K. Balachander Gets Dadasaheb Phalke Award

Veteran south Indian filmmaker K. Balachander received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for the year 2010. He received the award for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian Cinema from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

The octogenarian started by writing dialogues for M.G. Ramachandran’s film Dheiva Thaai. His 1975 film Apoorva Ragangal was remade in Telugu as Anthuleni Katha and had the rare appearance of Rajnikanth and Kamal Hassan together. Balanchander’s Maro Charitra was later adapted into Hindi as Ek Duje Ke Liye in Bollywood starring Kamal Hassan and Rati Agnihotri.

Five of Balachander’s films have won National Awards for best feature films in Tamil. He also received the Padma Shri in 1987.