ODE TO 2011

A huuuuuuuge “Hi” to dear readers
of my column ‘talkie with rekhs’

Today I have this overwhelming urge to thank every single person who has made this tryst with my keyboard and pc a memorable, meaningful, solid gold special experience.
I started ‘talkie with rekhs’ on March 27th as an ode to my amma, for all that she taught me, my best friend, philosopher and guide.
Her love was so unconditional that sometimes I can feel it now, even though she isn’t mortally present in this materialistic, mundane world.

I went for Mankatha audio launch and was pleasantly shocked that a college student gave up his chair for me with a warm and welcoming smile, “You are rekhs, you write in behindwoods and I read your column diligently every alternate Wednesday”
Needless to add, in my mind’s eye, the sun shone brighter and the sky seemed blue-r!

Last week I went to Nalli and found this young couple staring at me and exchanging
glances. Then hesitantly the guy walked up to me and said, “aren’t you rekhs who subtitles Thamizh films? We enjoy watching your films and take all our American friends with us to the theatre and proudly show-off our actors”
Now the rays of the sun pole axed me and I almost had a sun stroke!

I would like to start my thank you note which is bound to stretch like Hanumaan’s tail, 1st with Behindwoods who believed in my power of expression and passion for cinema. Manoj, I hope you are reading thisJ You too, Jyothsna my time keeper for ‘talkie with rekhs’! Dhanyawadh!

Every film I subtitled, the director and / or producer believed in my dream, that this is an essential tool to take our film worldwide and increase viewer-ship. I am grateful they believe in this as much as I do and gave me enough time to let my spark flow…Chezu ba!!!

Each of the A.Ds and asst editors who worked with me in unison…Director Gaurav himself who sat and elaborated his Thoongaa Nagaram with Suresh the editor spotting painstakingly and patiently, A.D Thribs with Thyagu and GK Sridhar (Editor Anthony’s assts) in Ko, A.D Gokul and Satish (Editor Anthony’s asst) in Deiva thirumagal, A.D Vinoth and Selva ( Editors Praveen and Srikanth’s asst) in Mankatha, A.D Palani and Lakshmi ( Editor Kishore’s asst) in Engeyum eppodhum, A.D Shrikanth and Mano
( Editor Gopi’s asst) in Vazhaku enn 18 / 09, with director Balaji diligently checking / appreciating every word and its meaning, all the A.Ds in Shankar’s office along with co director Jayaram and Satish again as the ‘spotter’ of my subtitles from Anto’s gurukulam for Nanban, Editor KK who sat himself patiently spotting 2000 odd dialog-cards for Arjun’s Prasaad, a Kannada film I jointly subtitled with Latha Madhu Ambat…these are a few I cannot forget. Of course Rafiq and Gopi Krishna from Aravaan, with Selva (repeat of Mankatha edit duo) deserve special mention. Both Rafiq and Gopi explained the nuances and in depth analysis of dialogs of Aravaan without whom I could not have been successful in effectively getting the 18th century meaning of chaste Thamizh words across to the million viewers-to-be across the globe…merci!

My NFDC friend who always accommodates time and space for making my efforts take realistic shape on the print, Lakshmi Narayan whose leadership quality is impeccable. He can be reached anytime, night or day and you can hear the smile in his voice as he picks up my call and says, “yes, rekhs what can I do for you?” He urges his boys Kailash, Sachin and Mahesh to work overtime, sometimes with just a few hours of sleep to meet deadlines. Even though they are not fluent in Thamizh they make up for it with their willingness to work. Their innate enthusiasm and years of experience with out dated software and archaic machines! Balaji of Real image who like Lakshmi is constantly under pressure but manages to meet every delayed deadline in time! Madhu of Pixion who has a ready smile and a team that runs on oiled wheels, Jaya Vasanth and Chandru of Prasad studio who accommodate with a flourish and finesse ‘engeyum eppodhum’ (anytime anywhere…always) and Murali who executes their thoughts to the T! Gratias!!

Sanjay Wadhwa who exclaimed within 3 minutes of talking to me, he has found a fellow believer to share his dream after decades of searching, his team consisting of Venky and Rekha, closely monitored by Somu, in making dvds with flawless subtitles ‘spotted’ in the most accurate way deserve special mention…they imbibed ‘my thanee vazhi’ without a single moment of hesitation or second thought…shukriya!

My friends in the industry who never hesitate to send me contact details and if I were to thank each and every one of them, my list would stretch like the Great wall of China, so let me just stop by saying ‘all my well wishers in Sollywood’. How can I leave out the managers whom I call at ghastly ghostly hours for transport, who present me with the cheque before I give in my last reel (necessary tactics I learnt thanks to Enthiran!) and the boys who remember to stimulate me with cups of coffee without sugar in every film I have worked, with a flash of a close-up sparkling smile…toda raba!!

A special thanks to my director-friend K.V.Anand who asked his stills photographer
to take a mug shot of me while I was on his Maatraan set. Are you wondering why this special attention to ‘yours truly’? All because he wanted identification handy to bomb my humble abode if I ever wrote about his shoot, in behindwoods’ talkie with rekhs! It’s a threat I wouldn’t like to defy! Of course to director Shankar for calling me twice over and Gautham Vasudev Menon who believed in my ability blindly the 1st time! Suresh Krissna the director who appreciated and applauded my perseverance and passion for taking Thamizh cinema worldwide long before the rest of the world chimed in. Radha Mohan who called me a walking dictionary and Director Saravanan who approved of my mission in all ways always! Captain Shibu Isaac (TMPK) and Prakash Raj (Payanam) who as producers paid me promptly without batting an eyelid! James co producer of Ko and now MUK who believes in my dream as much as I do. Madhu Ambat who glimpsed this ‘cinemaholic’ trait in me even before I did…Danke!!!

Lyricists Na. Muthukumar, Lotus (my pet name for Thamarai), Pa. Vijay and Karky…
without giving a second thought to night or day, busy or free, hassled or otherwise these 4 pillars to my endeavor have always checked my version of their lyrics, as I am very particular what they conceived should be conveyed bingo without me meandering…
Karky especially shares a special rapport with me, Karky trust me its mutualJ
Sha Sha!!!

Editor Anto who is stunned at my round the clock effort and exclaimed, “You’ve subtitled 45 films in 18 months!” with a dropped jawline the size of a watermelon! His easy acceptance of me without thinking I am from Venus or Mars was a welcome reprieve !I
I am glad I’ve taken a page out of his ‘gurukulam system’…and found 4 ardent sishyas who believe in my style and subtitling sense without diluting my SUBstance and style! My 3 musketeers Latha, Bindhi, Sunitha who have risen to the occasion and helped me subtitle Malayalam films. My daughter Sraiyanti who has ensured the dvds of Thamizh films followed my evolved form of subtitling, coupled with her contemporary insight into the English language... Arigato!!!

Editor duo Praveen and Srikanth who made my life in NFDC easier and faster while checking the final output with their new tech-savvy ideas implemented innovatively
…they care for my dream as much as I do…Terima kasih!!!!

I always consider comedian and ever popular Santhanam as my challenger ‘cos his flair for inventing new words far surpasses my ‘rekhs’ dictionary! But he more than makes amends by replying to my text messages instantaneously clarifying my doubts, whether sondha sarakku (figment of his fertile imagination) or authentic dictionary words! Dank u!!!

To Sampath who captivates the audience with his sexy voice, Polladhavan / Veerappan Kishore, my dear friend JP, to my ‘brothers’ Suriya, Karthi, Nandha, Sibi, to my 1st celluloid son Satyan, to Maddy, Simbu, Arya, Prasanna, Bharath, Premgi, Aadith Arun, Ganesh Venkatraman who have clasped my hands in unison and pledged their support unanimously, to my 3 nanbans Vijay, Srikanth, Jiiva, who called me recently and endorsed their solidarity in my ‘bridge the gap’ journey to take our films to every nook and corner of planet earth, to Anupama and Lakshmi both walking a tightrope act, balancing being a good mom, great wife and actor, who believe in me single-mindedly, Danke sehr

All my Fb friends without whom I wouldn’t have got feedback on my ‘mission possible’
Especially Menaka from Malaysia whom I have never met, who echoes my thoughts like she was my Siamese twin, Sathyan Vallavan and Babu from Australia, Bharathi, Balaji, Veera raghavan to name a few from USA, Donna a Non-Indian who loves Thamizh so much that she watches all the Thamizh films she can lay her hands on with a zest that would zap a marathon runner! Xie xie!!!

The young aspiring enthusiastic short film directors, creative talent of our tomorrow’s celluloid world, who realize my dream is not nonsense and follow my footsteps, making sure I am not alone in this adventure…Mahalo!
My www.thiraigaanam.com friends who always post lyrics of a song however hard pressed they are for time, with a swish of their magic wand as soon as I ask, so that
my song subtitling is made easier! Shukran!!!

Sivakumar anna, a special thanks for crediting me with the compliment of having redefined subtitling. Before I commence a project he always wishes me well and says
”vendru vaa, vaagai soodi vaa” with great aplomb... this affidavit inspires me to follow my dream with extra conviction and courage. Doh je!!!!

My Rosary and Stella Maris friends who are slowly getting used to my new avatar rekhs and so proud of me living life on my own terms and pursuing my dream. Believe me this career graph has had its share of rocks and thorns, but I get by with a little help from my friends in Beatles style! Mikwec!!!

Dr Ramakrishnan, my friend, who despite being riveted to Apollo, finds time every day to call me sharp 8:15 A.M to ensure I am alive and kicking after a sleepless night slogging at some edit studio or the other, Tavssi

Director Krishnan Seshadri Gomatam who believes this is a niche carved specially for me and gives his ‘out-of-the box ‘ ideas on steps to get closer to my dream, my friends Lakku and Sai my rock of Gibraltar, my husband Haricharan and daughters Smriti, Svasti and Sraiyanti who constantly give up their quality time with me and re arrange their schedule to be with me, my soon to be son-in-law Matthew who waits in vain for my emails in his inbox (!), my dad who laments to all and sundry that my work extends to unearthly hours as late as 3:00 A.M…gazillion viewers and readers who motivate me…and those I couldn’t fit into this eulogy who still play an integral part in my dream, dhanyawadh, chezu ba, merci, gratias, shukriya, toda raba, danke, sha sha, terima kasih, dank u, arigato, danke sehr, xiexie, mahalo, shukran, doh je, mikwec, tavssi …

cha cha…sorgamay endraalum adhu nam baashai pOla varumaa?
Nandri…’nanba’s!

All I can say is God has been extremely kind to me.
Without Him not even a molecule can move!

I did not want this to be a narcissistic article, but I’d feel like I crossed half the well
if I did not acknowledge my team, the wind beneath my wings.

Wishing you a 2012 that’s peaceful, plentiful, productive and positive…
and more south Indian films viewed worldwide with proper English subtitles to make
the watching experience a worthwhile one…

rekhs