T. C. Balaji (2 December 1975 – 29 March 2024), better known by his stage name Daniel Balaji, was an Indian actor, who predominantly worked in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

film industry and in some

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

films.

Early life

Balaji was born in Chennai to a Telugu father (from

Chittoor Chittoor is a city and district headquarters in Chittoor district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is also the mandal and divisional headquarters of Chittoor mandal and Chittoor revenue division respectively. The city has a popul ...

) and a Tamil mother (from

Arcot Arcot (natively spelt as Ārkāḍu) is a town and urban area of Ranipet district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located on the southern banks of Palar River, the city straddles a trade route between Chennai and Bangalore or Salem, betwe ...

). He studied a film direction course in Taramani film institute, Chennai. His mother and

Murali Murali may refer to: People Mononyms *Murali (Malayalam actor) (1954–2009), name of Malayalam film actor Muraleedharan Pillai, who appeared in ''Neythukaran'' and ''Aadhaaram'' *Murali (Tamil actor) (1964–2010), Tamil actor who appeared ...

's mother are sisters. His uncle is S. Siddalingaiah. His nephew is

Atharvaa Atharvaa Murali (born 7 May 1989) is an Indian actor who works in Tamil cinema. The son of actor Murali and grandson of director S. Siddalingaiah, Atharvaa began his acting career with '' Baana Kaathadi'' (2010). He then garnered critical accl ...

Career

In 1998, Balaji began his film career as a

unit production manager In the cinema of the United States, a unit production manager (UPM) is the Directors Guild of America–approved title for the top below-the-line staff position, responsible for the administration of a feature film or television production. Non-D ...

on the sets of

Kamal Haasan Parthasarathy Srinivasan (born 7 November 1954), known professionally as Kamal Haasan, is an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Considered as one of the most accomplished actors of Indian Cinema, Haas ...

's unreleased ''

Marudhanayagam ''Marudhanayagam'' () is an unfinished Indian historical drama film directed and produced by Kamal Haasan under his Raaj Kamal Films International banner. The script was co-written by Haasan, along with novelist Sujatha, and the pair started w ...

'' and as an assistant director for the delayed '' Kamarasu''. Balaji's first role was in the television serial '' Chithi'', where he played a character named Daniel. After the success of the show, in his second serial ''Alaigal'', director Sunder K. Vijayan, named him as Daniel Balaji based on his own character in ''Chithi''. His first film in Tamil was ''

April Maadhathil ''April Maadhathil'' () is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by newcomer S. S. Stanley. It stars Srikanth and Sneha, with Gayatri Jayaraman, Venkat Prabhu, Devan and Karunas among others in the supporti ...

'', followed by a role in '' Kaadhal Kondein''. His first major role was in ''

Kaakha Kaakha ''Kaakha Kaakha'' () is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon and produced by Kalaipuli S. Thanu. The film stars Suriya, Jyothika and Jeevan, with Daniel Balaji, Vivek Anand, Devadars ...

'' as a police officer alongside

Suriya Saravanan Sivakumar (born 23 July 1975), known professionally as Suriya, is an Indian actor and film producer who primarily works in Tamil films. One of the highest-paid Tamil actors, Suriya is considered as one of the finest actors of Indian ...

, who played the leading role. The film, directed by

Gautham Vasudev Menon Gautham Vasudev Menon (born 25 February 1973) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, film producer and actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, Tamil film industry. He has also directed Telugu cinema, Telugu, Hindi cinema, Hindi and Ma ...

, was about a squad of policemen fighting

organized crime Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

. Balaji followed this up with another major role in Menon's next film, that of the antagonist Amudhan in the blockbuster film ''

Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu ''Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu'' () is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language neo-noir action thriller film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. The film stars Kamal Haasan and Jyothika, while Kamalinee Mukherjee, Prakash Raj, Daniel Balaji, and ...

''. The film starred

and was a police procedural focusing on a series of murders. Balaji's portrayal of both these roles received praise. His next film, '' Polladhavan'', was also successful. He also acted as one of the villains in the Telugu film '' Chirutha'' and followed this up by playing the hero in ''

Muthirai ''Muthirai'' () is a 2009 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written by Aneez Tanveer Jeeva, wife of late director Jeeva, and directed by actor Srinath, starring Daniel Balaji, Nithin Sathya, Lakshmi Rai and newcomer Manjari Phadnis, ...

'', produced by Vision Jeeva Studios. Balaji made his debut in

Malayalam cinema Malayalam cinema, also referred to as Mollywood, is a segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to producing films in the Malayalam, Malayalam language, primarily spoken in Kerala and the Lakshadweep islands. It encompasses both th ...

through ''

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

''. Later, he was cast the villain in ''

Bhagavan The word Bhagavan (; ), also spelt as Bhagwan (sometimes translated in English as "Lord", "God"), is an epithet within Indian religions used to denote figures of religious worship. In Hinduism it is used to signify a deity or an ''avatar'', pa ...

'' (opposite

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (; born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor and filmmaker who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hin ...

) and '' Daddy Cool'' (opposite

Mammootty Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam-language films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, ...

Death

Daniel Balaji died of a heart attack in Chennai on 29 March 2024, at the age of 48.

Filmography

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Balaji, Daniel 1975 births 2024 deaths Male actors in Tamil cinema Male actors from Chennai