Partheeban at his best

Partheeban's sparkling wit showed up in a programme held under the auspices of Chennai Rotaracts. Some answers gave a clue to his mind and some others touched the hearts of the gathering. Here are a few repartees to questions by audience at the end of the function.

Q: 'You are obsessed with phrases like kundakka-mandakka, ekku-thappa, EdA-kUdamA.. Would you explain the reason for these pet phraseology?

The audience burst into laughter when Partheeban quipped 'Do you want to begin with a question that is an EdA-kUdam?', remembering to add one of his pet-phrases.

Q: 'What are the imporant changes in your life after you married Mrs. Seetha?'

'I did not marry Mrs. Seetha. When I married her, she was Miss. Seetha. Happiness is the change that our marriage has brought in my life.'

Q: 'Where does your interest lie? In acting or in directing movies?'

'When I entered filmdom, acting was my passion. I knocked at the doors of many a studio. I played in several movies. My name appeared in the lyric-booklets. You would have noticed the phrase 'And Others' at the end of the list of actors. Well, my name was one among those 'And Others.'

I then realised that with a 'handsome' face like mine, acting cannot be my cup of tea and concentrated in Direction. I was lucky in that my parents did not insist that I should take up a job to earn our bread, though our condition was none too comfortable. I am indebted to my father for not pushing me into taking up a job elsewhere. But my father was not alive to partake in my success.'

'You may ask me as to how I happened to play the main role in the movie that I directed. I narrated the story of 'Puthiya Paatha'i and sought the call sheet of many a celebrity. None was prepared to play that role as it was a negative role. The hero would light his beedi from a house that was on fire. His humaneness would surface only in the second half of the movie. This made them hesitant. I therefore had to play it myself.'

Q: 'You made an appearance with a negative character. What was the reason?'

'It was my passion to do something different. Though the hero was portrayed as a negative character, the story was not. The message of the story was that there should be no orphans in society. I had emphasised the fact that a person who is not cared for leads a 'care-a-damn' life.'

'The hero lived in a dilapidated, roofless house. There would be a portrait of the Mahatma in that house. How come Mahatma's portrait finds a place in his life? The hero would answer: 'I don't know whose portrait this is. There was flag hoisting in this street one day, and distribution of toffees. When the function was over, this portrait lied there, uncared for. I asked as to whose portrait it was. Everyone answered that it was not his.' (Partheeban intends the pun.) 'Then I thought that I had none to call as my relative. Let him be my grandpa….'

'I had underlined the fact that people use the Mahatma for their personal aggrandisement and leave him uncared for once they reach their goal. This won commendations from the audience. I made the movie with many positive-touches.'

Q: 'There is a lot of cruelty towards animals in your movies. Horses, snakes and other animals are subjected to cruelty in many a movie of yours.'

'I have stopped shooting such scenes. The Censor has announced that snakes should not be used in movies. Gory and sanguine scenes are on the decline too.'

Q: 'You have named your collection of poems as Kirukkalgal (scribbling, galimatias). Don't you think that this shows your self-confidence at its lowest ebb?'

'I have done it to forestall critcism that these are not poems; but doggerel. The collection will be released on November 12th by the Chief Minister, Kalaignar Karunanidhi in Kamarajar Arangam, Chennai. It is for the people to say whether these are poems or just scribbles..'

Best wishes to Partheeban, the Director, Actor, Playwright, Poet "And Others!"

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