No one knows what really happened between them. Having kept that within him all these days, now Ameer exposes it. This is what he shared at the Cinema Press Club function held to honor him:
"Bala and I were friends. Coming to Chennai, he became a director. I was assisting him. When everyone addressed him as 'Sir,' I could address him as 'Bala.'
After the film 'Sethu' there was a gang around him. They insisted that I should address him as 'Bala sir.' I walked out saying that I could not abide by it. After that, neither of us spoke to each other.
After the release of 'Paruthiveeran', there was a call from Bala. He asked me where I was. I told him I was in the office. He asked me to go to meet him and put down the phone. I went. He welcomed me without any emotion in his face.
After sometime he said, "I saw the film and I myself cried in 15 places." I asked him where all. He said that he had to tell me a lot and put a view finder around my neck. He said that that was gifted to him by his mentor.”
As Ameer was emotionally talking, Balu Mahendra intervened.
"The view finder is the one used by directors. That view finder was gifted to me by the cinematographer of Satyajit Ray. When Bala started directing films, I gifted it to him with my best wishes. Now it is with Bala and it is the right place."
At that time he also made an appeal to Ameer. He said "I understand that Ameer is acting in films. He should not be lost in the make-up. He should always be director Ameer."
