Accent on accent

REMEMBER KAMAL Hassan's impeccable diction as Soman, a Jaffna Tamil, in the recent film, "Tenali"? The man responsible for that is the Canada-based Sri Lankan Tamil, K. S. Balachandran.

It was Balachandran's audio cassettes that helped the actor perfect his accent. In fact, after completing his shooting schedule, Kamal Hassan went on a trip to Canada and met Balachandran.

It was quite an interesting meeting, as Balachandran recalls, "Kamal Hassan did not recognise me at first. I was asked to interview him for the Canadian Tamil Television. During the interview, Kamal mentioned the tapes and how useful they proved. Actually the photograph on the cassette cover was a younger version of me. Also when Kamal met me I was sporting a beard. When he realised who I was, he was surprised. It was indeed a pleasant meeting".

The Tamil screen's matinee icon also mentioned about Balachandran's cassettes, during the recent silver jubilee celebrations of the film. Kamal Hassan is quoted to have said, "I had asked B. H. Abdul Hameed for help regarding the accent. He presented me with "Vathiyarr Veettil". I played them over and over again and thus prepared for Soman, my character in the film".

Balachandran is no stranger to the world of cinema and theatre. An actor and a writer himself, his recent mono act play, "Annai Right" created a record of sorts, with over 1,000 performances in Sri Lanka, the U.S and Canada.

Balachandran wrote his first skit for Radio Ceylon in 1970, with a little help from drama producer Shanmuganathan. After that there was no looking back for him. More skits followed - "Manathappu", "Kuthugalam", "Kathambam". Then he graduated to radio plays with "Tirumangal Sorgathil Nichyikkappadukinrana". But the turning point of his literary career was the serial, "Kiramaththu Kanavugal".

He says, "In 1989, my friend and actor S. Ramadas asked me to write a serial, which was broadcast on Radio Sri Lanka. And for the first time, audio cassettes of the same were released. Meanwhile, I wrote a comedy, "Vathiyar Veettil" for the Tamil National Service of Sri Lanka, which became a huge success." These were the cassettes that found their way to Kamal Hassan. And the rest is history...

Besides writing and acting, Balachandran also dabbled with some satirical sketching for the "Chiththiran" magazine. He has written the screenplay for six tele-films (including "Uyire Uyire" and "Nenjankal") and 15 stage plays. Balachandran is currently working on publishing his first novel, "Karaiyai thedum Kattumarankal".

M.L NARASIMHAM

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