K Balachander birth anniversary: 10 heroines who bear the mark of the sui generis filmmaker
Bold, beautiful and sensitive, KB's lead ladies are a league of their own. We look at some of our all-time favourites.
Suhasini plays Sindhu, an emotionally-complex person, who gets into a relationship with a musician, even after learning that he's married, in Sindhu Bhairavi.
To have a woman rehabilitated from mental illness as the female lead, and also have her save the day for the male lead needed someone like KB at the helm of affairs. Jayanthi as Paru in Ethir Neechal.
In Arangetram, KB tells the story of a young woman (played by Prameela) the eldest daughter of a poor Brahmin household, who's forced to become a prostitute to support her conservative family.
In Aval oru Thodargadai, KB traces the life of a working class woman (played by Sujatha) who sacrifices her personal desires to support her large family.
Both in Arangetram and Aval Oru Thodarkadhai, KB attempted walking the tight rope between offering sensible, independent roles to his women on-screen and what was termed as ‘societal acceptability’.
These 2 films, despite their tragic endings, highlighted the heroine’s emotional intelligence, in addition to her IQ. And through these ladies, KB addressed the society's impressions of a rebel girl.
Apoorva Raagangal - a mismatched tale of a young man falling for an older woman (Srividya), while the woman’s nubile daughter (Jayasudha) gets attracted to the young man’s dad. Incendiary stuff.
When confronted with a malicious suitor, what does a woman do? If you are one of KB’s heroines (Sridevi in Moondru Mudichu) you might choose to turn the tables on the man by marrying his father!
KB in Avargal narrates the story of a free-spirited woman (Sujatha), who finding herself married to the wrong person, opts for a divorce. She starts to embrace her earlier ‘single’ self again.
Sujatha's character (Avargal) is radical for her times, not because she chose to walk away, but because she wasn’t guilty/ashamed of her decision. Because she had no qualms about pursuing her love.
In Achamillai Achamillai, KB tells the story of the woman (Saritha) who takes matters into her own hands, and kills her once-idealist husband, when he gives in to political avarice and power politics.
Geetha, in Puthu Puthu Arthangal, plays a rabid fan of a renowned singer, who gets to marry 'the object of her desires'. She is unable to deal with the female fan craze for her celebrity husband.
In this film, KB had written a female lead, (Malini, played by Revathi), who is fun-loving and exuberant on the outside, and unimaginably intense, inside.
Kalki (Shruti) strikes up a friendship with a chauvinistic married person, Prakash, and makes him understand what he was doing to his wife by treating him like the way he treats his wife.
