# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/balu-mahendra
# Generated: 2026-08-14T13:25:04.517Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/balu-mahendra"
name: "Balu Mahendra"
slug: "balu-mahendra"
description: "Balanathan Benjamin Mahendran, commonly known as Balu Mahendra, was a Sri Lankan Tamil cinematographer, director, screenwriter, actor and film editor who worked in various Indian film industries, primarily in Tamil and Malayalam cinema. Born in Sri Lanka, Mahendran developed a passion for photography and literature at a young age, after witnessing the shoot of David Lean's The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) during a school trip in Sri Lanka, he was drawn towards filmmaking. After graduation he joined as an Aerial photographer in the Sri Lankan Government. In 1966, he moved to India and gained admission to the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) to pursue a course in motion picture photography. Upon completion of his diploma, he started working in Malayalam cinema as a cinematographer in the early 1970s."
tagline: "Sri Lankan born Indian film director (1939–2014)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Balu_Mahendra_(cropped).JPG?width=1200"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "India"
  isoCode: "IN"
category:
  name: "Directors"
  slug: "directors"
profileType:
  name: "Movie Director"
  slug: "director"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q33999"
birthDate: "1939-05-19"
deathDate: "2014-02-13"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           55.61
  momentum:             18.34535490490639
  historical:           13.97204
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     65
  profileCompleteness:  75
  trendDirection:       "BREAKOUT"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  221
  category: null
platforms:
  - platform:  "IMDB"
    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0536818/"
    handle:    "nm0536818"
sources:
  - url: "https://ta.wikiquote.org/wiki/%E0%AE%AA%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%B2%E0%AF%81_%E0%AE%AE%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%87%E0%AE%A8%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B0%E0%AE%BE"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%88_%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%87%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7"
    title: "بالو ماهيندرا"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B2%E0%A7%81_%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%B9%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%A8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0"
    title: "বালু মহেন্দ্র"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balu_Mahendra"
    title: "Balu Mahendra"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%88_%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%87%D9%86%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A7"
    title: "بالو ماهندرا"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balu_Mahendra"
    title: "Balu Mahendra"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hi.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%AC%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%82_%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%B9%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0"
    title: "बालू महेंद्र"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balu_Mahendra"
    title: "Balu Mahendra"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balu_Mahendra"
    title: "Balu Mahendra"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ml.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B4%AC%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%B2%E0%B5%81_%E0%B4%AE%E0%B4%B9%E0%B5%87%E0%B4%A8%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%A6%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%B0"
    title: "ബാലു മഹേന്ദ്ര"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://mr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%AC%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%81_%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%B9%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0"
    title: "बालु महेंद्र"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%91%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%83_%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%85%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B4%D1%80%D0%B0"
    title: "Балу Махендра"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balu_Mahendra"
    title: "Balu Mahendra"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE%AA%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%B2%E0%AF%81_%E0%AE%AE%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%87%E0%AE%A8%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B0%E0%AE%BE"
    title: "பாலு மகேந்திரா"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://te.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B0%AC%E0%B0%BE%E0%B0%B2%E0%B1%81_%E0%B0%AE%E0%B0%B9%E0%B1%87%E0%B0%82%E0%B0%A6%E0%B1%8D%E0%B0%B0"
    title: "బాలు మహేంద్ర"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B7%B4%E5%8D%A2%C2%B7%E9%A9%AC%E4%BA%A8%E5%BE%B7%E6%8B%89"
    title: "巴卢·马亨德拉"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3520413"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://www.themoviedb.org/person/3051243"
    title: "A. Balu Mahendra"
    type:  "DATABASE"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Imported from discovery source: wikidata-dump