Balu Mahendra

Balu Mahendra

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Category: Cinema

Balu Mahendra Profile

  • Name:
  • Balu Mahendra
  • Other Name:
  • Balanathan Mahendra
  • Born:
  • May 20, 1939
  • Died:
  • February 13, 2014
  • Spouse:
  • Shoba (1978–80; Until Her Death), Mounika (1998 – 2014)

Balu Mahendra Biography

Balu Mahendra is one among the most successful film makers of Tollywood yesterdays. He is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter, editor and cinematographer. His first wife was a successful and talented actress Shobha who committed suicide at a younger age of 17. He started his film career as a cameraman for the Malayalam film Nellu in 1974. He made his directional debut in 1977 through the Kannada fim Kokila, yet he concentrated most on Tamil movies. Mahendra has won five National Film Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and numerous state awards. His films were oriented towards parallel cinema yet became successful. He was the director of Kamal Hassan, Sridevi starrer Moonnam pira, the movie for which Kamal Hassan bagged his first National award. This movie was dubbed to Hindi and released as Sadma, for which he won a Filmfare nomination for best story. According to him, the story of this movie was inspired from the sudden death of his first wife, actress Shobha.

Director Balu Mahendra

Mahendra was born in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka into a Sri Lankan Tamil family. At the age of 13, he happened to watch David Lean's making of The Bridge on the River Kwai which generated his interest in film making. He joined the London University and completed a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree and he joined the FTII, Pune pursuing a course in cinematography. He won Gold medal this time.

 

Till his debut as a director, he worked as a cameraman of 21 movies and did camera work for prominent film makers like Sethu Madhavan, Bharathan and Ramu Kariyat. He started his camera work for Ramu Kariyat’s Nellu, the movie for which Lata Mangeshkar has sung her first Malayalam song. His directorial debut Kokila earned him the Best Cinematography Award at the 24th National Film Awards. The movie was a big hit and owns a unique distinction of being the only Kannada film to complete 150 days in Chennai. His second venture as a director was Azhiyadha Kolangal (1979), his Tamil debut.

 

He has won National Film Award for Best Cinematography for Moonnam pirai and Kokila. Veedu and Vanna vanna pookal has given him best movie in Tamil category and Sandhya Raagam presented him National Film Award for Best Film on Family Welfare. He has won Filmfare awards South trice for best direction and Kerala state awards for best cinematography twice.

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Updated: October 01, 2017

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