one of them including the person who supplied food and tea, the lightman etc., in person. He ends with the statement - ‘And I forgot an important character in the movie’ and the camera zooms to the doll used in the movie and the slide showing ‘Vanakkam’.
Now with all the money poured in, the ’stars’ and wooden models posing as actors, money spent on advertising and media crying hoarse about how the styling of actors of an upcoming movie was done and how much was spent for a certain costume in the movie, the core of a movie - the story is lost. And the innumerable songs and dramatic style of acting notwithstanding, most B&W movies make me long for the days when story will again become the king in any movie!!
P.S: For a very interesting write-up on S.Balachander, visit this link containing a fond remembrance by his nephew:
http://v-s-gopal.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/04/the-legendary-genius-of-s-balachander-remembrance.htm
