Bala (director)

Bala (born Bala Pazhanisaamy) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer, working in Tamil cinema. Bala is widely acclaimed for "revolutionizing Tamil cinema" through his realistic, dark and disturbing depiction of the working class on celluloid screen. He has received several awards and recognition for his work, including the National Film Award for Best Director for his fourth feature film Naan Kadavul (2009).

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 hesistated 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'. The film was said to have initiated a 'new wave' as it received critical acclaim and became a hit. Its success led to remakes in Kannada (Huchcha), Telugu (Seshu) and Hindi (Tere Naam) languages.