In Spite Of Being My Senior, Balu Mahendra Was A Friend: Kamal Hassan
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oi-IANS
By Ians English
Kamal
Hassan
has
fond
memories
of
his
bonding
with
prolific
filmmaker
Balu
Mahendra,
who
recently
breathed
his
last
in
Chennai.
The
actor
says
it
was
tough
to
question
the
creative
choices
of
the
director,
who
helmed
Sadma.
"Balu
Mahendra
and
I
shared
a
very
close
relationship.
His
debut
film
as
a
cameraman
was
with
me.
We
used
to
sit
and
talk
about
films
between
shots.
He
used
to
listen
to
my
scripts.
So
we
had
a
bonding.
In
spite
of
being
my
senior,
he
was
a
friend," Kamal
said.
The
legendary
filmmaker,
who
inspired
the
audience
with
his
visually
uplifting
films
for
over
three
decades,
passed
away
following
a
heart
attack
in
Chennai.
He
was
74.
Kamal
said,
"When
Balu
directed
his
first
film
Kokila,
I
was
his
actor
(Actress
Shoba,
whom
Balu
loved,
played
the
lead...).
In
Sadma,
both
Balu
and
I
made
a
conscious
decision
to
keep
sex
out
of
the
relationship
between
me
and
Sridevi.
Not
that
he
or
I
was
averse
to
the
idea
of
sex
on
screen."
Kamal
adds,
"We
had
grown
up
watching
cinema
from
the
world
over.
And
I'd
like
to
think
we
had
imbibed
a
certain
maturity
in
our
outlook
which
showed
in
our
work
together.
However,
my
character
in
Sadma
finds
Sridevi
in
a
place
that
epitomizes
sex.
A
brothel."
"That
whole
contrast
between
her
innocence
and
the
world
at
large
was
preserved
in
the
way
I
cocoon,
shelter
and
protect
her
from
the
outside
world,"
he
said.
Kamal
says
his
character
was
based
on
Balu
Mahendra.
"At
that
time
he
was
in
love
with
Shoba,
much
younger
to
him.
I
had
known
the
girl
from
my
childhood.
So
I
asked
him
what
he
was
doing...playing
his
creative
cards
so
close
to
his
chest.
But
he
just
kept
quiet.
And
he
was
so
senior,
I
couldn't
question
him
beyond
a
point."
"It
was
an
artist's
way
of
liberating
himself
from
his
anguished
emotions,"
said
Kamal.