Balaji Mohan

Balaji Mohan (born 25 May 1987^[1]) is an Indian filmmaker and actor in Tamil-language films. After discontinuing his engineering studies to pursue his passion for becoming a director, he enrolled at a film academy and attended courses and workshops, besides participating in short film contests. After shooting more than half a dozen short films, he directed his first full-length film, a romantic comedy Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi based on one of his own short films.

Balaji Mohan
Born	(1987-05-25) 25 May 1987 (age 37) Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupations	Filmmaker actor
Years active	2012–present
Known for	Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi Vaayai Moodi Pesavum Maari
Spouses	Aruna ​ (div. 2016)​ Dhanya Balakrishna ​ (m. 2022)​

Early life

Balaji was born on 25 May 1987 in Tiruchirappalli.^[2] He pursued his schooling at Campion Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School, Tiruchirappalli, and later joined the Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering in Chennai for his higher studies, albeit he had decided in 10th grade already that he wanted to become a director.^[2] He recalls that his parents bought him a handycam in his third semester,^[2] and he made his first short film called Velicham,^[3] which was also sent to film festivals and won.^[4] Although he had initially planned to complete his education before following his passion and pursuing a career in filmmaking, he did not want to "wait for too long" after making Velicham. After convincing his parents, he discontinued his engineering course two years later and went on to join the L. V. Prasad Film and TV Academy in Vadapalani, Chennai, to learn editing and sound design.^[2][3] He also studied acting at the Alchemy Institute, Adyar, Chennai.

Personal life

Balaji Mohan got married in June 2012^{[citation needed]} to Aruna. In May 2016, Balaji announced his divorce due to irreconcilable differences.^[5] In January 2022, he married Dhanya Balakrishna, who starred in some of his works.^[6]

Career

Balaji began his career as an assistant director for the Tamil film called Kulir 100° (2009). While the film was in its pre-production stage, he got the opportunity to join the Gateway to Hollywood, a show that was aired in Sony TV. His short film Treasure was featured in the contest and Balaji became one of the 6 finalists of the show.^[2] He later joined as an assistant director for Sudha K. Prasad's Tamil film Drohi (2010),^[2] while simultaneously participating in Kalaignar TV's first season of Naalaya Iyakunar.^[2][3] He directed five short films namely Kodi, The Juniors, Addi Tail, Mittai Veedu and Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi for the show and was one of the winners of the series award for consistent performance.^{[citation needed]}

Among his works, Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi was most popular and went viral on YouTube, garnering overwhelming response.^[4][7] Cinematographer Nirav Shah saw the short film and initiated the idea to make it into a full-length feature film.^[2] Balaji took three months to develop the script, while Nirav Shah reached out to producers and actors, introducing him to producer Sashikanth of YNot Movies.^[2][8] Siddharth, who too was keen on turning the short film into a feature film after he had seen it, entered the project, playing the lead role besides co-producing the venture.^[9] The film was partially reshot in Telugu given Siddharth's popularity. The project was completed in a record 36 days,^[3] and the film was released in February 2012. Opening to highly positive critical response, the film went on to become a sleeper hit.^[10]

Balaji Mohan collaborated with Dulquer Salmaan for his second directorial venture, a bilingual titled Vaayai Moodi Pesavum in Tamil and Samsaaram Aarogyathinu Haanikaram in Malayalam. The film marked Balaji Mohan's debut in Malayalam cinema and Dulquer Salmaan's debut in Tamil cinema. His third film was Maari, starring Dhanush and it released in July, 2015. Next up he will be teaming up with Actor Dhanush again for Maari 2 a sequel to Maari.^[11]

He then produced, written and directed a web series titled As I'm Suffering From Kadhal, in which he also played an important role. The series was made in Tamil and dubbed in Telugu. It was released in Hotstar Originals on 15 June 2017.^{[citation needed]} In late 2022, he began directing Kaadhal Konjam Thookala, an adaptation of the novel Make it 2 by Sharada Subramanian, with Kalidas Jayaram and Stand-Up Comedian Nirmal Pillai in the lead roles;^[12] the film, despite some filming progress, ended up languishing in production hell.^[13]

In 2023, Mohan produced the Tamil-language comedy drama television series Accidental Farmer & Co which streamed on SonyLiv.^[14]

Mohan made a guest appearance in the 2023 rom-com Thrishanku.^[15]

Filmography

Feature films

List of Balaji Mohan feature film directing credits

Year	Title	Language	Notes	Ref.
2012	Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi	Tamil	Nominated—SIIMA Award for Best Debut Director	[16][17]
			Partially reshot in Telugu as Love Failure
2014	Vaayai Moodi Pesavum	Tamil	Bilingual movie	[18]
	Samsaaram Aarogyathinu Haanikaram	Malayalam		[19]
2015	Maari	Tamil		[20]
2018	Maari 2	Tamil	Sequel to Maari	[21]

As actor

List of Balaji Mohan film acting credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi	Narrator
2014	Vaayai Moodi Pesavum	News reporter
2015	Maari	Man in auto rickshaw
2017	Pa Pandi	Man who loses his Car
	Velaiilla Pattadhari 2	Balaji
2021	Vinodhaya Sitham	Doctor
2023	Thrishanku	Himself	Malayalam language[22]

As producer

List of Balaji Mohan film producing credits

Year	Title	Notes	Ref.
2021	Mandela		[23]
2022	Mad Company	Creative Producer
2023	Accidental Farmer and Co	Creative Producer	[24]

Web series

List of Balaji Mohan film producing credits

Year	Series	Notes	Ref.
2017	As I'm Suffering From Kadhal	Hotstar	[25]
2022	Putham Pudhu Kaalai Vidiyaadhaa	Anthology – Amazon Prime Video Segment: Mugakavasa Mutham	[26]

References

1. "Balaji-Mohan". Iflicks. 18 August 2018. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016.{
2. "Post mortem Love failure by Balaji Mohan". Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
3. Hemanth Kumar (21 February 2012). "The phone hasn't stopped ringing". Post noon. Archived from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
4. Anusha Parthasarathy (21 October 2010). "Life & Style / Metroplus : Lights, camera, upload". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Archived from the original on 8 May 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
5. "'Maari' director Balaji Mohan confirms his divorce". 5 May 2016. Archived from the original on 6 May 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
6. "Balaji Mohan and Dhanya Balakrishnan get married secretly". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 5 January 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
7. "My short film worked to my advantage: Balaji Mohan". The Times of India. 4 March 2012. Archived from the original on 22 September 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
8. Janani Karthik DC chennai (20 February 2012). "Kadhalil Sodhappuvathu Yeppadi: How a short film turned into feature film". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
9. Anupama Subramanian DC chennai (24 January 2012). "Siddharth, the multi tasker". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 25 January 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
10. G Pramod Kumar (27 February 2012). "A cool romantic comedy creates a flutter in the south". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 1 May 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
11. "Maari 2: Dhanush and Balaji Mohan to join hands again". India Today. 31 January 2016. Archived from the original on 5 January 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
12. "Sharmiela Mandre backs Balaji Mohan's 'Kaadhal Konjam Thookala' as producer". The Times of India. 16 September 2022. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
13. M, Shashiprasad S. (8 February 2023). "I enjoy film production as much as I enjoy acting: Sharmiela Mandre". The South First. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
14. "Accidental Farmer & Co: SonyLIV's forthcoming Tamil original, starring Vaibhav, is a comedy in the offing". OTTPlay. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
15. Vinayak, Achyuth (26 May 2023), Thrishanku (Adventure, Comedy, Drama), Arjun Ashokan, Anna Ben, Shiva Hariharan, Matchbox Shots, Lacuna Pictures, Clocktower Pictures & Co., retrieved 18 October 2024
16. "Kadhalil Sodhapuvadhu Yeppadi: Simple is beautiful". The Hindu. 18 February 2012. Archived from the original on 5 January 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
17. Rajamani, Radhika. "Review: Love Failure is refreshing". Rediff. Archived from the original on 5 January 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
18. ravi, nandita (27 April 2014). "Movie review 'Vaayai Moodi Pesavum': Shut up and listen!". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 5 January 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
19. "Going places". The Hindu. 20 March 2014. Archived from the original on 5 January 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
20. "'Maari' fulfils how I wanted to see Dhanush onscreen, says director Balaji Mohan". 13 July 2015. Archived from the original on 5 January 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
21. "Director Balaji Mohan confirms 'Maari 2' will release in second half of 2018". The News Minute. 18 March 2018. Archived from the original on 5 January 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
22. "Panjimittai song from Thrishanku is out". Cinema Express. 24 May 2023. Archived from the original on 25 May 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
23. "It's a wrap for Balaji Mohan's Mandela". Cinema Express. 19 November 2019. Archived from the original on 6 June 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
24. "Accidental Farmer and Co Review: The Vaibhav-starrer is a comedy of errors that centres around the village 'loser'". India Today. 10 March 2023. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
25. "As I'm suffering from Kadhal trailer: Balaji Mohan's web series is full of promises. Watch video". 5 June 2017. Archived from the original on 20 May 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
26. Sudevan, Praveen (14 January 2022). "'Putham Pudhu Kaalai Vidiyaadhaa…' review: Three hits and two misses in this anthology of hope". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 17 January 2022. Retrieved 5 January 2023 – via www.thehindu.com.

External links

• Balaji Mohan at IMDb