Go well, Bharathiraja sir: Ponvannan’s heartfelt tribute to ‘Iyakkunar Imayam’

Published 12 June 2026 · india

I had been observing the decline in his [Bharathiraja’s] health up close for over a year. I couldn’t help but think of the times when

I had been observing the decline in his [Bharathiraja’s] health up close for over a year. I couldn’t help but think of the times when he was full of energy and authority. At the same time, it was quite depressing to see him in pain. To watch a man who used to talk in that majestic voice of his, talk with pain... So, when news of his passing reached me, I wasn’t overcome by sadness; I was more relieved that he was finally free from pain. I felt somewhat at ease, it was as though I was the one who was freed from pain. Ever since it dawned on me that he is no more, the many memories I shared with him have been playing in my mind like a movie, particularly when I am in solitude. Memories that were buried deep, ones I may otherwise never recollect, keep surfacing. I didn’t enter the cinema industry to become an actor or director. I was a painter, and I wanted to become a banner artist. When I couldn’t sustain in the field, I began to tap into another skill: writing. It was my journey to become a writer that eventually brought me to Bharathiraja sir. While working on sets, I became friends with an art director named Devadas, who had been working in his films. It was Devadas who told Bharathiraja sir about this young boy who paints well and works sincerely. That’s how I met him. He then saw the work I had done, and on the very first meeting, asked me to work under him as an assistant director. My bond with Bharathiraja sir started then. And life gifted me the opportunity to share a personal bond with him over the years. After inducting me as his assistant, he also me to write dialogues for a few of his films. In fact, after I failed as a director, he gave me a new lease of life as an actor in Pudhu Nellu Pudhu Naathu. It was I who asked him for that opportunity, telling him I needed something to sustain myself financially. And to this day, it is acting that sustains my life. I won’t say he gave me that opportunity because I was a talented actor; he had great affection for me, and was dejected that someone he thought would become a successful filmmaker failed.

If I am able to make a living as as actor today, it is because Director understood my situation and helped me. For as long as I am alive, I will be grateful for that. Acting in Pudhu Nellu Pudhu Naathu was an interesting experience. As dialogue writer and assistant director, I knew every scene in the script, the kind of performance that was needed in each scene, and so on. I played a domestic helper who was very sincere and loyal to his master. In the story, the master would misbehave with this man’s wife, after which the domestic helper would grab a sickle to kill his master. He would be seething, but at the same time, his loyalty would stop him. In that state of mind, he would drop the sickle to the ground and speak a line. This was the first scene he shot for the character, and what surprised me was that he didn’t explain the performance he wanted from me — something he would do to all new faces when they are about to perform. In fact, he liked my performance so much that he wanted to shoot more close-ups. That scene gave me a lot of recognition as an actor and was the only time he appreciated me for my acting. I wouldn’t say he corrected me or moulded me as an actor; he would accept my performance or offer a few changes here and there. He trusted me, perhaps because I was already an associate director. Then came Karuththama. I played a brutish character, who, when angered, would break things and push people around. In one scene, this character is out of jail and attacks his father (Janagaraj) with a chair. We brought an old chair from the town for the shoot, and when I swung it at Janagaraj, it broke into pieces. That scared everyone, including the Director, and created an image in the unit that I was so serious as an actor that I would even break chairs for the part. In a later scene with Saranya (who is now my wife), my character was supposed to throw a rock at her, and she had to dodge it. We had to time it perfectly since it was all in a single shot. Since I had gained this reputation, everyone was scared that I might actually kill her!