Panchu Arunachalam is the man who invented Rajinikanth as an actor

Most of us know Panchu Arunachalam as the writer-producer who introduced maestro Ilaiyaraaja as a composer in films with Annakili. What few are aware of is how he helped redefine commercial Tamil cinema and shaped the then budding careers of Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan and turned them into superstars. And that is what an upcoming documentary on the life of one of the most successful writers in Tamil cinema, is going to reveal to modern-day audiences. Excerpts from an exclusive interview with National Award-winning film historian and producer G Dhananjayan, who has directed the documentary:

What made you choose Panchu Arunachalam as the subject of your documentary?
More than me choosing, it was the other way round. I was working on a documentary on film chronicler Film News Anandan. I was doing background research when the National Award was announced and I had to go to Delhi to receive the award. The first call I got when I came back was from Panchu sir's son Subbu. He had heard about the documentary on Film News Anandan and asked me if I would be willing to do something similar for his dad, who has written 100 films. I told him that I would love to do it if he will get me the dates of Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan and Ilaiyaraaja.

Can you elaborate on how you worked on the documentary?
Since Panchu Arunachalam is very ill, he could talk to me at the most for two hours a day — between 5 pm and 7 pm. The documentary process is a very long one. First, you have to understand what questions you have to ask the subject when he is on camera. I started researching on him. I looked at Film News Anandan's compilation and traced all the films that Panchu sir has worked on and then went and verified it with his own list. Then, I crosschecked the facts with the DVDs of the films to see how he was credited in each and every film. Many know Panchu Arunachalam's career from Annakili, but he has worked on 13 films before that. So far, he has 99 films to his credit as a writer. In addition to these, he has written the song lyrics for over 200 films. He has written his hundredth film recently and so, this documentary is also a celebration of that landmark. It has taken 45 days so far and we have interviewed several people who have worked closely with him, including Rajinikanth, Ilaiyaraaja, Bharathiraaja, SP Muthuraman, Sivakumar, Sathyaraj, Prabhu, Radikaa, Khusbhu, Gangai Amaren among others. We will be recording Kamal Haasan. My only regret is not getting MS Viswanathan. They had worked together on songs for 15 years, and he was supposed to speak for this and reveal how they worked together with Kannadasan. But then he fell sick and we couldn't get him eventually. His passing away is the biggest loss to the documentary.

Generally, documentaries that are made here tend to be hagiographies. Will this one deal with the controversial aspects of its subject's life?
Panchu Arunachalam is a great writer, lyric writer and producer, so there was a lot of things that people had to share about him — both the good and the bad. Even though Panchu sir did not wish to speak of certain things because he did not want to hurt people or create a controversy out of this, the others spoke about those things, so this documentary will bring out many unrevealed truths. Though the intention is not to sensationalize things, the documentary will be a very honest attempt. It will talk about a person who could have become a big studio boss but remains an ordinary producer. He has created wonderful hits for stars but he never made money. Where exactly did things go wrong? That way, his life will be a good lesson to the industry. He has openly talked about his failures, and how despite being so knowledgeable about the film business, things went wrong. During the shoot of one particular episode, he completely broke down as he couldn't take the pain of reliving the harrowing experience.

What do you say is the legacy of Panchu Arunachalam apart from being the person who introduced Ilaiyaraaja?
He is the one who reinvented commercial Tamil cinema. Till 1977, MGR and Sivaji films were dominating the box office. MGR's was formula films while Sivaji's was family films. Annakili released in 1976 and folk music became a big trend. In 1977, Tamil cinema changed tracks with 16 Vayathinile, and village-based, realistic films started becoming the norm. People were apprehensive about mainstream commercial films doing well, but Panchu Arunachalam wrote Murattu Kalai in 1980 to show that commercial films are needed to reach B and C centres. And he took Kamal Haasan, who was till then considered an A-centre star, to the B and C centres with Sakalakala Vallavan in 1982. It became the first Tamil to do a business of `1 crore. So, he redefined commercial cinema and showed you can get maximum turnover with these films. In a way, you can blame him for making hardcore commercial cinema the centre of Tamil cinema, which would have otherwise taken the realistic films route. But those films would not have helped our films penetrate into the interior areas. At the same time, he did not forget good cinema and wrote films like Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai and Engeyo Ketta Kural.

Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan have acted in many films written by Panchu Arunachalam. What role did he play in their careers?
He did 23 films with Rajinikanth and 13 with Kamal Haasan. He wrote commercial films for Rajini (Kazhugu, Pokkiri Raja, Paayum Puli) and Kamal (Thoongadhey Thambi Thoongadhey, Uyarndha Ullam) one after another. However, despite managing the careers of two superstars, he never played games. That is why both these actors trusted him. If you take Rajinikanth, with Bhuvana Oru Kelvikuri, he turned Rajinikanth, who was until then acting as a villain into a hero, then made him a superhero with Murattu Kaalai, and then brought him back to family audiences with Engaeyo Kaetta Kural. In his career, there are five films that the Superstar himself speaks of as close to his heart — Bhuvana Oru Kelvikuri, Mullum Malarum, Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai, Engeyo Ketta Kural and Sri Raghavendra. Out of these five, three were written by Panchu Arunachalam. So, in that sense, he is the man who invented Rajinikanth as an actor and showed the world that he can act. Even Rajini sir acknowledges this in the documentary, and says, "Even though Balachander sir is the one who introduced me, Panchu Arunachalam is the person who made me a big artist."