Films made in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi – works that have left their mark on several generations of audiences and launched the careers of actors who have since become legendary, such as Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth – yet the cinema of K. Balachander (1930–2014) remains largely unknown in Europe. The Festival des 3 Continents is dedicating an exceptional retrospective to him – the first of this scale in France and Europe – honouring this major filmmaker who directed over 90 films, some of which have been recently restored and will be screened in Nantes.
Balachander consistently used popular cinema as a platform for observing and engaging with the changing face of Indian society. Desire, women’s emancipation, family hierarchies and class differences run through a filmography that pushes the boundaries of Tamil cinema without ever losing sight of its appeal to the general public.