January 2nd, 2009
“I have come here as a fan of Bala and I would like to say that he is one director who can join the list of greats such as K. Balachander, Bharathiraja and Balu Mahendra,” said Mani Rathnam.The eminent director was speaking at the audio launch of Bala’s ‘Naan Kadavul’, held on New Year’s Eve at Chennai.
Actors Vikram and Suriya, both of whom got the biggest breaks in their careers with the Bala films, ‘Sethu’ and ‘Nanda’ respectively, were present at the function. The former released the audio cassettes and CDs by presenting them to the latter.
Speaking at the event, Suriya came down heavily on those criticising the director for the delay in releasing the film and said, “Many say that the film won’t release on Deepavali or Pongal...the film is neither a set of crackers nor a bunch of sugarcanes to be released on the above-said dates. Those who are aware of Bala Annan’s work culture know how well he would make his product and the film will be released only when he wishes to”.
Vikram said that as one who knew of Bala’s range and skills, it was no wonder to him that the trailer was mind-boggling. He added that Suriya’s passion to explore new roles was the direct fallout of his association with Bala.
Vikram and Suriya had to make quite an effort to bring Bala, who was sitting among the audience, up on stage. Bala just said, “Thanks everybody for coming here for the launch”. Not a word more!
Lyricist Vaali, director Balu Mahendra, Tamil Film Producers Council president Ramanarayanan and the lead artists in the film, Arya and Pooja, attended the function.
Meanwhile, ‘Naan Kadavul’ has been granted ‘U/A’ certificate by the Censor Board. To ensure that his film stays in the reckoning for the International Film Festivals and the National Awards for the year 2008, Bala sent his film to the Censor Board on 31st December.
The film may not be released on Pongal Day as was believed and in all likelihood, will only be releasing on 29th January.
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