R. Balakrishnan, popularly known as R. Balki, (born 16 April 1964) is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and former Group Chairman of the advertising agency
Lowe Lintas (India). He is best known for directing the films ''
Cheeni Kum'' (2007), ''
Paa'' (2009), ''
Pad Man'' (2018), ''
Chup: Revenge of The Artist'' (2022), and ''
Ghoomer'' (2023).
Career
Balki wrote and directed the 2007 comedy-drama film ''
Cheeni Kum'', starring
Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.*
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and
Tabu, which marked his directorial debut. His second directorial was the critically acclaimed and commercially successful ''
Paa'', produced by
Sunil Manchanda and
Abhishek Bachchan which was released on 4 December 2009, starring
Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.*
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*
* With a cinemati ...
, his son Abhishek Bachchan and
Vidya Balan. The film received multiple nominations in addition to winning the
National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi the following year. In 2015, he directed the satirical drama ''
Shamitabh'' which would mark his third collaboration with
Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.*
*
*
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* With a cinemati ...
. The film also starred Tamil actor
Dhanush
Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja (born 28 July 1983), known professionally as Dhanush, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, lyricist and playback singer who primarily works in Tamil cinema. Having starred in Dhanush filmography, 50 films over his car ...
and marked the acting debut
Akshara Haasan, daughter of actor-director
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 ...
. In 2016, he directed the comedy-drama ''
Ki and Ka'' which starred
Kareena Kapoor and
Arjun Kapoor. In 2018, he directed the social comedy
''Pad Man'' starring
Akshay Kumar
Akshay Hari Om Bhatia (born Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia; 9 September 1967), known professionally as Akshay Kumar (), is an Indian actor and film producer working in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as "Khiladi Kumar", through his career span ...
and
Radhika Apte
Radhika Apte () (born 7 September 1985) is an Indian film and television
actress. She began acting in theatre and made her film debut with a brief role in the fantasy drama ''Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi!'' (2005). Her first lead role was in the 2009 ...
. The film was based on the life of
Arunachalam Muruganantham, which he co-produced, scripted and directed. In 2019, he co-produced and scripted the 2019 film ''
Mission Mangal'', in addition to serving as a creative director. His next directorial was the thriller
''Chup : Revenge Of The Artist'', starring
Dulquer Salmaan
Dulquer Salmaan (; born 28 July 1983) is an Indian actor, singer and producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. One of the highest paid Malayalam actors, Salmaan is a recipient of several awards including five Film ...
,
Sunny Deol and
Shreya Dhanwanthary in lead roles. The film revolved around a serial killer who targets film critics. In 2023, he wrote and directed and the sports drama ''
Ghoomer'' starring
Abhishek Bachchan and
Saiyami Kher. It premiered at the
Indian Film Festival of Melbourne.
Personal life
Balki was born on 16 April 1964 in
Kumbakonam
Kumbakonam (formerly spelt as Coombaconum or Combaconum), or Kudanthai, is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the States of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Chennai and is the hea ...
,
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
. Prior to his filmmaking career, he worked in advertising and served as the chairman of advertising agency
Lowe Lintas. In 2016, he retired from advertising to focus on his filmmaking career.
Balki married filmmaker
Gauri Shinde in 2007.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
''
Paa'' received 14 nominations at the 16th Star
Screen Awards of which the film won five awards. It also won
National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.
For ''
Pad Man'', he won the award for Best Director at the
Indian Film Festival of Melbourne in 2018. ''Padman'' also won the
National Film Award for the Best Film on Social Issues.
References
External links
*
''Paa'' official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balki, R.
1965 births
Living people
Film directors from Tamil Nadu
Hindi-language film directors
Indian advertising directors
Indian male screenwriters
21st-century Indian screenwriters
Directors who won the Best Film on Other Social Issues National Film Award
People from Thanjavur district