Potpourri of titbits about cinema - K. Balachander

In the first place, he is a great connoisseur of arts. Then, he is a great actor, great writer and last, but not in the least, a very intelligent director. Just guess who that legendary person is! It is none other than the ‘Iyakkunar sikaram’ K. Balachander!

Balachander has around 400 works to his credit that include films of other languages as well as television serials. He has directed a good number of films in Tamil. His fabulous style got him films to direct in other languages too including Malayalam, Telugu, Hindi and Kannada. Before entering cinema, he had established himself as the ‘king’ of theatre. He never forgets the past, a man of great values he is, that he recently staged two plays – ‘Pournami’ and ‘Oru kootai paasam’, written and directed by him. He would show his face in a few films and serials of his own direction. But recently, he proved his histrionic talents through a major role against another great director, ‘Iyakkunar imayam’ Bharatiraja in the film ‘Rettai suzhi’. The countless number of artistes and technicians he ‘created’ and introduced through his films are riding high in the field today! I am proud to say that I am one of those privileged persons who have had the opportunity to mingle with this great patriarch. I used to meet him quite often for interviews with the help of Mr. Mohan, his constant companion.

Nallamangudi, situated near Nannilam in Thanjavur district is the place where this legend belongs to. He was born on 9-7-1930 to the couple Kailasam Iyer – Kamakshi Ammal. His siblings Balasubramanian, Sethulakshmi, Mangalam, Saraswathi are born elder to him. His younger sister is Jayalakshmi. His father was the munsif of the hamlet. Balachander got married to Rajam belonging to Palakkad on 13-5-1956. The couple has three children – Pushpa, Kailasam and Prasanna. Pushpa is married to Kandasamy, Kailasam to Geetha and Prasanna to Sripriya. Janani, Vilasini, Vishnubala, Varshika, Vagavyaa are his grandchildren.