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Date of Birth
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20-May-1939
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Place of Birth
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Batticaloa
(Sri Lanka, Eastern Province, Batticaloa District)
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Nationality
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India, Sri Lanka
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Also know as
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Balu, Balanathan "Balu" Mahendran, Balanathan Mahendra, Benjamin Mahendra, பாலநாதன் மகேந்திரா, Mahendra, Balanathan Benjamin Mahendran, Bala Mahendran
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Profession
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Cinematographer, Film Producer, Film director, Screenwriter, Writer, Film Editor
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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.
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