A pall of gloom has descended over the Kannada film industry with the demise of film-maker K. Balachander. A star director in Tamil cinema, Mr. Balachander had directed five Kannada films Tappida Tala, Benkiyalli Aralida Hoovu, Eradu Rekhegalu, Sundara Swapnagalu, and Mugila Mallige .
He had identified many Kannada talents and introduced them to films. The veteran film director introduced superstar Rajanikanth through Apoorva Raagangal . He also gave actor Ramesh his first big break (as Ramesh Arvind in Tamil).
A mentor to multilingual actor Prakash Rai, Mr. Balachander, who indentified Mr. Rai’s talent through
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Another prominent actor who is indebted to the director is Sundar Raj.
“After B.V. Karanth, KB identified my talent and introduced me in Tappida Tala , which gave me a big break. I have lost my godfather,” a sobbing Sundar Raj said.
Tara, who acted in his
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Kannada icon Dr. Rajkumar was a great admirer of Mr. Balachander and used to meet him often during his Madras days.