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 MullenLowe Lintas Group, formerly Lintas, is an Indian advertising marketing communications company. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Interpublic Group (IPG), and is part of the multinational MullenLowe Group. The group is curr ...

(India). He is best known for directing ''

Cheeni Kum ''Cheeni Kum'' (Hindi for ''Less Sugar'') is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by R. Balki and starring Amitabh Bachchan, Tabu, Paresh Rawal, Zohra Sehgal and Swini Khara. ''Cheeni Kum'' premiered at the 2007 Cannes ...

'' (2007), '' Paa'' (2009) and '' Pad Man'' (2018).

Career

He started, his career with Mudra at the age of 23. His passion had always been filmmaking. After college, he even applied to the Chennai Film Institute to do a course in direction. However, he did not like the panel that interviewed him, so he walked out. Not knowing what to do and having always been interested in Computers, he joined the newly begun

Masters in Computer Application Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

course at the Guindy College of Engineering, close to the film institute. After studying there for three years, he didn't complete the course due to lack of attendance. According to him, this was mainly because he spent his time playing

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and watching films. One day, he saw an advertisement in the papers by Mudra Communications. He had no idea about the company except the fact that their logo appeared after every episode of

Buniyaad ''Buniyaad'' (literally ''Foundation'') is an Indian television soap opera directed by Ramesh Sippy and Jyoti. The series was written by Manohar Shyam Joshi and dealt with the Partition of India in 1947 and its aftermath. It first aired in 198 ...

. And so he thought it was

Ramesh Sippy Ramesh Sippy (born 23 January 1947) is an Indian film director and producer in Hindi cinema. He is particularly known for directing ''Sholay'' (1975), which is regarded as one of the most influential Indian film ever made. The Government of ...

's (the maker of Buniyaad) company. The advert asked people to send in 100 words describing who they were. He was selected for the first creative training programme by the agency. A programme that was like testing model for the agency for the creation of

MICA Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...

years later. Balki was soon addicted to advertising. Balki's ideas have included ''"Daag Achche Hain"'' for

Surf Excel Surf Excel is a Unilever brand that is currently as the counterpart brand of Omo (detergent), OMO detergent in the India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka markets. References {{Reflist External links Surf Excel - IndiaSurf Excel - Sri Lanka

, ''"Jaago re"'' ads for

Tata Tea Tata Consumer Products is an Indian fast-moving consumer goods company and a part of the Tata Group. Its registered office is located in Kolkata while its corporate headquarters is in Mumbai. It is the world's second-largest manufacturer and d ...

, ''"What an idea sirji"''

Idea Cellular Idea Cellular (commonly referred to as Idea, and stylised as ''!dea'') was an Indian mobile network operator based at Mumbai, Maharashtra. Idea was a pan-India integrated GSM operator and had 220.00 million subscribers as of June 2018. ...

advertising campaign,

Havells Havells India Limited is an Indian multinational electrical equipment company, based in Noida, India. It was founded by Late Sh. Haveli Ram Gandhi, later sold to Gupta who was his distributor. This company manufactures home appliances, lighti ...

Tanishq Tanishq is an Indian jewellery brand and a division of Titan Company. Founded in 1994, Tanishq is headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. History By the end of the 1980s, the Titan company launched Tanishq. In the early 1990s, India' ...

ICICI Prudential ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited is a life insurance company in India. Established as a joint venture between ICICI Bank Limited and Prudential Corporation Holdings Limited, ICICI Prudential Life is engaged in life insurance and ...

Saint-Gobain Compagnie de Saint-Gobain S.A. () is a French multinational corporation, founded in 1665 in Paris and headquartered on the outskirts of Paris, at La Défense and in Courbevoie. Originally a mirror manufacturer, it now also produces a variety of ...

glass, Hamara Bajaj, Britannia,

Pepsodent Pepsodent is an American brand of toothpaste with the minty flavor derived from sassafras. The brand was purchased by Unilever in 1942 and is still owned by the company outside of the United States and Canada. In 2003, Unilever sold the rights t ...

and many more. Balki has written and directed the much enjoyed ''

'' (2007), which starred

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; born as Amitabh Shrivastav; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the most succe ...

and

Tabu Tabu may refer to: Cultural and legal concepts *Taboo (spelled ''tabu'' in earlier historical records), something that is unacceptable in society *Tapu (Polynesian culture) (also spelled ''tabu''), a Polynesian cultural concept from which the wor ...

. His second feature film was the critically acclaimed and commercially successful '' Paa'', (produced by

Sunil Manchanda Sunil Manchanda is an Indian film director, and producer, and an advertisement producer. Career His 2003 film Tere Naam won four awards. Manchanda also produced ''Cheeni Kum'' in 2007, which won one award and was nominated for four others. On ...

and

Abhishek Bachchan Abhishek Bachchan (born 5 February 1976) is an Indian actor and film producer known for his work in Hindi films. Part of the Bachchan family, he is the son of actors Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan and the grandson of poet Harivansh Rai Bach ...

), released on 4 December 2009, starring

, his son Abhishek, and

Vidya Balan Vidya Balan (pronounced ; born 1 January 1979) is an Indian actress. Known for pioneering a change in the portrayal of women in Hindi cinema with her roles in female-led films, she is the recipient of several awards, including a National Fi ...

. ''

Shamitabh ''Shamitabh'' is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language satirical drama film written and directed by R. Balki. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Dhanush and debutante Akshara Haasan. The film is jointly produced by Sunil Lulla, Balki, Rakesh Jhunjhunwal ...

'' was his third Bollywood venture starring

, southern superstar

Dhanush Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja (born 28 July 1983), known professionally as Dhanush, is an Indian actor, producer, director, lyricist and playback singer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Starring in 46 films over his career, among hi ...

and

Akshara Haasan Akshara Haasan is an Indian actress who has appeared in Tamil and Hindi-language films. The daughter of actors Kamal Haasan and Sarika Thakur, and the younger sister of Shruti Haasan, she made her film debut with the comedy drama ''Shamitabh' ...

, who made her debut in the film. The film released on 6 February 2015. He then wrote and directed

Ki and Ka ''Ki & Ka'' () is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film written, directed and produced by R. Balki. The film stars Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor. It was released theatrically on 1 April 2016 to mixed reviews and became a commercia ...

which was released on 1 April 2016 starring

Kareena Kapoor Kareena Kapoor Khan (; ''née'' Kapoor; born 21 September 1980) is an Indian actress who appears in Bollywood, Hindi films. She is the daughter of actors Randhir Kapoor and Babita, and the younger sister of actress Karisma Kapoor. Noted for pl ...

and

Arjun Kapoor Arjun Kapoor (born 26 June 1985) is an Indian actor working in Hindi films. Born to the Surinder Kapoor family, he is the son of film producer Boney Kapoor and Mona Shourie. Kapoor made his acting debut in 2012 with romance ''Ishaqzaade'' which ...

. His next was Pad Man which starred

Akshay Kumar Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia (born 9 September 1967), known professionally as Akshay Kumar (), is an Indian-born naturalised Canadian Quote: "(Former prime minister Stephen) Harper campaigned in 2011 alongside one of Modi's biggest celebrity backer ...

and

Radhika Apte Radhika Apte (born 7 September 1985) is an Indian actress. She works predominantly in Hindi films, and has appeared in a few Tamil language, Tamil, Marathi language, Marathi, Telugu language, Telugu, Bengali language, Bengali, and English-langua ...

, released February 2018, based on the life of

Arunachalam Muruganantham Arunachalam Muruganantham (Padman) is a social entrepreneur from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, India. He is the inventor of a low-cost sanitary pad-making machine and is credited for innovating grassroots mechanisms for generating awareness abou ...

, which he co-produced, wrote and directed. In 2019 Balki co-produced and wrote

Mission Mangal ''Mission Mangal'' (English: "Mission Mars") is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Jagan Shakti and produced by Cape of Good Films, Hope Productions, Fox Star Studios, Aruna Bhatia and Anil Naidu. Loosely based on the life of s ...

where he also played the role of creative director. His next directorial was the thriller film Chup : Revenge Of The Artist, released on 23 September 2022, starring

Sunny Deol Ajay Singh Deol (born 19 October 1956), better known by his stage name Sunny Deol, is an Indian actor, film director, producer, politician and current Member of Parliament from Gurdaspur (Lok Sabha constituency) of Punjab, India. As an actor, ...

Dulquer Salmaan Dulquer Salmaan (born 28 July 1986) is an Indian actor, playback singer and film producer who predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films, in addition to Telugu and Hindi films. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in business management ...

and

Shreya Dhanwanthary Shreya Dhanwanthary (born 29 August 1988) is an Indian actress. She got her big break in 2019 as she played Zoya in the Amazon Prime Video web series ''The Family Man (Indian TV series), The Family Man'' and later gained widespread critical acc ...

in lead roles. The film focused on a serial killer who targets film critics.

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in Tamil films. Reputed to be one of ...

, the noted Indian composer, is his favourite composer. Balki once commented, "My biggest inspiration has been Ilaiyaraaja's music; it was his music that got me interested in cinema in the first place." He has collaborated with

P. C. Sreeram P. C. Sreeram ISC (born 26 January 1956) is an Indian cinematographer and film director who works in Indian films. He is also the president of Qube Cinemas, a digital cinema technology company. He is an alumnus of the Madras Film Institute. ...

, India's premier cinematographer in all his films, an association that Balki cherishes deeply.

Personal life

Balki has been married to

Gauri Shinde Gauri Shinde (born 6 July 1974) is an Indian film director and screenwriter. Shinde made her directional debut with the highly acclaimed ''English Vinglish'' (2012), which marked the comeback of actress Sridevi. Shinde featured in the ''Financ ...

since 2007. She is an Indian advertising professional and a screen writer, director and producer.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

'' Paa'' received 14 nominations at the 16th Star

Screen Awards The Screen Awards is an annual awards ceremony held in India honouring professional excellence in Bollywood. The nomination and award selection is done by a panel of distinguished professionals from the industry. The awards were introduced by t ...

and won five awards of those. It also won

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several a ...

. For '' Pad Man'', he won Best Director award in

Indian Film Festival of Melbourne The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) is a Victoria State Government-funded annual festival based in Melbourne founded in 2012. It is presented by Film Victoria, and the provider is chosen through a tender process. The current tender prov ...

2018. It also won the Best film on social issues at the

66th National Film Awards The 66th National Film Awards ceremony was the award ceremony which took place in 2019 to honour the best films of 2018, in the Indian cinema. The declaration of awards was delayed due to 2019 Indian general election. Selection process The Direc ...

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 film directors Directors who won the Best Film on Other Social Issues National Film Award People from Thanjavur district