A person crosses many simple places in one lifetime and barely toss the attention to any of them. When a poignant story is unearthed from such places and one restores a keen sense of sadness that’s settled on them, it is no longer a simple but effective story. It is something more than what meets the eye when it forms a connection with the listeners.
Thangar Bachan, a filmmaker in Kollywood, turns 59 years old on this 5th May. I feel it’s not an exaggeration when I say that Thangar Bachan is one of those filmmakers who has a unique signature to his stories. He bravely and constantly strives not to fit in the mainstream film grammar just to have a commercial success. He is certainly not the pioneer in propounding simple stories in an effective way. But what makes Bachan special is, his stories don’t scream of revolting. It stays as a story of one person while being the stepping stone for the people of such places. He certainly has had his downhill with his recent films Ammavin Kaipesi (2012) and Kalavaadiya Pozhuthugal (2017) which was shelved for financial reasons for a very long time and inevitably, it wasn’t refreshing when it got out. Despite lacking any commercial success in the cine business, A filmmaker like Thangar Bachan doesn’t try to change his course and only sticks to the stories that he truly care about. He is one of the filmmakers who explores his love for literature. He writes novels and short stories and adapted few of his gems to the big screen. The women in his films are generally do the heavy lifting in the story while he makes his men vulnerable during the time when the men, the heroes are only assessed how much they are immune to their weaknesses.
Looking back the best of his finest films though they were relevant to the time they were launched, they can’t be just called short-lived :
1. Azhagi (2002)
Azhagi is one of his memorable films as it gave Nandita Das to Tamil Cinema. It is Thangar’s directorial debut. Nandita Das, this versatile actor, simply stunned everyone with her remarkable performance. Parthiban and Nandita owned their roles flawlessly. Azhagi (Beautiful Woman) is based on Thangar Bachan’s short story and it is one of his critically acclaimed films. It is beautiful story that explores teen love in a remote village. The estranged lovers encounter in the urban backdrop once again after both of their lives took different turns. Adding to this melancholic film, Thangar brought Ilaiyaraja for an exceptional album. It goes without saying that it still stands the test of time.
2. Pallikoodam (2007)
Pallikoodam won Bachan Tamil Nadu state film award for the best director. It contemplates the state of the neglected schools in rural area. He seeps it thoughtfully that how the alumni of a school, who are well-made of themselves, owe to their school that lifted them up in life. Naren, Sneha and Thangar Bachan himself take the screen presence in the film. It feels like an ode, an homage to his own school life.
3. Thendral (2004)
In my Thangar Bachan’s finest list, Thendral is an undeniable film. A fangirl loves a novel writer since her teenage. She is presented with an opportunity to see him one night and misfortune follows her all life. It is a lovely portrayal of a little girl’s affection towards the writer and his writings. It’s a heartrending story even when it trickles sentimentality. Vidhyasagar scores the film with a lovely album. Adi thozhi song in lyricist Thamarai’s words still lingers with us. It is actor Parthiban’s second collaboration with the director.
4. Solla Marandha Kadhai (2002)
Cheran debuts as a fine actor in this family drama. One of the astonishing things in the way of Bachan’s filmmaking is he knows how to extract an actor from a person in front of the Camera. While SMK seeps sentimentality at every chance it gets, it balances it out with fine acting from every actors in the film, right from a little kid to the old people. He is good at amazingly adapting the scenes from paper to screen. The way, he reinstates the authenticity of a scene is commendable while the other filmmakers of his time were focused on garnering mainstream audiences. llaiyaraja’s score partly takes the credit for the seeping sadness.
5. Onbadhu Roobai Nottu (2007)
It is an yet another film to prove his genius in adaptation techniques from books to screen. This film is remembered for actor Sathyaraj’s performance. He enacts the role so precisely and leaves you with a heartbreak if you’re one fan for oozing sentimentality. It fails to attract all sorts of audiences and as said Bachan is not one to attract all of them but to confine himself with the art cinema that he knows.
6. Chidambarathil Oru Appasamy (2005)
While this one was considered as one of the annoying films for his colloquial enactment of Appasamy, the titular role, he leaves you with questions you ask when you procrastinate. Procrastination is the universal enemy. When it combines with obsession over luck, it wrecks the household. Navya Nair plays Appasamy’s wife and it is one of the underrated performances of hers. It would tug at one’s hearstrings if the one refuses to be in her shoes at least for the 2 hours of the movie.
