It was K.Balachander sir who asked me to marry Mani Ratnam”, recalled Suhasini Mani Ratnam who won a national award for her performance in KB’s Sindhu Bhairavi at an event organised to celebrate the 89th birth anniversary of KB, the doyen of Tamil cinema.
Suhasini added, “Working in Sindhu Bhairavi was an unforgettable experience. The first time I saw a shooting was in KB sir’s Moondru Mudhichu, which had both Kamal and Rajini in it. Certain scenes were shot at the backyard of my house. Since Rajini was new to the industry then, he wouldn’t talk to anyone and was reserved. During the break, he would come and hide behind our backdoor and smoke a cigarette. He was always scared of Balachander sir. It was very difficult to make him act. If KB sir tells him to look down, he would look up and vice versa. Rajini did not have much idea about films. It was Balachander sir who moulded several actors including Rajini. And it was he who initiated my marriage with Mani Ratnam. Whenever Mani and I sit for script writing, we would always start with the intention of keeping at least one scene and a few dialogues like a KB sir film and acting should be like Kamal’s.”
Several celebs including his daughter Pushpa Kandasamy, Sivakumar, Parthiban, Vasanth, Saran, Samuthirakani, Vivekh, Vairamuthu, Delhi Ganesh, Sachu, Rajesh, MS Bhaskar, Rajesh Vaidhya among others reminisced on their association with KB at two different events held in the city.
