Balasubramanian known as Bala is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer, working in Tamil cinema. Often considered to be one of the finest directors in Tamil, Bala is widely acclaimed for "revolutionizing Tamil cinema"[2][3][4] through his realistic, dark and disturbing depiction of the working class on celluloid screen.[5][6]
Just within directing a handful of films, his movies went on to win 6 National Awards, 13 State awards, 15 Filmfare Awards, 14 International Festival Awards and numerous coveted state awards which created a storm within the Indian movie scene. Apart from the awards, actors who played lead roles were transformed into brand new avatars and became stars.
Bala was introduced by lyricist Arivumathi to director Balu Mahendra.[7] Initially he was working as a production assistant in Balu Mahendra movie.[8] Later Bala turned to work with him as assistant director in his movies.[9][10] Bala made his directorial debut with Sethu in 1999, that gave a break to Vikram, the film's lead actor, who was also struggling in the Tamil film industry for almost a decade without a hit and recognition. More than 60 distributors saw the film and hesitated to screen it because of its tragic ending. The film was released on a low profile without any advertisement but after the first days the film started running to packed houses just through 'word of mouth'.[11][12] The film was said to have initiated a 'new wave'[13] as it received critical acclaim and became a hit. Its success led to remakes in Kannada (Huchcha), Telugu (Seshu) and Hindi (Tere Naam) languages.
