Sundaram Balachander (18 January 1927 – 13 April 1990) was an Indian

veena The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( sa, वीणा IAST: vīṇā), comprises various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps ...

player and filmmaker. He directed, produced, and also composed music for a few of his films. Balachander was awarded the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

in 1982. He died of a heart attack at the age of 63, while on a music tour of India.

Film career

S Balachander was born to Sundaram Iyer and Parvathi alias Chellamma. Sunderam Iyer was a patron of

Papanasam Sivan Paapanaasam Raamayya Sivan (26 September 1890 – 1 October 1973) was an Indian composer of Carnatic music and a singer. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy's Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1971. He was also a film score composer in Kannada cinema ...

and many other musicians in Mylapore, Chennai. Balachander began as a child artist in the

Tamil film Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywo ...

'' Seetha Kalyanam'' in 1934, in which many members of his family acted. Balachander himself acted as a child musician in

Ravana Ravana (; , , ) is a rakshasa king of the island of Lanka, and the chief antagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana'' and its adaptations. In the ''Ramayana'', Ravana is described to be the eldest son of sage Vishrava and rakshasi Kaikesi. ...

's court, and his father V. Sundaram Iyer acted as

Janaka Janaka is a character who appears in the Hindu epic Ramayana. He is an ancient Hindu king of Videha, which was located in the Mithila region. His name at birth was Sīradhvaja, and he had a brother named Kushadhvaja. His father's name was Hras ...

, elder brother S. Rajam as

Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...

and elder sister S. Jayalakshmi as Seeta. This was followed by appearances in '' Rishyasringar'' (1941) and '' Araichimani'' (1942). In 1948 Balachander directed the film ''

En Kanavar ''En Kanavar'' () is a 1948 Indian Tamil language film directed by S. Balachander and produced by Ajith Pictures. Balachandar, in addition to directing, also composed the music, sang many of the numbers and starred as the male lead. Plot C ...

''. In 1954 he directed '' Andha Naal'', a classic Tamil film noir thriller.

Swati Tirunal Dispute

S Balachander claimed that the composer

Swati Tirunal ( ml, സ്വാതി തിരുനാള്‍ രാമവർമ്മ) (16 April 1813 – 26 December 1846) was the Maharaja of the Kingdom of Travancore. He is also considered as a brilliant music composer and is credited with over ...

was a figment of history's imagination, and he did not even exist. He accused

Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer Semmangudi Radhakrishna Srinivasa Iyer (25 July 1908 – 31 October 2003) was an Indian Carnatic vocalist. He was the youngest recipient of the Sangeetha Kalanidhi awarded by the Music Academy in 1947, a distinction he holds to this day a ...

of passing off his own compositions as Swati Tirunal's. Balachander also disputed Balamurali Krishna's claims of having invented new ragas. S Balachander was actively involved in the Swati Tirunal dispute at the time of his death.

Awards

* 1954 – Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film in Tamil – '' Andha Naal'' *

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...

– Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film in Telugu – ''

Edi Nijam Edi Nijam () is a 1956 Indian Telugu-language film directed by Vainik and film personality S. Balachander and produced by Ghantasala Krishnamurthy of Pratibha Films.Edi Nijam in Naati 101 Chitralu, S. V. Rama Rao, Kinnera Publications, Hyderabad ...

'' *1982 –

Sangeetha Kalasikhamani Sangeetha Kalasikhamani or Sangita Kalasikhamani (Sanskrit: saṅgītakalāśikhāmaṇi) (sangeetha = music, kala = art, sikhamaṇi = A gem of a diadem or crest) is the title awarded yearly to an expert Carnatic music Carnatic music, kno ...

, by The Indian Fine Arts Society, Chennai. *1982 – Padmabhushan

Filmography

References

External links

* * * - Mysskin tells about S. Balachander's film history. {{DEFAULTSORT:Balachander, S. 1927 births 1990 deaths 20th-century Indian film directors 20th-century Indian musicians Film directors from Tamil Nadu Film producers from Tamil Nadu People from Thanjavur district Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts Saraswati veena players Tamil film directors Tamil film producers Tamil musicians Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award