This was probably the grandest ANR Award ceremony. But there was a poignancy about the evening. He was not there. This was the first award conferred since Mr. Akkineni Nageswarar Rao left this world. Nothing would have made him happier than the award being given to Amitabh Bachchan. Mr. Nageswara Rao admired his talent and advised Nagarjuna, when he was making his debut as an actor, to watch Mr. Bachchan’s films as an exemplar . Even through the pain of his last days, it was

His name may mean ‘new moon’, but Balachander was a full moon of the Indian film firmament that hardly waned for fifty years. His silver glow reflected on over a 100 films in 5 languages. Incredibly, he directed nearly 80 of them; some makers may have done more films, but none grappled with such varied subjects. K Balachander didn’t coast along on the tide of a formula; he swam against the current. Ethir Neechal. He was a creator who could adapt himself to any media. He was a