Sundaram Balachander

Sundaram Balachander Biography

Sundaram Balachander, also called S. Balachander was a multifaceted personality associated with Tamil cinema, music and dance forms. He was a self-taught veena player, an accomplished singer and composer. He was a film producer and director, who was known for his acting and dancing skills as well. Balachander was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1982 for his contributions to cinema and music.

He was born on 18 January 1927 in Mylapore, Madras Presidency, British India into a family of musicians and artists. V. Sundaram Iyer and Parvathi were his parents. He had 5 siblings. His elder brother S. Rajam is a well-known singer and teacher. His elder sister is S. Jayalakshmi was a film actress. Great patron of arts, when his father bought a house in Mylapore in 1924, he added a hall in the first floor exclusively for performances and leading artists used to perform there; Ariyakudi Ramanujam Iyengar, Papanasam Sivan and Madurai Mani Iyer to mention a few. His father also supported Papanasam Sivan when he relocated from Thiruvananthapuram to Chennai to earn a livelihood.

Sundaram Balachander was introduced to the world of classical music at the age of 6. He later learnt to play music instruments like tabla, mridangam, harmonium, bulbul tarang, dilruba, and shehnai. He also performed in temple festivals and devotional congregations. He gave his solo concert at the age of 12. He was as an artist on the staff of "All India Radio" Chennai from 15 to 18 years. He also learnt Western and Hindustani music a little bit.

He began his film career as a child artist in Tamil film Seetha Kalyanam in 1934. As an adult actor, Devaki, Rajambal, Rani, Inspector, Penn, Kodeeswaran, Doctor Savitri and Maragadham are some of his noted roles. He directed a Tamil film Andha Naal (1954) a movie with no songs and a Telugu film in 1956 entitled Edi Nijam. He formed his own production company called S .B. Creations and released three of his directorial ventures - Avana Ivan (1962), Bommai (1964) and Nadu Iravil (1965). He was a victim of sudden death on 15 April 1990, in Bhilai.

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Updated: February 03, 2016