K. Balaji

K. Balaji
Born	(1934-08-05)5 August 1934
Died	2 May 2009(2009-05-02) (aged 74)[1] Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Cause of death	Renal failure[2]
Residence	Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Film actor, producer
Years active	1951–2009
Known for	Billa (1980) – Producer
Religion	Hinduism[3]
Spouse(s)	Anandavally (died in 1995)
Children	Suresh Balaje Sujatha Suchitra Mohanlal
Relatives	Mohanlal (son-in-law) Pranav Mohanlal Sooraj Balaji (grandsons) Rajalakshmi Parthasarathy (sister) Y. G. Mahendra (nephew)

K. Balaji (5 August 1934 – 2 May 2009) was an Indian film producer and actor best known for his Tamil films, particularity films such as the Rajinikanth-starrer Billa (1980) and Kamal Haasan-starrer Vazhvey Maayam (1982). He was the father-in-law of actor Mohanlal. His son is the producer Suresh Balaje.

Early life

Balaji's mother was Malayalee and his father was Tamil. He was the grandson of colonial era advocate T. Rangachari. His interest in acting began when he performed in school plays and amateur theatre shows.^[4]

Career

His quest for a space in showbiz led Balaji to the office of S. S. Vasan, then owner of Gemini Studios in 1951. Vasan was not very keen to work with a newcomer but gave him a minor role in Auvaiyar, in which he played Hindu god Muruga.^[5]

Slowly he managed to land meatier roles and was featured as a male lead in a few films.

Balaji soon understood he was better off playing a villain or the hero's understudy with a negative angle in films that included Padithaal Mattum Podhumaa, Bale Pandiya and Thillana Mohanambal.

Even as the career was taking shape, he was hired as a manager in Narasu Studios in the southwest suburbs.

In that capacity, he discovered his true calling in the 1960s after coming into contact with top Hindi actors such as Ashok Kumar, Dilip Kumar and Tamil stars Sivaji Ganesan and Gemini Ganesan and actress Savithri, who advised him to remake Hindi hits into Tamil with leading actors.

Since the 1960s, all the top Hindi blockbusters such as Dushman (1971) starring Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan's Deewar (1975) and Namak Haraam (1973) were remade in Tamil by Balaji, who always used top stars as his male leads like late Sivaji Ganeshan and thespians Rajnikanth and Kamal Hasan. He founded Sujatha Cine Arts in 1966. He was also the founder of Sujatha Recording Studio, where sound recordings for most of the big-budget movies of the 1980s and '90s were done.^[6]

Family

He had three children — Suresh Balaje, Sujatha and Suchitra Mohanlal. Malayalam superstar Mohanlal is his son-in-law. His wife Anandavally died in 1995. He was also the grandfather of Pranav Mohanlal and Sooraj Balaji. Famous comedian Y.G Mahendra is his nephew through his sister Mrs. Rajalakshmi Parthasarathy.

Death

Balaji died on 2 May 2009 evening due to multiple organ and renal failure. He had been hospitalised for over a month.

Filmography

As producer

As actor

References

• "http://movies.ndtv.com/Ndtv-Show-Special-Story.aspx?ID=107&StoryID=ENTEN20090092624&&cp"
• "Veteran Tamil actor-producer K. Balaji is dead". Thaindian News, 2 May 2009. Retrieved on 27 June 2009.
• "K. Balaji Breathes His Last". IndiaGlitz, 2 May 2009. Retrieved on 27 June 2009.
• "Actor-producer K Balaji passes away". Sify Movies, 3 May 2009. Retrieved on 27 June 2009.

External links

• K.Balaji at the Internet Movie Database
• http://www.malayalachalachithram.com/movieslist.php?a=5463