40 Years Of Moondram Pirai — Balu Mahendra, Kamal Haasan, Sridevi & Ilaiyaraaja's classic film

Moondram Pirai, which turns 40 today, not only fetched Kamal his first Best Actor National Award, but is also a touchstone in the careers of the late Sridevi and Balu Mahendra. Producer TG Thyagarajan, for whom the film marked his debut production, looks back on its making and its legacy...
'Moondram Pirai came my way, thanks to Mani Ratnam'
Mani Ratnam is my childhood friend. His father Rathnam Iyer, my father Venus Pictures Govindharajan, and Venus Krishnnamoorthy were partners in Venus Movies, which was a pioneer distributor of Tamil movies in Karnataka.He used to discuss stories with me then. I was looking after my father-in-law RM Veerappan's Sathya Movies, which was doing commercial movies at that time, and I wanted to set up a production house of my own that made slightly offbeat films. That's how Sathya Jyothi Films was formed. One day, Mani called and said that he wanted to introduce Balu Mahendra, who was his cinematographer for Pallavi Anupallavi, to me, saying that he had a great script and felt I would be the right person for it.
Balu came to my house and narrated the script to me and my father, who instantly liked it. He told me that the film will do well like Kalyana Parisu and asked me to proceed without any worry.
'Kamal brought Sridevi on board'
When we started discussing the casting, Balu sir suggested Kamal would do excellent work. I had known Kamal earlier as Mani and I used to meet him at his Alwarpet house and be part of the film discussions that used to happen there. I took Balu sir there and Kamal really liked the script. He said that we needed a strong heroine and suggested Sridevi's name, saying that even though she was doing commercial films then, she was a tremendous actress. He himself dialled Sridevi's mother and told her that they should listen to this script. And so, we went to Sridevi's house, where she and her parents listened to the script.
Balu sir wanted someone who was sexy and at the same time a rustic beauty. That's how we went for Silk Smitha. Poornam Viswanathan was doing a particular type of character roles then, so he was initially hesitant to do the film, but Balu sir convinced him eventually.
As for the music, he said he couldn't think of anyone else other than Ilaiyaraaja sir. I met Raaja sir for the first time when we went to narrate the script.
'Balu sir gave me a bound script before the shoot'
Once the project was finalised, Balu sir said he needed one month's time to have the complete script ready. He asked me to put a room in a hotel, stayed there for a few days and brought the full script to me, which was not a practice at that time.
He worked out on a budget along with production manager Govind. The budget came to Rs 33 lakh. In addition to the script, Balu sir had drawn up the entire shooting schedule so perfectly. For me, as someone producing his first film, it not only made things easy but also became a learning experience.
We shot the interior scenes in Bangalore. Then, we shifted to Ooty, where we shot the rest of the film.
'Kamal was totally committed to the role'
Balu sir, Kamal and Sridevi bonded well and became a team. They would discuss and improvise the scenes on the spot. Kamal knew that Sridevi was outperforming him in the scenes where she had to act like a child. But he gave her the room for it and then made the climax his own. There is a minor fight his character has with the character played by Natraj. Kamal and Balu sir told the stunt master that it shouldn't look like a regular movie fight, but like a street brawl. The location was next to a stream where the local farmers used to wash vegetables. So, the water used to be slushy and smell bad. We told Kamal sir not to fall into it, but Kamal sir felt that would only make the scene natural and both he and Natraj fell into it as part of the stunt. We did not have caravans then. After the shot was done, he cleaned up near that spot itself in that cold weather, changed his costumes in a Bedford van and moved on to the next scene. Even in the climax, he chose to get hit by a vehicle. That's the kind of commitment he had.
'Kamal worked out to look good in Ponmeni Uruguthey'
Kamal wanted to be fit in the film, and look especially good in the song Ponmeni Uruguthey. After the shoot, Kamal and I used to jog for a long distance. And after our return to the hotel, he'd go and work out to get that sculpted physique as he wanted to look his best. We fixed Sundaram master for that song, and we had rehearsals for one week for that one song in Chennai. Silk Smitha was not a trained dancer, but Sundaram master made her work hard to ensure the steps were good.
For this song, Balu sir did not want to shoot in a flat light. He'd shoot it in the early morning, from 6am to 8am, then we'd take a break, and then, we'd assemble again by 4.30pm, and then shoot from 5pm to 7pm, as the sun was setting. He still managed to finish the song in five days. The result was phenomenal.
'Balu Mahendra, a magician with the camera'
As a DoP, Balu sir was a genius. We were staying at the Savoy hotel. We had managed to get permission to shoot the climax at Kethi railway station. Since Kamal and Sridevi were busy stars then, we had to shoot the sequence in five days. The day before we were to start shooting, the sky looked a bit cloudy. I was worried as we had a short window to shoot and the weather looked ominous. The next morning, when I woke up, there was a heavy drizzle, with mist and cloud, so I went back to sleep. Suddenly, the production manager knocked at my door saying that Balu sir wanted to speak to me. I met him outside and Balu sir asked me if I was worried. I told him yes. He told me that he wanted to shoot in that weather. And so, we started shooting. But I was concerned if the output would look good as it was quite overcast. So, after we had shot two rolls, I gave them to a production person, gave him a car key andf told him to drive to Chennai, get them developed right away at Prasad Lab, and ask the colourist to speak to me directly. The next morning, Ponnaiyan, the colourist, called me. I still remember his words: 'Sir, extraordinary-a irukku, sir!' That's when I realised the prodigious talent of Balu sir.
'Everyone was moved after the final shot'
On the last day, we filmed the last few shots. The shot in which Kamal hit on a pole while walking alongside the train was not planned. Kamal had decided to do it in the middle of the shot. These days, we have many facilities to shoot from inside a train. But at that time, Balu sir was standing on the steps on the train with a rope tied around his waist and a few of us holding it from the inside to prevent him from falling down. Despite being in such a precarious position, he managed to get the shot of Kamal hitting on the pole and falling down. There was never a second take for that shot.
In the final shot, Kamal would walk slowly and go and sit on a bench, and the camera would go up via a crane and catch him from above. Even though the shot was done, both Kamal and Balu sir, who was on the crane, did not get up from their positions for a while. A minute later, the entire unit started clapping and that is when they both moved. Once the crane came down, they both hugged each other. It was a wonderful moment.
'Kannadasan took just 10 minutes to pen Kanne Kalaimaane'
After Balu sir narrated the Kanne Kalaimaane song situation to Ilaiyaraaja sir, the composer came up with a tune. We all instantly liked it. Both suggested that Kavignar Kannadasan would be the right person to write it, but Raaja sir said that he was unwell and was planning to go back to his native. I took a chance and asked my father, as he was friends with Kannadasan for many years, to meet him and request on our behalf. Though he initially tried to excuse himself, Kavignar came to the recording at last, just a couple of days before he left for his hometown. We all were sitting on the floor while he sat on a chair. Raaja sir played the tune. Kavignar would have taken at most 10 minutes. After that, he called his assistant and told him to write down the lines, which flowed from him like water from a stream. He gave us four options for the pallavi and we all loved Kanne Kalaimaane the best and froze it. For the charanam, he gave us so many options and asked us to pick and choose whatever we liked and left.
The indoor portion of the song was shot in just two days. Balu would shoot the exterior portions while we were moving from one location to another. He'd spot some interesting backdrop and we'd stop there and shoot. He'd shoot the montage shots for both Kanne Kalaimaane and Poongaatru Pudhithaanadhu simultaneously.
'Raaja sir's feedback'
After Raaja sir saw the footage, I could see that he liked the film, though he did not tell that right then. Later, he called me and asked me to come to his home on Usman Road. He told me that the film had impacted him and that Balu had given him a lot of work to do. The only suggestion he had was that he felt the film needed a little trimming and requested me to convince Balu to do that. Balu sir agreed. After the day's recording was done, Raaja sir used to take audio tapes of the score to listen to in the car while leaving the studio.
'Distributors were doubtful, but the audience embraced the film'
We screened the film for the distributors who had bought the film at AVM Mena Hall. After the film ended, a few distributors came out and they were not happy. It was a time when commercial films were doing well, so they were doubtful how this one would do. A senior producer told us, "Enna padam eduthirukeenga, naan eduthurundha idhu interval-ku kooda pathaadhu'. Both Kamal and I were shocked. But one distributor came up to us and said, 'Commercial pathi ellaam therila but padam romba enna baadhichiduchu. Andha Ponmeni Urugethey song-a mattum innum oru 100 ft extend pannunga.' Still, we realised that the film was impacting the audience because the family audience who came out praised the film. That gave us confidence.
Since Kamal had an audience, we managed to get a crowd on the first day. But since it was a slow-moving film, business on the second day was only OK. The third day was better. Monday was also just OK. Tuesday was when all the reviews came out in the press and they were phenomenal. And then, the film picked up. All those who said they did not want the film came back and bought it from me. Not only that, it was a silver jubilee hit in many centres. In Subam (in Chennai), it ran for more than a year.
'Now, I want the current generation to experience the film'
I managed to get a copy and have restored the film. The DI and sound mixing works are currently underway. I'm planning to re-release the film, at least in the main centres, as I want the current generation to experience the film. For a first film, it did well, got me money, and got good recognition at the national and state level.