SHANKAR…ORU NALLA NANBAN – PART ONE

My penultimate ‘take’ for 2011. Thanx Behindwoods for giving me a triple E experience: eventful, enlightening and exciting.
I am on a high because Shankar asked me to subtitle his nanban. More so since I’ve been called again by none other than the director Shankar! My career graph has come a full circle, and it’s an honor indeed.

August of 2010, enthiran happened, which changed the history of subtitling as far as Thamizh cinema goes! 16 months have flown wherein God’s been kind enough to make me subtitle 45 films a la Linda Blair of exorcist fame, truly possessed!!

Walking into Shankar’s office 2 weeks ago was a ’homecoming’ of sorts.
My amma always said you can know a man inside out with his hand shake and his foot wear! I must add to that observation, you know a director’s meticulous streak by the rest-room in his office!! Here the loo is so sparkling clean and DRY.I truly feel like home away from home, at his work place. Can you believe this? When I complimented Shankar for his pristine office, he looked at me in surprise, exclaimed it wasn’t up to his mark!

Right from Dhanraj who keeps the glass doors absolutely see-through and the well planned floors spic and span, the boys Ezhumalai and Vinod who take care of me like I am the queen of Sheba to the whole team…they all rock.

I realize now (1 of the many reasons) why Shankar is such a ‘looked upon with awe’ director. He handpicks his assistants and his office runs in true robot style, but manned by humans. I sometimes question my faith in Linda Goodman as to how Shankar is not a Virgo but a Leo!

Heading the team is Jayaram in perfect sync with his boss, knows when to bend backwards and when to dig his heels into the ground with his team mates. Atlee can sell a peacock for a king’s ransom claiming it to be a dodo! (extinct bird)!! Murali is the ever observant one, with an iron will to succeed. Bala is good with search and research, has a permanent twinkle in his eyes. Vishnu is ever courteous to me and has an unending ‘yearn to learn’ attitude. Mani works like enthiran, untiringly. The managers (I am not sure of their hierarchy) Saravanan, Vimal and Yogesh work with the right amount of dedication not an effort less not an effort more! Though sometimes Vimal’s cacophonous laughter can give one nightmares, he’s a simpleton at heart.

I have to add Kubendran the 24/7 responsible guy who edits and follows instructions from Shankar and editor Anthony, juggles inputs and outputs with ease. And Anthony’s assistant, Satish who mindless of the late hours posts subtitles with a willing and reliable nod.

Why I specifically complement the A.Ds is ‘cos they don’t step on each others’ toes even when they toe the line to what their boss asks them to do.
There’s no rivalry of the mean kind, it is a race run together with one goal, reaching the finish line 1st and in time!

This is how the subtitling process works in Shankar’s office. It is very effective and well executed. A Thamizh film usually has 7 to 10 reels, each lasting 18 to 23 minutes. It requires on an average 200 to 250 subtitles and takes 5 hours to translate and minimum 5 hours to post. So this is first shown to me by Satish or Mani. After watching it I am literally shooed out of the edit suite which is in constant demand by Kubi the schedule juggler. I’m given the audio file in the A.Ds’ room, the hub of activity. Amidst all that hustle and bustle I clog my ears with the head phone only to surface when I have some doubts to be clarified. Then Satish ‘spots’ (posts) my lines and we sit and check spelling, readability and if my lines sync with the dialogs. Humor has to be communicated and not get lost in translation. This may even be during the wee hours of the night as everyone works round the clock here. Then Jayaram comes in, the next morning and we again sit and watch the reel and okay it. We have a healthy debate on the word play and communication to ensure it works. The director then takes the final call.
I am back to the same modus operandi but a different reel…the next day.

So when Jayaram was checking one of my song lines I asked him if he realized what the link of a particular line was to an internationally famous show. He drew a blank. I said, my daughter guessed it immediately and youngsters will catch on to it within a blink of an eye. With a lot of confidence in Atlee I exclaimed, “I am sure Atlee will be able to guess this one” Jayaram challenged me that he wouldn’t. Then ensued a fun-tussle of all ADs watching that particular scene and breaking their heads inside out…as to who is the ‘youngster’ of them all! Surprise of surprises it was Murali the quiet ‘dark horse’ who came millimeter close to the answer! And Arun, Resul Pookutty’s assistant hit the nail on the head. So his parting shot was, ‘ tell Jayaram I am the ‘hip hop happening’ youngster of them all ‘!

December 6th was Vimal’s birthday and we decided to surprise him with a cake.
We got a yummy chocolate truffle with ‘wishing you ‘all is well’ always, Vimal ‘ iced on it. We all crowded around Jayaram’s table and requested the director to grace the occasion..He walked in, saw the cake and ‘wowwww’ed my bolt from the blue inspirational lines, truly situational to the film he’s directing! The comfort zone he shares with his boys is again so typically ‘shankar’…he balances friendliness with the right measure of reserve, without being condescending or with a stamp of proprietorship.

The truffle sure thawed the ice. Yogesh who until then considered me as part of the office furniture actually extended his hand to me to have his palm read!!!

I was fortunate to have a brief tête à tête with Shankar just before Vimal cut the cake.. There are times in your life when you wish time would stretch its hands or just stop still. Shankar is extremely busy, especially before release, you can imagine the 108 things to do that stretches to 1008 or more! But he still made time for me. And this was one moment in time where I wish time had stood still!

When I asked him what made him start his own production house, he put it so simply, “I wanted to thank my assistant directors for being with me as a team”!
I don’t think this big heartedness can be capsulated better! Is this why the entire office, right from the watchman to the co-director feel that it’s their film and give their 101%...looks like Shankar is their nanban and they can’t let their dear friend down! What a feeling of solidarity to inculcate in every single member of his team!!
The extra miles he has tread to make Nanban an out and out entertainer again stems out of his streak of perfection and passion for cinema. Every single cast has been handpicked and he has extracted the best out of every performer.

That’s no surprise for one who redefined Thamizh cinema interweaving class and mass appeal. Oooops I don’t want to whisper 1 more syllable before Jan 14th!

I pride myself in adhering to my protocol of not discussing a film I’m working on, even to my husband! But what gave me CTs (contented not cheap thrills) while subtitling this one was Shankar’s awareness and acceptance that subtitling widens our horizons. You can catch a lightning glimpse of it in the dialog! Look out for it, when you catch this film in the theatres. I’m so thrilled by this line, like a child given her favorite candy when she least expects itJ

I have to sign off here but will be back with a few corollaries to this, as Part 2 and 3…more insight into Shankar not only the nalla nanban…but the thorough gentleman!