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

Tamil cinema Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywood' ...

. 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) 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 was popularly referred to as Kalaignar (Art ...

Film career

Balu worked as a writer on several notable Tamil films in the 1960s including '' Deiva Thai'' (1964), '' Athey Kangal'' (1967) and ''

Moondrezhuthu ''Moondrezhuthu'' () is a 1968 Indian Tamil-language crime film, directed by T. R. Ramanna, produced by T. K. Ramarajan and written by T. N. Balu. Music was by T. K. Ramamoorthy. The film stars Ravichandran, Jayalalithaa, Srividya and Sheela. It ...

'' (1968). His work as the storywriter of ''

Naan Naan ( fa, نان, nān, ur, , ps, نان, ug, نان, hi, नान, bn, নান) is a leavened, oven-baked or tawa-fried flatbread which is found in the cuisines mainly of Western Asia, Central Asia, Indian subcontinent, Indonesia, Ma ...

'' (1967), saw him also credited for the films Telugu and Hindi remakes, ''

Nenante Nene ''Nenante Nene'' () is a 1968 Indian Telugu-language masala film directed by V. Ramachandra Rao and produced by P. N. Babji. A remake of the 1967 Tamil film ''Naan'', it stars Krishna, Kanchana, Krishnam Raju and Nagabhushanam. The film focuse ...

'' (1968) and '' Waris'' (1969). He regularly collaborated as a story, screenplay and dialogue writer for productions by Modern Theatres. In the late 1970s, he regularly worked on the scripts for

Jaishankar Jaishankar (12 July 1938 – 3 June 2000) was an Indian actor known for his work in Tamil cinema. He was a very popular lead actor in the 1960s and 70s. He was credited onscreen with title of ''Makkal Kalaingnar'' (people's artiste) or '' ...

'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 directed by T. N. Balu starring Kamal Haasan and Sripriya. It was remade in Hindi as ''Yeh To Kamaal Ho Gaya'' (1982), with Haasan returning. Plot The film revolves around ...

'' (1978) featuring

Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali l ...

and

Sripriya Sripriya is an Indian 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, includin ...

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, 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 a political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu where it is currently the ruling party having a comfortable majority without coalition support and the union territory of Puducherry where it is curre ...

, Balu managed to escape to

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. 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 wi ...

'' (1981), which he was also directing and writing. The film was later completed by cinematographer

N. K. Viswanathan N. K. Viswanathan (died 25 March 2017) was an Indian film director and cinematographer who has worked on Tamil films. After beginning his career working as a cinematographer for Tamil films during the 1980s, he branched into film direction and m ...

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 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 films. He is also a practitioner of Kalaripayattu. He is best known for his roles in Commando film series, ...

Ashish Vidyarthi Ashish Vidyarthi (born 19 June 1962) 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 received t ...

and

Sharath Lohithaswa Sharatchandra Lohithaswa (born 5 May 1972), known popularly as Sharath Lohithaswa, is an Indian actor mostly known for his work in Kannada and Tamil films. He has had a successful career in theatre, where he continues to work, and television. A ...

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 film directors Tamil screenwriters 20th-century Indian screenwriters