Balu Mahendra, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Balu Mahendra

Sri Lankan born Indian film director

Date of Birth: 20-May-1939

Place of Birth: Batticaloa, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka

Date of Death: 13-Feb-2014

Profession: screenwriter, actor, cinematographer, camera operator, film director, film editor

Nationality: India

Zodiac Sign: Taurus


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About Balu Mahendra

  • Balanathan Benjamin Mahendran (20 May 1939 – 13 February 2014), commonly known as Balu Mahendra, was an Tamil cinematographer, director, screenwriter and film editor who worked predominantly in Tamil cinema.
  • Born in a Eelam Tamil family, he developed a passion for photography and literature at a young age.
  • After witnessing the shoot of David Lean's The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) during a school trip in Sri Lanka, he was drawn towards filmmaking.
  • He graduated from the London University and started his career as a draughtsman with the Sri Lankan Government.
  • In 1966, he moved to India and gained admission to the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) to pursue a course in motion picture photography.
  • Upon completion of his diploma, he entered Malayalam cinema as a cinematographer in the early 1970s. After working in over 20 films as a cinematographer, Mahendra made his directorial debut in 1977 with the Kannada film Kokila.
  • Since then, he directed over 20 films in a span of 36 years.
  • Along with P.
  • Bharathiraja and J.
  • Mahendran, he is regarded as a trendsetter in Tamil cinema.
  • During the tail end of his career, he established a film school in Chennai, which offers courses in cinematography, direction and acting.
  • Following a brief phase of poor health, Mahendra died of cardiac arrest in February 2014. Widely regarded as an auteur, Mahendra usually scripted and edited his films apart from shooting them.
  • He was the recipient of six National Film Awards (including two for Best Cinematography), five Filmfare Awards South and several state government awards.

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