K.BALACHANDER

Auteur Theory in the Films of K.Balachander

Dr.D.Nivedhitha 

This study is about the portrayal of working women in the films of K.Balachander. The filmmaker K.Balachander recently received Dada Sahib Phalke Award. He has produced and directed many Tamil films on diverse plot pattern like romance, triangle pattern, sacrifice pattern, return pattern, conversion pattern, vengeance pattern, success pattern and family pattern. K.Balachander has his own unique style of filmmaking. Most of his stories are based on middle class family and their struggle. Songs in his films establishes the situation, character, mood and tone of the film. He uses Symbolisms to convey certain subtle emotions and values. In most of his films, he has portrayed woman as educated, intelligent and working. They are capable of solving many social and family problems but implicitly they are pseudo-emancipated woman.

In France (1920s) the filmmaker is the author of the film even if the writer is different. Sometimes the filmmaker will also write the script. Hayward (2004) says that ‘the Politique des auteurs’ was a polemic initiated by the Cahiers group, the term auteur refers to a filmmaker’s discernable style through the filmmaking practices where the Director’s signature was as much in evidence on the script/scenario as it was on the product itself.

Signature of K.Balachander

The signature of K.Balachander is Joint family, middle class people who care for the convention and tradition, housewives who are guaranteed with family life, unemployment and sacrificing of working woman who fail in private life, working women are suspected on virginity and chastity, encouraging polygamy for men and a complex family relation as web that is contrived and melodramatic.

Working Women‘s Gendered Profession

In the film ‘Iru Kodugal, Janaki, the female protagonist is a collector, ‘Bama Vijayum’ four female protagonist, three are irresponsible daughter-in-laws and one is a film star, ‘Aval Oru Thodar Kadhai’- Kavitha is a officegoer, in Kalki, Kalki is an advertisement person, ‘Manathil Uruthi Vendum’ Nandhini is a nurse, ‘Arangetrum’ Lalitha is a typist later becomes a sex worker, Apoorva Raagangal’ Bhairavi is a karnatic musician, ‘Velli Vizhaa’the female protagonist is a teacher, ‘Kalyana Agathigal’ four female protagonists take up different jobs and as part time they have a music troupe, ‘Moondru Mudichi’ Selvi is a ward, Avargal’Anu is a office goer,’, ‘Sindhu Bhairavi’-Sindhu is a music teacher,  ‘Oru Veedu Iru Vaasal’two female protagonist- one is a homemaker and the other one is a junior artist in film Industry, ‘Paarthale Paravasum’ Simmi is a office goer. All homemakers though they struggle they live a comfortable marital life but in all those above mentioned films the women at work is not having a successful marital life. Gender has a socio-cultural origin that is ideological in purpose and must be seen as quite distinct from the notions of biological sex and sexuality, says Hayward (2004).

Woman – The Family Head

Letting woman the family head leads to problematic is the problem of K.Balachander.  In the film ‘Arangetrum’ (the debut) typist Lalitha becomes a sex worker when she becomes unable to lead her large family. Later when she settles in married life with one who knows her passed life the director doesn’t recognize her. Issuing the head position of the family to a girl leads malpractice is the concept of the director. Kavitha of ‘Aval oru thodarkathai’ (she is a serialized story), is a stenographer, shoulders her family, sacrifices her lover for her widow sister, her would be for her another sister on the very day of her wedding, and continues to work for caring her family which is without a head. If the breadwinner gets married she cannot look after her family is the conclusion of the story. In other word she has to leave every thing and run behind her husband. Instead being spinster and heading the family is the right solution to a woman.  This is the moral said in the above story. Nurse Nandhini of ‘Manthil Urudhi Vendum’ is never awarded family life, for she had two marital lives and divorce.

Men’s Polygamy

Gender is all culture and not nature; the only aspect of gender is sexual differentiation. Gender refers to the sexual category of an individual, masculine, or feminine, and to behavioral traits connected with each category, says Berger. Whenever a bride is seen as a match for a groom, the important expectation from the groom is less in age, height, education, and the salary of she receives. Woman should be less in all the ways other than attraction. Janaki of Iru Kodugal who was once married to Ganesan, not accepted by her husband’s family starts to live independently and becomes collector and posted in the office where her husband works as a clerk. After he is separated from Janaki he gets married to Jayanthi and now with two children he struggles to maintain his family. Heavy clash happens between the first and the second wife, but the story comes to the conclusion of sending the workingwoman Janaki abroad as a simple solution of men’s polygamy. There was nothing to do with man who practiced polygamy. Educated woman was sent out of the country like excommunicating, and the housewife is protected. Sindhu the music teacher lives alone, for falling in love with a married man. Sindhu makes JKB’s family in tact and gifts her child to the barren Bhairavi who is the wife of her lover singer JKB; and converts her illegitimate child into legitimate child. Dependent wife is always awarded with security. In most of his films workingwoman is sentenced with a lonely life, and a homemaker is saved and made to live with her husband. In structuring his screenplay he gives economical and moral support to the homemakers. All his housewives are good and innocent, but dependent. So it is mandatory for a wife to live with her husband. This thought is again and again repeated in most of his films

Women With a Handbag

Woman with a handbag is a sign of financial independence. But in India the handbag belongs to woman but the money that is inside what she earned belongs to her man. In reality, workingwomen of India are exploited. Stenographer Kavitha, typist Lalitha, nurse Nandhini, they all have family burdens and their handbags are emptied for her family. Kavitha’s drunken irresponsible brother calls her bitch when she refuses to give him money. Lalitha being a sex professional raised all her brothers and sisters was always empty handed. The family of Nandhini with a big list to spend always exploits Nandhini.

In search of Third Space

Those women’s who has lost their space in private sphere, fighting to get space in public sphere (33% job opportunity) and struggle in a hybrid sphere which is the effect of post colonialism.

Pseudo Emancipated Heroines

K.Balachander has portrayed woman as educated, intelligent and working. They are capable of solving many social and family problems but implicitly they are pseudo-emancipated woman. Several sociologists attacked on the film’s blindness to the ideology it presents, especially on women’s norms and status. The man reins the film vision and also appears as the agent of authority. Two types of female protagonists are portrayed in the film world, one is virgin and the other is whore.  But in most of the K.Balachander’s films working women who lose their virginity either by sexual assault or by molestation or by having extra marital life, or premarital life, or a lonely life (divorcee) is devoid of legal marital life. As Frantz Fanon says the effect of post colonialism is English education and English way of living. So there is always a conflict between Western thought and Eastern thought. Working woman is always viewed from western centric view point. More over lack of in-depth knowledge in understanding different cultures leads to socio cultural ruptures. Female is considered lower than male in India. Which gives many meaning like she is fit only for the domestic sphere or the private sphere. She can do only certain jobs (teacher the ultimate), stenographer, nurse, clerical jobs, computer software persons, lawyer, etc, which belong to indoor public sphere.  Sales representative, drivers, film productions, stage artist, (dancers) belong to outdoor public sphere. Workingwomen those are involved in outdoor working sphere as well as indoor working sphere find sexual challenges and harassment in being a workingwoman. K.Balachander proves the above statement and in his view being working woman is the sickness to the society or being outsider is ideal for a workingwoman.

Complex Family Relation

Apoorva Raagam- Bhairavi due to pre marital has a daughter and she hides the fact and brings up her own daughter as an adopted child. One day the daughter finds the truth and leaves the family dejectedly. She falls in love with an elderly person who survives with a rude son. This rude son of that elderly person loves Bhairavi the mother of the dejected girl and she also reciprocates. This entanglement is romances of significant age disparity. It is nothing but two insecured persons, a mother and her daughter find secured in opposite sex; who are men the patriarchal structure. Duet is a triangle love story with a complicated subplot of the protagonist father’s second relationship with a woman. Manathil Urudhi Vendum, Nandhini’s burden is doubled due to her father’s second relationship with a woman. Punnagaimannan is a love story, but it is a love lost and love gained pattern, with the protagonist father having a second relation. The main plot of the film ‘vaname ellai’ is about few dejected youngsters decide and join together for committing suicide for their various failures they faced in the society. In that a young couple decide to commit suicide because of the reason that the boys widower father and the girl’s widow mother get married to each other to stop the marriage of the their own children. This sub plot deviates away from the main story. And this kind of treatment is very abnormal to Tamil Culture and also very illogical, contrived and melodramatic in its approach. Sindhu Bhairavi-Both Sindhu and her mother have premarital sex but the mother gets married to a Judge after leaving her illegitimate child in the orphan. In the film Arangetram, the lover of Lalitha finds her in a prostitution place. Paarthale paravasam, Madhava is a doctor. He marries Simi but a revelation about his past separates them and takes them as far as divorce. They remain friends though, even going so far as to fix up each other's second marriages. That becomes a flop and again they get married after a good understanding. Avargal is a concept of three boys and a girl, a lover, a husband and a friend. It is like water, everywhere not a drop to drink. Moondru Mudichi-Prasath and Balaji are room-mates, Prasath loves Selvi openly and Balaji loves her secretly. Selvi suspects Balaji’s attitude and tells it to Prasath. But Prasath doesn’t believe her. One day when all this three go for boating accidentally Prasanth falls into the water and drowns, Balaji who new swimming did not save him. Later Balaji proposes her, Selvi in an act of taking revenge gets married to Balaji’s father who is widower.

Postcolonial Effect

The Britishers from 1858 to 1947 ruled India, the effect of it sustains between the British shadowed society and Indian Culture. Cultural war between the Indian Culture and British Culture constantly persists in India. The cultural and social imbalance has happened among the people who had the opportunity to work very closely with the Britishers in their office. This tradition extends even today. Indian traditional dresses flew away. Even till last decade all Indian females identified the pyjama as an alternate to western pant. To day the globalism changes every thing in to one. But K. Balachaner was maintaining the post colonial effects on female to identify them the outsider.ven after the Indian independence, most of the high-class people who were influenced by colonial thoughts and action have started to ape the Whites way of living and thinking. Almost all his films dialogue will carry English words using figure of speeches and punning on words. A very famous dialogue between the husband and wife in the office in Irukodugal, life and file will be pinned on while talking serious matters. This is well established in his films, either the people who support the English way of living is criticised or Indian culture is over emphasized. In both the ways, the emphasize on caring and growing the cultural deeds are made to be held in the hands of women.

Findings

K. Balachander has made more than hundred films, after studying the whole body of his work, most of his films deal with complicated human relations and contrived and melodramatic situation which are unimaginable and illogical with heavy character flaw. Indian women is caught in complicated web of patriarchal world, be it culture, society, politics and religion The woman with a handbag, hair bun and lipstick, is always an object of criticism. Modernity is not very easily accepted in Indian culture and it is always criticized in the private sphere and encouraged in public sphere. Always the women are caught in between these two spheres. Workingwomen are suspected and housewives are hailed. Sacrifice is forced only on woman. Though workingwomen are hailed, hypocritically they are made isolated from their family life. Polygamy is encouraged for men .The works of Balachandar appears to be a state of confusion.

Suggestion

Woman with a handbag, hair bun and lipstick are not the sign of liberation. Being bold in having illicit relationship is not the real boldness. Throwing away the formalities of the society is not maturity. The concept of liberation should be looked at different angles. The films that discourage the woman employment are to be banned, because it is a criminal offence to corrupt the mentality of the audience. Film is a very powerful audiovisual medium, which should not be misused. The horrible part is those films are awarded by the Government. Film literacy is seriously required for the government official for censoring as well as awarding.

References:

Berger, A.A. Agitpop: Political Culture and Communication Theory. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books, 1990.

Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. New York: Penguin Books, 1972.

Braudy, Leo and Cohen Marshall. (eds). Film Theory and Critisism: Introductory Readings. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Hayward, Susan. Key Concepts in Cinema Studies. London and New York: Routledge, 2004.