Awards & Winners

Balu Mahendra

Date of Birth 20-May-1939
Place of Birth Batticaloa
(Sri Lanka, Eastern Province, Batticaloa District)
Nationality India, Sri Lanka
Also know as Balu, Balanathan "Balu" Mahendran, Balanathan Mahendra, Benjamin Mahendra, பாலநாதன் மகேந்திரா, Mahendra, Balanathan Benjamin Mahendran, Bala Mahendran
Profession Cinematographer, Film Producer, Film director, Screenwriter, Writer, Film Editor
Balanathan Benjamin Mahendran, commonly known as Balu Mahendra, was a cinematographer, director, screenwriter and film editor, who worked in various Indian film industries, primarily in Tamil cinema. Born into a Sri Lankan Tamil household, Mahendra developed a passion towards photography and literature at a tender age. He was drawn towards film-making after witnessing the shoot of David Lean's The Bridge on the River Kwai in Sri Lanka. A graduate of the London University, he started his career as a draughtsman before gaining an admission to the Film and Television Institute of India to pursue a course in cinematography. Mahendra entered films as a cinematographer in the early 1970s and gradually rose to becoming a film-maker by the end of the decade. Making his directorial debut through the Kannada film Kokila, Mahendra made over 20 films in all South Indian languages and two in Hindi. He was one of the earliest film-makers in Tamil cinema to introduce realism, and is considered to be a part of the first in a wave of directors and screenwriters who re-vitalised the Tamil film industry.

Awards by Balu Mahendra

Check all the awards nominated and won by Balu Mahendra.

2014


Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award – South

Nominations 2014 »

Award Nominated Nominated Work
Filmfare Award for Best Director – Tamil Thalaimuraigal

2013


Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration
Honored for : Thalaimuraigal
Vijay Award for Contribution to Tamil Cinema

Nominations 2013 »

Award Nominated Nominated Work
Vijay Award for Best Director Thalaimuraigal

1984


Nominations 1984 »

Award Nominated Nominated Work
Filmfare Award for Best Story Sadma

1983


1981


Nandi Award for Best Cinematographer
Honored for : Seethakoka Chilaka

1978


Nandi Award for Best Cinematographer
Honored for : Mana Voori Pandavulu

1975


Kerala State Film Award for Best Cinematography
Honored for : Chuvanna Sandhyakal, Prayanam

1974