Santosh pathak: adding a data basic info

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{{Short description|Indian Film Producer director}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}
{{Multiple issues|{{BLP sources|date=April 2017}}{{no footnotes|date=April 2017}}
{{Orphan|date=August 2017}}
}}

'''Balakrishnan Thevar''' (born 25 April 1972), fondly called Bala, is associated with the Indian film industry as associate director, executive producer and actor. He has straddled the world of both feature and ad films in different capacities. One of the landmark movies he has been a part of, on the Direction team is ''[[Neerja]]'', which bagged two honours at the [[64th National Film Awards]].

Bala forayed into the Indian film industry in 2007 with ''Gandhi, My Father'', as the director's assistant and supervising sound editor. He also acted in this [[Feroz Abbas Khan]]-directed film. Thereafter, he worked with leading production houses like [[Dharma Productions]] (''[[Kurbaan (2009 film)|Kurbaan]]'', ''[[Student of the Year]]'', ''[[Ungli]]'') and [[Sanjay Leela Bhansali|Sanjay Leela Bhansali Films]], [[Viacom 18 Motion Pictures]] & [[Shabina Khan|Shabinaa Khan]]'s (''[[Gabbar Is Back|Gabbar is Back]]''), [[Hari Om Entertainment]] and [[Farah Khan]]'s (''[[Joker (2012 film)|Joker]]''), amongst others and auteur directors like [[Pankaj Kapur]] (''[[Mausam (2011 film)|Mausam]]''), [[Rensil D'Silva]] (''[[Kurbaan (2009 film)|Kurbaan]]'') and [[Ram Madhvani]]'s (''[[Neerja]]''). In the recently released film, ''[[Noor (2017 film)|Noor]]'' (21 April 2017), directed by Sunhil Sippy, he was on board as associate director.

He has gained global cinematic experience by working on German films and a Hollywood movie, (''[[Basmati Blues]]''), directed by Dan Baron.

== Early and personal life ==
Bala was born in Mumbai to Subbiah Thevar and Rukhmini Thevar. His paternal uncle [[Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar]], owner of the famous banner [[Devar Films]], was an eminent producer of Tamil films in the mid-1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He has produced numerous movies with [[M. G. Ramachandran]] as the lead actor, and was famous for his films featuring animals. Sandow had also produced the [[Rajesh Khanna]]'s hit film ''[[Haathi Mere Saathi (1971 film)|Haathi Mere Saathi]]'' (1971).

Bala graduated from SIES College with a degree in arts, and he was always creatively inclined with a keen passion for photography.

During his growing years, he gained knowledge about construction, as his father was in that field. After school, Bala started building his career and at the same time completed his education. While he was still in college, he did still photography for the popular TV serial, ''[[Mahabharat (1988 TV series)|Mahabharata]]'', made under the [[Baldev Raj Chopra|B. R. Chopra]] banner. After college, he started his own agency Thevar Design Studio, where he designed below the line campaigns for numerous prominent brands.

== Career ==

=== Films ===
Bala's journey in the Indian film industry began with [[Feroz Abbas Khan]]'s ''[[Gandhi, My Father]]'' in 2007, which was produced by [[Anil Kapoor]]. He had just wrapped up his agency and was taking a break, when the film came his way. The film was his training ground and charted the future course of his film career. Not only was he the director's Assistant and Supervising Sound Editor on the film, he also managed to bag a small role in it.

In the years to follow, he donned different hats like First Assistant Director (''[[Drona (2008 film)|The Legend of Drona]]'', ''[[Mausam (2011 film)|Mausam]]'', ''[[Neerja]]''), Chief Assistant Director (''[[Kurbaan (2009 film)|Kurbaan]]'', ''[[Student of the Year]]'', ''Shimla Mirch'' {unreleased}), associate director (''[[Joker (2012 film)|Joker]]'', ''[[Gabbar Is Back|Gabbar is Back]]'', ''[[Noor (2017 film)|Noor]]''), Post Production Supervisor (''Pehla Sitara'') and Schedule Planner (''Arranged Marriage'' {unreleased}).

Internationally, Bala has worked on several German films and was the First Assistant Director on the Hollywood movie, ''[[Basmati Blues]]'', directed by Dan Baron and starring [[Brie Larson]], [[Scott Bakula]], and [[Donald Sutherland]]. It was shot in the picturesque [[Kerala]] in 2013.

=== Television ===
Bala was a college student, when driven by his passion for photography he bagged the Still Photography project for the blockbuster serial, ''[[Mahabharat (1988 TV series)|Mahabharata]]'' by [[Baldev Raj Chopra|B. R. Chopra]].

Later in his television career, Bala directed an important episode of ''[[Razia Sultan (TV series)|Razia Sultan]]'' and ''[[Jodha Akbar (TV series)|Jodha Akbar]]'' of the historical serial ''Rakkt'' on [[Epic (TV channel)|Epic channel]].

Ambitious of reviving his family banner, Devar Films, Bala produced certain episodes of the [[Doordarshan]] series, ''[[Main Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon|Main Kuchh Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon]]'', which addresses regressive practices against women. The series is directed by [[Feroz Abbas Khan]] and has [[Farhan Akhtar]] as its narrator.

=== Ad Films ===

==== Chief Assistant Director ====
Bala's repertoire includes numerous ad films for noted brands including Lux, [[Domino's Pizza]], [[West Bengal Tourism]], [[Milo (drink)|Milo]], [[Coca-Cola]], i-Pad Air, [[Meswak]], and Bru Coffee.

==== Executive producer ====
On the herbal toothpaste brand, [[Meswak]], Bala also took charge as Executive Producer.

==== Actor ====
In addition to direction and production, Bala has faced the camera for Bru Coffee in which he played a pivotal role.

== Filmography ==
{| class="wikitable"
! Film
! Year of release
! Role
|-
|[[Noor (2017 film)|Noor]]
|2017
|Associate Director
|-
|''[[Basmati Blues]]''
|2017
|First Assistant Director
|-
|''[[Neerja]]''
|2016
|First Assistant Director
|-
|''[[Gabbar Is Back]]''
|2015
|Associate Director
|-
|''[[Ungli]]''
|2014
|Chief Assistant Director
|-
|''[[Student of the Year|Student Of the Year]]''
|2012
|Chief Assistant Director
|-
|''[[Joker (2012 film)|Joker]]''
|2012
|Associate Director
|-
|''Pehla Sitara''
|2012
|Post Production Supervisor
|-
|''[[Mausam (2011 film)|Mausam]]''
|2011
|First Assistant Director
|-
|''[[Kurbaan (2009 film)|Kurbaan]]''
|2009
|Chief Assistant Director
|-
|''[[Drona (2008 film)|The Legend Of Drona]]''
|2008
|First Assistant Director
|-
|''[[Gandhi, My Father]]''
|2007
|Assistant to Director, Supervising Sound Editor
|-
|''Shimla Mirchi''
|In Post Production
|Chief Assistant Director
|-
|''Arranged Marriage''
|NA
|Schedule Planner
|-
|GOLD
|2018
|First Assistant Director
|-
|SYERAA
|2019(In Production)
|First Assistant Director
|}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links==
* {{IMDb name|2040704}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thevar, Balakrishnan}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1972 births]]
[[Category:Film producers from Mumbai]]
[[Category:Male actors in Hindi cinema]]

Balakrishnan Thevar - Revision history

Santosh pathak: adding a data basic info