Daniel Balaji

T. C. Balaji (2 December 1975 – 29 March 2024), better known by his stage name Daniel Balaji, was an Indian actor, who predominantly worked in Tamil film industry and in some Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam films.^[1]

Daniel Balaji
Born	T. C. Balaji (1975-12-02)2 December 1975 Madras, Tamil Nadu, India
Died	29 March 2024(2024-03-29) (aged 48) Kottivakkam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1998–2024
Relatives	Siddalingaiah (uncle) Murali (cousin) Atharvaa (nephew)

Early life

Balaji was born in Chennai to a Telugu father (from Chittoor) and a Tamil mother (from Arcot).^[2] He studied a film direction course in Taramani film institute, Chennai. His mother and Murali's mother are sisters.^[2] His uncle is S. Siddalingaiah.^[3] His nephew is Atharvaa.

Career

In 1998, Balaji began his film career as a unit production manager on the sets of Kamal Haasan's unreleased Marudhanayagam and as an assistant director for the delayed Kamarasu.^[4][5]

Balaji's first role was in the television serial Chithi, where he played a character named Daniel.^[6] After the success of the show, in his second serial Alaigal, director Sunder K. Vijayan, named him as Daniel Balaji based on his own character in Chithi.

His first film in Tamil was April Maadhathil, followed by a role in Kaadhal Kondein.^[7] His first major role was in Kaakha Kaakha as a police officer alongside Suriya, who played the leading role. The film, directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, was about a squad of policemen fighting organized crime in Chennai. Balaji followed this up with another major role in Menon's next film, that of the antagonist Amudhan in the blockbuster film Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu.^[6] The film starred Kamal Haasan and was a police procedural focusing on a series of murders. Balaji's portrayal of both these roles received praise.

His next film, Polladhavan, was also successful.^[8] He also acted as one of the villains in the Telugu film Chirutha and followed this up by playing the hero in Muthirai, produced by Vision Jeeva Studios.

Balaji made his debut in Malayalam cinema through Black. Later, he was cast the villain in Bhagavan (opposite Mohanlal) and Daddy Cool (opposite Mammootty).

Death

Daniel Balaji died of a heart attack in Chennai on 29 March 2024, at the age of 48.^[9][10]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Language	Notes
2002	April Madhathil	Suresh	Tamil	Debut film role
2003	Kaadhal Kondein	Police Inspector
	Kaakha Kaakha	Srikanth
2004	Black	Ezhumalai	Malayalam
	Samba	Goon	Telugu
	Gharshana	Srikanth
2006	Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu	Amudhan Sukumaran	Tamil
	November Rain	Mattancherry Dada	Malayalam
	Photographer	Inspector
2007	Polladhavan	Ravi	Tamil
	Chirutha	Beeku	Telugu
2009	Muthirai	Azhagu	Tamil
	Bhagavan	Saifudeen	Malayalam
	Daddy Cool	Siva
2011	Kirataka	Seena	Kannada
2012	Mithivedi	Asoka	Tamil
	Crime Story	Shivan	Malayalam
	12 Hours	Antony Raj
2013	Paisa Paisa	Auto driver
2014	Marumugam	Mayazhagan	Tamil
	Gnana Kirukkan	Ganesan
	Shivajinagara	Mohammed Ali	Kannada
2015	Yennai Arindhaal	Assassin	Tamil	Guest appearance
	Dove		Kannada
	Vai Raja Vai	Randhe	Tamil
2016	Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada	Hiren
	Sahasam Swasaga Sagipo		Telugu
2017	Bairavaa	Kottai Veeran	Tamil
	Enbathettu
	Ippadai Vellum	Chota
	Yazh	Asokan
	Maayavan	Rudran
	Bangalore Underworld	ACP Thomas	Kannada
2018	Vidhi Madhi Ultaa	Danie	Tamil
	Vada Chennai	Thambi
2019	Gangs of Madras	Boxy	Tamil
	Bigil	Daniel
2021	Tuck Jagadish	Veerendra Naidu	Telugu	Released on Amazon Prime[11]
	Anandham Vilayadum Veedu	Karuppan	Tamil
2023	Ariyavan	Thuraipandi
2024	Rajakili	John		Cameo Appearance; Final film role

Television

Year	Title	Role	Channel
2000-2001	Chithi	Daniel	Sun TV
2001-2002	Alaigal	Dharma