Balaji Tharaneetharan is a simple man. With him, what you see is definitely what you get. He doesn’t live a fast life; always making time for people and things that bring him happiness.
A sense of familiarity lingers long after I speak to him. He is quite the ‘Chennai Paiyaan’, and his influences are well in line with his personality.
“Inspiration lam onnum illanga,” he shrugs as we begin, but lists a few simple and powerful ones anyway.
1) Relatives:
“My relatives have been an integral part of my journey as a storyteller. From when I was a little boy, they’ve listened to all my stories without complaint. I realized I was a good storyteller only because of their reaction. Their consistent feedback has given me a lot of confidence in my ability as a director. They’ve always been very encouraging and they’ve been pillars of tremendous support.”
2) Ilaiyaraaja’s Songs:
“I think it’s impossible to pick just one song. I love all of Raja sir’s songs. They’re beautiful, refreshing, inspiring…. I could go on and on.”
3) Veedu and Mullum Malarum:
“Balu Mahendra and Mahendran are my favourite directors. They’ve made enormous contributions to Indian cinema, they are legends. As a child, I fell in love with Balu Mahendra sir’s Veedu and Mahendran sir’s Mullum Malarum. I honestly cannot give you a good reason why I like them, I just do. When we really love something we can never explain what it means to us or how much we love it; this is an example.”
4) Cricket:
“I love playing cricket with my gang. When we play cricket, we forget the rest of the world. It’s always fun and it is a sport that we enjoy a lot. I cannot think of life without cricket. It is definitely one among the things that keeps me going.”
5) Photography:
Image credit: Balaji Tharaneetharan’s Instagram account
“I’ve always been passionate about photography. I bought my first film camera when I was a student at the Adyar Film Institute. Since then, my love for photography has only grown. My clicks are realistic; they are the small things we see in life every day. Nature, people…whatever catches my eye, I capture. Mostly, my pictures are very candid and very real.”
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