Balakumaran

Balakumaran Biography

Balakumaran is a noted writer associated with Tamil literature. A novelist, he has also written short stories apart from writing columns for dailies and other publications. He also wrote dialogues and screenplay for around 15 movies. Till now he has published 150 novels and 100 short stories. As a writer, some of his prominent movies are Nayakan (1987) and Guna (1991) starring Kamal Hassan, Gentleman (1993), Kadhalan (1994), Ragasiya Police (1995), Baasha (1995), Ullaasam (1997), Jeans (1998), Kadhal Sadugudu (2003), Manmadhan (2004), Vallavan (2006), Pudhupettai (2006) etc. He has directed one Tamil comedy movie, Idhu Namma Aalu in 1988 starring K. Bhagyaraj and Shobana.

He is a recipient of numerous literary awards also. He received Kalaimaamani Award from Government of Tamil Nadu for his contributions to cinema as a writer. His short story collections - Kadarpalam and Sugajeevanam earned him state awards while Mercury Pookal earned him Illakkiya Sindhanai Awards. His skills in crafting the dialogues for onscreen characters have given him a prominent position in Tamil film industry. 1994 film Kadalan earned him State award for best dialogue Writer. He wrote the dialogues of cult classic Nayakan, starring Kamal Hassan.  This movie found place in NDTV's list "India's 20 greatest films", CNN-IBN’s list of "100 greatest Indian films of all time" as well as TIME’s "All-Time 100 Best Films". He wrote the dialogues of Guna, which also received cult classic status.

He was born on 05-07-1946. Currently he resides in Chennai. His short stories and novels are published in Kumudam, Ananda Vikatan, Kalki and many other major magazines. Among his literary works - Kadhal Arangam, Marakal, Krishna Arjunan, Udayar, Thozhan, Mercury PookalAgalya, Thunai, Guru, Manam Uruguthey, and Gangai Konda Chozhan are the best books he published. He is fondly called Ezhutthu Sitthar by his fans.

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Updated: April 16, 2016