Balachandra Menon could not discern the reel from the real life of court rooms till the day he appeared as a witness of an accident.The real court room was a stark difference to the court room scenes on celluloid where he happened to don different roles.The proceedings interested him and were far different from what was shown in the movies.
“I realised it was a different world.Unlike movies, I could hear only the sound of the ceiling fan.There were no heated arguments or war of words.It was fascinating to be part of the proceedings and somewhere it ignited the latent spark in me to become a lawyer,” says Balachandra Menon.
He believes that the ambition to become a lawyer was inherent in him.“My father too attempted LLB.But he was not able to clear it.I used to read the tutorials used by him during my teenage days and desired to join the course.But later, when I got busy with movies, I set aside my LLB dreams,” he said.It was in 1987 that Menon decided to join the Law Academy.
“I joined the even i n g b a t c h i n Thirvananthapuram Law Academy.Though I completed the course, I was not able to attend the exam owing to my busy schedule,” he says.Menon says that he is grateful to his professor, the late Dharmaraj who was a source of inspiration .“After watching my performance in the Moot Court, he invited me to his room and told me that he really Wished to see me as an advocate in real life.Encouraging words from an experienced academician worked as real booster in my case.He also gave me special tuition sessions,” he said.
The period between 1990-2000 saw Menon’s career touching new heights.He won the national award for the best actor in 1998.But still he realised that the passion to take a degree in Law was burning inside him strongly.
“It was always like a hide-and-seek game, between me and LLB.Later I met with one of the biggest challenges in my life, a life-threatening disease.I went Hyderabad for treatment.After recovering from the illness, I was advised to take one-year rest.During that period, I got enough time to prepare for the exam.The LLB examinations in 2011 was postponed for a month due to the declaration of Assembly elections.So I applied for writing the exam and the first thing I did after coming from Hyderabad was collecting my hall ticket,” he says.
However, Menon says he has no intention of turning law into his profession or earning money from it, despite his enrolement.“I believe my enrolment as an advocate gives me the licence to intervene in serious issues.I am planning to take up various services for the public with the help of this degree.And take my word, I won’t be ‘silent’ as a lawyer,” adds Balachandramenon who enacted the role of lawyer in movies like 'Vilambaram' and 'Melevaryathe Malakhakuttikal'.
He said that he wasn't planning to stay away from the movies.“My sensitivities are tuned to that frequency.I have made several films that cashed in on the goodness of the human mind.I am planning to come up with a new movie next year,” he says.
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