Balaji Mohan

Early life

Balaji was born on 25 May 1987 in Tiruchirappalli to a Telugu father and Tamil mother. 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. He recalls that his parents bought him a handycam in his third semester, and he made his first short film called Velicham, which was also sent to film festivals and won. 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. He also studied acting at the Alchemy Institute, Adyar, Chennai.

Personal life

Balaji Mohan got married in June 2012 to Aruna. In May 2016, Balaji announced his divorce due to irreconcilable differences. In January 2022, he married Dhanya Balakrishna, who co-starred with him in his directorial As I'm Suffering From Kadhal (2017).

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. He later joined as an assistant director for Sudha K. Prasad's Tamil film Drohi (2010), while simultaneously participating in Kalaignar TV's first season of Naalaya Iyakunar. 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.

Among his works, Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi was most popular and went viral on YouTube, garnering overwhelming response. Cinematographer Nirav Shah saw the short film and initiated the idea to make it into a full-length feature film. 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. 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. The film was partially reshot in Telugu. The project was completed in a record 36 days,

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, he teamed up with actor Dhanush again for Maari 2, a sequel to Maari.

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. 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; the film, despite some filming progress, ended up languishing in production hell.

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

Filmography

As a film director

As an actor

As a producer

Web series

Short films

References

References

1. (18 August 2018). "Balaji-Mohan".
2. "Post mortem Love failure by Balaji Mohan".
3. Hemanth Kumar. (21 February 2012). "The phone hasn't stopped ringing". Post noon.
4. Anusha Parthasarathy. (21 October 2010). "Life & Style / Metroplus : Lights, camera, upload". The Hindu.
5. (5 May 2016). "'Maari' director Balaji Mohan confirms his divorce".
6. "Balaji Mohan and Dhanya Balakrishnan get married secretly".
7. (4 March 2012). "My short film worked to my advantage: Balaji Mohan". The Times of India.
8. Janani Karthik DC chennai. (20 February 2012). "Kadhalil Sodhappuvathu Yeppadi: How a short film turned into feature film". Deccan Chronicle.
9. Anupama Subramanian DC chennai. (24 January 2012). "Siddharth, the multi tasker". Deccan Chronicle.
10. G Pramod Kumar. (27 February 2012). "A cool romantic comedy creates a flutter in the south". Firstpost.
11. (31 January 2016). "Maari 2: Dhanush and Balaji Mohan to join hands again".
12. (2022-09-16). "Sharmiela Mandre backs Balaji Mohan's 'Kaadhal Konjam Thookala' as producer". The Times of India.
13. M, Shashiprasad S.. (2023-02-08). "I enjoy film production as much as I enjoy acting: Sharmiela Mandre".
14. "Accidental Farmer & Co: SonyLIV's forthcoming Tamil original, starring Vaibhav, is a comedy in the offing".
15. (18 February 2012). "Kadhalil Sodhapuvadhu Yeppadi: Simple is beautiful". The Hindu.
16. Rajamani, Radhika. "Review: Love Failure is refreshing".
17. ravi, nandita. (27 April 2014). "Movie review 'Vaayai Moodi Pesavum': Shut up and listen!".
18. (20 March 2014). "Going places". The Hindu.
19. (13 July 2015). "'Maari' fulfils how I wanted to see Dhanush onscreen, says director Balaji Mohan".
20. (18 March 2018). "Director Balaji Mohan confirms 'Maari 2' will release in second half of 2018".
21. (20 November 2015). "Thurumbilum Iruppar by Nalan | Naalaiya Iyakkunar 1 | Kalaignar TV".
22. (24 May 2023). "Panjimittai song from Thrishanku is out".
23. (19 November 2019). "It's a wrap for Balaji Mohan's Mandela".
24. (10 March 2023). "Accidental Farmer and Co Review: The Vaibhav-starrer is a comedy of errors that centres around the village 'loser'".
25. (5 June 2017). "As I'm suffering from Kadhal trailer: Balaji Mohan's web series is full of promises. Watch video".
26. Sudevan, Praveen. (14 January 2022). "'Putham Pudhu Kaalai Vidiyaadhaa…' review: Three hits and two misses in this anthology of hope". The Hindu.
27. (30 September 2015). "Kadhalil Sodhappuvathu Yeppadi? - a short film by Maari Director Balaji Mohan | Naalaiya Iyakkunar 1".
28. (11 November 2015). "Chronos - a short film by M. Balaji | Naalaiya Iyakkunar 1 | Kalaignar TV".