We make films for the audience, not the critics: RJ Balaji

I did about 25 films including Naanum Rowdy Dhaan and Kaatru Veliyidai, but I felt I was often stereotyped as a friend. Either I would be the hero’s sidekick or crack jokes during helpless situations. I wasn’t happy. I wanted something more. I kept waiting for good roles, but it never happened. I was approached with similar roles back-to-back, and in the past two years, I would have rejected at least 30 films. If my aim was to make money, I could have accepted those films. But I did not want to. Eventually, I thought why don’t I write something because I realised I always had many things to say. I started writing for my show, From Ice House to the White House, and the response was fantastic. That gave me the confidence to write LKG.

But screenplay writing is different, right? How was the process?

Even as an RJ, politics interested me. As a politically-conscious citizen, I wanted to write an engaging script for LKG. I have penned scripts for my college skits and I didn’t go with the flow. I had a team. We did proper research and we knew how we were going to approach this film. I speak quite fast, but I wasn’t sure if I could write. I tried. Here I am.

LKG has a whole bunch of events that happened in Tamil Nadu on the political front. As a writer, what was your role?

It is a political satire, and as a team, we were clear about not making a spoof. The film traces the journey of a small-time politician and how he becomes the Chief Minister of the state. I worked on eight drafts, and we went for shooting with the ninth one. We jotted down all the unresolved issues in the country and tried to integrate them into the script.

LKG doesn’t only point fingers at the system, but it also offers solutions. Say 10,000 people caught the film, and if at least 10 per cent of them think before they vote, I think we won. As citizens, we have been experiencing anger and frustration over many things. We knew we made a good product. But I was very concerned about taking that product to a large number of people.

Since it is a political film, were you apprehensive of the censorship? Sarkar, for instance, received a lot of flak. The makers were pressurised to remove a couple of scenes after the release.

I am not Ajith or Vijay. I don’t think politicians out there even know I exist. (Laughs)

How have the reviews been for LKG?

In general, I have stopped reading them, but I read one or two. My team keeps me informed about everything though. Overall, there have been excellent reviews from the audience. And that alone matters. We make films for them, not the critics. LKG was targeted at people who are not on Facebook and Twitter. I think the audience who saw the film in theaters understood the film better. Because they seem to have noticed even the minutest of details than the critics.

It takes a lot to review a film honestly. A journalist is supposed to ask questions. But these days, they are seen taking selfies with film personalities instead of doing their job. But a few do point out the mistakes. For instance, some of them had issues with Manobala sir’s character. After reading the reviews, I realised the critics were right. We could have avoided it.

As an RJ, you had reviewed and criticised films. And now, your films are being reviewed and criticised.

(Laughs) I thrash bad films, but I never thrash the good ones. I have been honest in my reviews unabashedly and I have always called a spade a spade.

Do you think people have accepted you as an actor?

As a student—I was hit by a serious identity crisis—because in school or college, at least there were four guys with the same name. It feels nice when my profession stands as an initial in front of my name.

Though comedy is my USP, I have stepped out my comfort zone in LKG. As a standup comedian, I know it’s not easy to sustain the audience’s attention even for ten minutes, but they really enjoyed the whole film in theaters and I witnessed it. Actually, Meesaya Murukku made me write LKG because I was overwhelmed by the response that Hip-hop Tamizha Adhi received through this film. There was something for everyone in it.

What’s interesting is in the past few months, we have had a bunch of films, which we call political films. Even Bollywood had a spate of biopics on famous politicians.

It is good that these films provide us with a platform to engage in serious conversation about the issues that we face. Cinema mirrors society. Starting from the Independence era, it has been the case. Whatever happens, is being shown in films. And any artiste can speak his mind. Of course, that comes with repercussions.

A film like LKG because you have positioned yourself as ‘the voice of Chennai’?

Yes, definitely. But I hardly feed trolls. There is so much negativity everywhere. As an RJ, when I could connect with thousands of people, I thought why not use cinema as a medium to entertain and inform them at the same time. A few months ago, I remember a random guy telling me, “Anna, these days, I read newspapers.” I was wondering why was he talking random things to me. Then he told, he chanced upon my interview on YouTube where I was casually advising people to read newspapers to keep themselves updated. I never knew people took me seriously until then.

In your earlier interviews, you had mentioned your mother was a huge movie buff. What’s her response to the film?

Amma bayangara cinema payyithiam. I inherited that only from her. She was extremely happy because one of her friends called her and asked if I could get her two tickets for my film. Apparently, she was informed all the tickets were sold out on the day of the release. (Smiles)