Bala speaks Sanskrit
Having acted in home ground Tamil as well as Kannada, Malayalam and Telugu, actor Bala is getting all set to add a Sanskrit film also to his repertoire. He will be playing the lead in the Sanskrit film Mrichakadigam meaning little clay cart. This film is a cinematic adaptation of the classic play Mricchakatika which tells the story of a noble but impoverished young Brahmin who falls in love with a wealthy courtesan Vasantasena. Bala explains why he is thrilled to be zeroed in for the lead role in the movie directed by Kannan. “To the best of my knowledge, there are only four films that have been made in Sanskrit and this will be the fifth film.
What bigger honour than that!,” shares Bala. He informs that this is a play that has travelled to Los Angeles, France and New York and been well received by the audience there. “It is for the first time the play is made as a film,” he adds. Bala is aware of the hard work and homework needed for the film. He reasons, “This film is made for an international audience too and will be watched by critics and audience who know the play. So I have to be very careful with my Sanskrit dialogues with regard to diction, lip sync and punctuation. The director has hired a tutor to teach me Sanskrit and I am learning the language to avoid any mistakes.” The shoot of the film will commence this month and Bala considers this a golden opportunity.
Another film which Bala is excited about is Nilavariyathe which has him in the lead role. This film is also a challenge as it involves a lot of action scenes. Bala explains, “The hero is someone who is proficient in martial arts like archery and kalari. I took up this project because I felt the generation of today is completely unaware of our rich traditional heritage which we are trying to bring alive on screen.”
Also on the anvil is a Malayalam film Kaalam Parayathathu — a period film based on a real life character. The story is set in the post-Independence era at the time when women were not allowed to cover their upper body. Bala says, “The real fight to get freedom started after India attained independence and the film explores the life of a revolutionary teacher who fought against this practice.” And in Tamil, Bala has some big news, “I will be playing Dulquer Salmaan's role in the remake of Kali.”