When his first feature film, Naduvula Konjam Pakatha KanomStarring Vijay Sethupathi, released in 2012, it became a comedy cult classic that is still talked about today.
Director Balaji Tharnidharan struck up a friendship with Vijay Sethupathi during the making of the film, and the relationship continued over the years, with the Tamil star now seen in his new film, bath. Produced by renowned filmmaker Atlee, bath has received acclaim from both audiences and critics.
In this exclusive chat with NDTV, Balaji Tharnidharan talks about being drawn to the story of a gangster and a young lad, working with Vijay Sethupathi again and again.
The fear of a gangster is a familiar trope in Tamil cinema, but bath turns this idea on its head by introducing a scared gangster who himself experiences fear. This role reversal is at the heart of Balaji Tharnidharan’s film. Speaking about his approach, the director said, “I wanted to tell the story of a gangster.bath) without glorifying violence or turning him into a larger-than-life hero. It’s a gray or dark area and apart from being about gangster power, I wanted to explore the anger, ego, insecurity and fear that often accompany such a life.”
The story is next bath (Vijay Sethupathi) a gangster who inadvertently locks a young boy in the school toilet when the school is closed during summer vacation. What follows is an unlikely relationship between the feared gangster and the boy, which gradually upsets and ultimately transforms the power equation. bath.
“I wanted to tell the story of a gangster (bath) without glorifying violence or turning him into a larger-than-life hero. It’s a gray or dark area and apart from being about gangster power, I wanted to explore the anger, ego, insecurity and fear that often accompany such a life,” he said.
Recalling an incident from his childhood, Balaji explains how the idea came about. “When I was a small boy in school in Triplicane (Chennai), I remember throwing a kite stone, and it landed on a small shop. The shopkeeper threatened me. What stayed with me from that incident was the fear of the shopkeeper and the incident played in my mind. I then elaborated on that line. bathWhere the young man runs away from school in fear of the gangster bath Locked inside the toilet,” he added.
“I didn’t want to make it a traditional gangster action film but wanted it to be a drama.”
The toilet eventually becomes a prison – and even a psychiatric one – for bathWhich remains trapped inside for several days. “Even though he doesn’t go to prison, it’s like a prison. He can’t come out because he’s trapped inside. He has to think about his life and how he treated his wife and child. He goes on an inner journey, and that gives us an understanding of why. bath Became a gangster. Then the most interesting relationship becomes not between the gangster and his rivals, but between him and the young boy who is afraid of him. bath Can face another riot, but how will he face an innocent boy?”
bath The ending depends heavily on emotion, but Balaji says it wasn’t a conscious decision. Instead, it developed organically as he was writing the script. The same was true of his decision to set the story in the 1980s.
“I love the 1980s – it was a world without mobile phones. I wanted that world because it also connects to my childhood. Vijay Sethupathi spent a lot of time understanding the character and his world, and he played. bath In a way that was deliberately different from his previous roles. I am happy that the audience has loved the film,” he says with a smile.
Ask the director what he considers his biggest challenge today, and his answer is simple: “Me.”
“It’s not about budget, stars or release strategies. The biggest challenge is my internal struggle. The first challenge as a writer is discipline. You need discipline to write. You have to write with determination and write a story that you enjoy watching on screen. Don’t write a story that you think the audience will like – if you don’t like it as a writer, it’s a good story if it reaches the audience. If so, that’s good story stuff.”
The conversation then proceeds bath For the larger question of writing in Tamil cinema. Unlike industries like Malayalam cinema, where writers and directors often work as separate creative forces, Tamil cinema has traditionally seen directors write and direct their own films. Does Tamil cinema need more writers today?
“Yes, it is good to have a place for writers and I think Tamil cinema also needs it. We had many dedicated writers earlier when the studio system existed in Tamil cinema. But when a director writes his own story, he is more personally attached to it. So many directors choose to write their own stories. If you look at director Akira Kurosawa’s films along with another writer’s name, you will find his writer’s name. In the industry writer,” he concluded.
Also read: Bathatha