T. N. Balu (died 1981) was an Indian writer, director and producer who worked in

Tamil cinema Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Ch ...

. He was active in the second half of the 1900s, and shared a close association with the former chief ministers of Tamil Nadu

Karunanidhi Muthuvel Karunanidhi (3 June 1924 – 7 August 2018), also known as Kalaignar (Artist), was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011. He had the ...

Film career

Balu worked as a writer on several notable Tamil films in the 1960s including '' Deiva Thai'' (1964), '' Athey Kangal'' (1967) and '' Moondrezhuthu'' (1968). His work as the storywriter of ''

Naan Naan () is a leavened, oven-baked or tawa-fried flatbread, that can also be baked in a tandoor. It is characterized by a light and fluffy texture and golden-brown spots from the baking process. Naan is found in the cuisines of Central Asia ...

'' (1967), saw him also credited for the films Telugu and Hindi remakes, '' Nenante Nene'' (1968) and '' Waris'' (1969). He regularly collaborated as a story, screenplay and dialogue writer for productions by

Modern Theatres Modern Theaters Ltd was an Indian film studio in Salem, Tamil Nadu started by T. R. Sundaram Mudaliar in 1935. The studio produced over more than 150 films until 1982 in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Sinhalese and even English ...

. In the late 1970s, he regularly worked on the scripts for

Jaishankar Jaishankar may also refer to: * Jaishankar Prasad (1889 – 1937), Indian writer and playwright * Jaishankar (actor) (1938 – 2000), Indian actor * Jaishankar Menon (born 1956), Indian-American computer scientist * Jaishankar Bhojak (1889 – 1 ...

's films and directed both ''Nallathukku Kalamillai'' (1977) and ''Odi Vilayadu Thatha'' (1977). Balu's ''

Sattam En Kaiyil ''Sattam En Kaiyil'' () is a 1978 Indian Tamil-language action film written, produced and directed by T. N. Balu. The film stars Kamal Haasan and Sripriya, while Sathyaraj made his screen debut. It was released on 14 July 1978 and became a suc ...

'' (1978) featuring

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 ...

and

Sripriya Sripriya is an Indian former actress, film director and politician from Tamil Nadu. She has acted in over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi languages. She has also directed films in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu languages, ...

was a commercially successful venture. Balu was jailed soon after the film's release, and

helped bail him out, after seeking permission from chief minister

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 – 24 December 1987), popularly known by his initialism M.G.R. and as Makkal Thilagam/Puratchi Thalaivar, was an Indian actor, politician, and philanthropist who served as the chief minister of ...

, to attend the 100th day celebration ceremony of the film. However, soon after the ceremony was over, with the help of his acquaintances from the opposition party -

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; ; DMK) is an Indian political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu, where it is currently the ruling party, and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry, where it is currently the main ...

, Balu managed to escape to

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. The incident created a strain between M. G. Ramachandran and Kamal Haasan. He died during the making of his production venture, ''

Sankarlal ''Sankarlal'' is a 1981 Indian Tamil-language action film, written, directed and produced by T. N. Balu. It stars Kamal Haasan in dual lead roles as father and son. Balu died half-way during production, and the film was eventually completed wit ...

'' (1981), which he was also directing and writing. The film was later completed by cinematographer N. K. Viswanathan with the assistance of Kamal Haasan.

Personal life

Balu's son, T. N. B. Kathiravan, also known as Kathir, is a dubbing artiste who works on

Tamil language Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world,. "Tamil is one of ...

films. He has provided voiceovers for actors including

Vidyut Jammwal Vidyut Dev Singh Jammwal (born 10 December 1980) is an Indian actor, martial artist and film producer who predominantly works in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu films. He is also a practitioner of Kalaripayattu, which he showcased in the film '' Jungl ...

Ashish Vidyarthi Ashish Vidyarthi (born 19 June 1965) is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, English, Odia, Marathi and Bengali films. He is noted for his antagonist and character roles. In 1995, he receive ...

and Sharath Lohithaswa in Tamil cinema.

Death

Balu died during the making of his production venture, ''

'' (1981).

Partial filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Balu, T. N. 1981 deaths 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Film directors from Chennai Screenwriters from Chennai Tamil screenwriters 20th-century Indian screenwriters