Many of us among the young lot might not be familiar with Balu Mahendra but they do remember his movie Sadma which is highly acknowledged for classic performances from Sri Devi and Kamal Haasan. The movie was directed by Mahendra who died in Chennai after he suffered a heart attack in a hospital on Thursday morning. He was 74.
“Deeply saddened on the demise of Balu Mahendra. The legacy of his creations Sadma & Moondram Pirai will live on,” former Bollywood star Sridevi, who acted in Sadma, tweeted.
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Tuesday 12 Nov. 2024
Bollywood director Madhur Bhandarkar tweeted: “Sad to hear the Demise of Master of Innovative Camera Style, Natural Lighting, maker of my favourite hindi film SADMA. Balu Mahendra, RIP.”
He began his life as a cinematographer and later went on to make many memorable films, including Moondram Pirai (Third life) and Veedu (House).
Mahendra made films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam languages. He also directed the Hindi film Sadma.
He won five national awards for his films and a host of state and private awards.
Mahendra made his debut as a director in 1977 with the Kannada film Kokila and directed over 20 films in four Indian languages.
He was considered to be among the first cinematographers in India to use innovative camera styles and abundant natural lighting.
