R. Balki

R. Balakrishnan, popularly known as R. Balki,^[2][3] (born 16 April 1964) is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and former Group Chairman of the advertising agency Lowe Lintas (India). He is best known for directing the films Cheeni Kum (2007), Paa (2009), Pad Man (2018), Chup: Revenge of The Artist (2022), and Ghoomer (2023).

R. Balki
Born	(1964-04-16) 16 April 1964 (age 60) Kumbakonam, Thanjavur, India[1]
Other names	R. Balakrishnan
Occupation(s)	Former Group Chairman Lowe Lintas, film director, screenwriter
Spouse	Gauri Shinde ​ (m. 2007)​

Career

Balki wrote and directed the 2007 comedy-drama film Cheeni Kum, starring Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu, which marked his directorial debut.^[4] His second directorial was the critically acclaimed and commercially successful Paa, produced by Sunil Manchanda and Abhishek Bachchan which was released on 4 December 2009, starring Amitabh Bachchan, his son Abhishek Bachchan and Vidya Balan. The film received multiple nominations in addition to winning the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi the following year. In 2015, he directed the satirical drama Shamitabh which would mark his third collaboration with Amitabh Bachchan. The film also starred Tamil actor Dhanush and marked the acting debut Akshara Haasan, daughter of actor-director Kamal Haasan.^[5] In 2016, he directed the comedy-drama Ki and Ka which starred Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor.^[6] In 2018, he directed the social comedy Pad Man starring Akshay Kumar and Radhika Apte. The film was based on the life of Arunachalam Muruganantham, which he co-produced, scripted and directed.^[7][8] In 2019, he co-produced and scripted the 2019 film Mission Mangal, in addition to serving as a creative director.^[9] His next directorial was the thriller Chup : Revenge Of The Artist, starring Dulquer Salmaan, Sunny Deol and Shreya Dhanwanthary in lead roles. The film revolved around a serial killer who targets film critics. In 2023, he wrote and directed and the sports drama Ghoomer starring Abhishek Bachchan and Saiyami Kher. It premiered at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne.

Personal life

Balki was born on 16 April 1964 in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu. Prior to his filmmaking career, he worked in advertising and served as the charmain of advertising agency Lowe Lintas. In 2016, he retired from advertising to focus on his filmmaking career.

Balki married filmmaker Gauri Shinde in 2007.^[10][11]

Filmography

Year	Title	Credited as			Notes
		Director	Producer	Writer
2007	Cheeni Kum	Yes	No	Yes
2009	Paa	Yes	No	Yes
2012	English Vinglish	No	Yes	No
2015	Shamitabh	Yes	Yes	Yes
2016	Ki & Ka	Yes	Yes	Yes
2018	Pad Man	Yes	Yes	Yes
2019	Mission Mangal	No	No	Yes
2022	Chup: Revenge of The Artist	Yes	Yes	Yes
2023	Lust Stories 2	Yes	No	Yes	Segment: Made for Each Other
	Ghoomer	Yes	Yes	Yes

Awards and nominations

Paa received 14 nominations at the 16th Star Screen Awards^[12] of which the film won five awards. It also won National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.^{[citation needed]}

For Pad Man, he won the award for Best Director at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne in 2018.^{[citation needed]} Padman also won the National Film Award for the Best Film on Social Issues.^[13]

Year	Award	Category	Film(s)	Result	Ref.
2008	9th IIFA Awards	Best Story	Cheeni Kum	Nominated	[14]
	Producers Guild Film Awards	Best Story		Nominated	[15]
		Best Dialogues		Nominated	[15]
	14th Screen Awards	Most Promising Debut Director		Nominated	[16]
	Stardust Awards	Hottest Young Film Maker		Nominated	[17]
	11th Zee Cine Awards	Most Promising Debut Director		Nominated	[18]
2010	55th Filmfare Awards	Best Director	Paa	Nominated	[19]
		Best Screenplay		Nominated	[19]
	11th IIFA Awards	Best Director		Nominated	[20]
		Best Story		Nominated	[20]
	57th National Film Awards	Best Feature Film in Hindi		Won	[21]
	16th Screen Awards	Best Director		Nominated	[22]
		Best Story		Nominated	[22]
		Best Screenplay		Nominated	[22]
		Best Dialogue		Nominated	[22]
2018	Indian Film Festival of Melbourne	Best Director	Pad Man	Nominated	[23]
2019	66th National Film Awards	Best Film on Other Social Issues		Won	[24]

References

1. R Balki quits Mullen Lowe Lintas, advertising for films
2. "Kamal Haasan's younger daughter Akshara to jump into Bollywood arena". Tamilstar. Archived from the original on 26 May 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
3. CF (4 September 2013). "Akshara to follow Shruti's footsteps into tinsel town". KOLLY TALK. Archived from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
4. "'Cheeni Kum' clocks 13 years: R.Balki shares his experience on making a 'coming of age' film - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
5. "Even after three films with Amitabh Bachchan, it's never easy to get him to sign on, says R Balki". Hindustan Times. 11 February 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
6. "Revealed – Kareena Kapoor's Look As 'KI' In R. Balki's 'Ki And Ka'". 29 July 2015.
7. Vijayakar, Rajiv (19 January 2018). "Inspired Much". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
8. R Balki dedicates Pad Man National Award win to Arunachalam Muruganantham: It belongs to him
9. Raman, Sruthi Ganapathy (24 July 2019). "'Mission Mangal' film about 'ordinary people setting out to do extraordinary things', says director". Scroll.in. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
10. "The accidental couple: The unconventional marriage of R Balki and Gauri Shinde". Hindustan Times. 24 March 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
11. "English Vinglish inspired by my mom: Gauri Shinde - Hindustan Times". Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012., Hindustan Times, 14 August 2012.
12. Nominations for 16th Star Screen Awards, Star Screen Awards.
13. "Akshay Kumar's 'PadMan' wins National Award for being best social film". Business Standard. 23 December 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
14. "Nominations for the IIFA Awards 2008". Bollywood Hungama. Bollywood Hungama News Network. 16 April 2008. Archived from the original on 8 March 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
15. Bollywood Hungama News Network (14 March 2008). "Nominations for 3rd Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild Awards". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 21 September 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
16. "Nominees for 14th Annual Screen Awards". Bollywood Hungama. IndiaFM News Bureau. 2 January 2008. Archived from the original on 29 April 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
17. "Nominations for Max Stardust Awards 2008". Bollywood Hungama. Bollywood Hungama News Network. 25 December 2007. Archived from the original on 23 October 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
18. "Nominations for the Zee Cine Awards 2008". Bollywood Hungama. Bollywood Hungama News Network. 1 April 2008. Archived from the original on 23 March 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
19. "Nominations for 55th Idea Filmfare Awards 2009". Bollywood Hungama. 11 February 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
20. "Nominations for IIFA Awards 2010". Bollywood Hungama. 8 May 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
21. "57th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 November 2018. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
22. "Nominations for Nokia 16th Annual Star Screen Awards 2009". Bollywood Hungama. 31 December 2009. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
23. "Sanju and Padmaavat get most nominations at Indian Film Festival of Melbourne Awards 2018". The Indian Express. 12 July 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
24. "66th National Film Awards" (PDF) (Press release). Directorate of Film Festivals. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2022.

External links

• R. Balki at IMDb
• Paa official website