Kailasam Balachander (9 July 1930 – 23 December 2014) was an Indian director, producer, writer, actor, playwright, stage conductor, and comedian who worked mainly in the Tamil film industry. He was well known for his distinct film-making style, and the Indian film industry knew him as a master of unconventional themes and hard-hitting contemporary subject matter. Balachander's films are well known for their portrayal of women as bold personalities and central characters. Popularly referred to as Iyakkunar Sigaram (Tamil: இயக்குனர் சிகரம் meaning "the director who scaled the peak"), his films are usually centred on unusual or complicated interpersonal relationships and social themes. Starting his cinematic career as a screenwriter, Balachander soon graduated as a director with Neerkumizhi in 1965. He was given a break into Tamil films by M. G. Ramachandran.

In a career that spread over 50 years, he had contributed to nearly 100 feature films either as a screenwriter or director, thus becoming one of the most prolific film-makers in the country. Known among his colleagues as a tough task master, he was credited with having nurtured numerous actors, notably Nagesh, Sujatha, Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Nassar, Chiranjeevi, Jayaprada, Jayasudha, Saritha, Renuka, Prakash Raj , Ramesh Aravind and Vivek.

As of 2013, Balachander had won nine National Film Awards and 13 Filmfare Awards. He was honored with the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, in 1987, and is a recipient of the ANR National Award and Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in cinema. K. Balachander is revered as one of the best directors India has ever produced.

A production house named Kavithalaya Productions which has been producing films since 1981 is Balachander's very own production house. Apart from Tamil, he had made films in other languages such as Telugu, Kannada and Hindi. He had also made a few film appearances and has directed a few TV serials as well.

Biography

In 1956, Balachander got married to Rajam while he was working at the Accountant General's Office. The couple has two sons named Kailasam and Prasanna and a daughter Pushpa Kandaswamy, who is the chairwoman of their production house Kavithalaya Productions. Kailasam was an entrepreneur while Prasanna, a Chartered Accountant, is the managing director and CEO of a leading investment bank in India. Balachander's first son, Bala Kailasam, died on 15 August 2014 after contracting pneumonia. He was the head of the television production company Minbinbangal, and delivered memorable series in Tamil includes, Kaialavu Manasu, Rail Sneham, and Marma Desam.