Balachandra Menon

For the Indian politician, see P. Balachandra Menon.

Balachandra Menon
Menon in 2014
Born	(1954-01-11) 11 January 1954 (age 72)[1] Kollam, Kerala, India
Occupations	Director actor screenwriter author journalist lawyer producer distributor editor singer composer
Years active	1978 – present
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Spouse	Varada ​ (m. 1982)​ [2]
Children	2
Parent(s)	Sivasankara Pillai Lalitha Devi
Website	balachandramenon.com

Balachandra Menon (born 11 January 1954) is an Indian actor, director and script writer. He made a number of films in the 1980s and 1990s.^[3] He has directed 40 films and has acted in over 100.^[4]

He won two National Film Awards including the National Film Award for Best Actor for his performance as station master Ismail the 1998 film Samaantharangal, which was also directed by him. He has also worked as a distributor, editor, composer, singer and producer in the Malayalam film industry. He has found space in the Limca Book of Records for the maximum number of films directed, scripted and acted in. Menon has introduced many actors into the Malayalam Cinema Industry. Actors who made their debut in his films include Shobana in April 18, Parvathy in Vivahithare Ithile, Maniyanpilla Raju in Maniyan Pilla Adhava Maniyan Pilla, Karthika in Manicheppu Thurannappol, Annie in Ammayane Sathyam, and Nandini in April 19.^[3]

Personal life

Balachandra Menon was born in Kollam^[5] in 1954 to Shivashankara Pillai and Lalitha Devi. By virtue of his father being a railway station master, he served at Edava railway station and Menon had his formative years of childhood and adolescence life in this village. He studied at Edava Muslim High School, and has narrated nostalgically about his fond memories of his life in Edava in his autobiography Ammayaane Sathyam. He is an alumnus of University College Trivandrum, Fatima Mata National College, Kollam and Kerala Law Academy Law College, Thiruvananthapuram.^[6] Sisters: Sushma and Prema. Wife: Varada B. Menon. Children: Akhil Vinayak Menon, Bhavana B. Menon.^[7] Menon enrolled as a lawyer on 29 July 2012, 22 years after completing his degree.^[8] In 1997, he won the Karshakashree Award for farming from the Government of Kerala.^[9][10]

During his early days in Madras, he worked for the film weekly Nana as a correspondent. His column in Nana, 'Nanaji's Cinema Varaphalam' (Nanaji's Cinema Weekly), was very popular at the time.^[11] He has completed a diploma in journalism from Press Club, Trivandrum.

Literary works

• Achuvettante Veedu
• Mugam Abhimugam
• Samaantharangal
• 18 April 19 April
• Ninnay Enthinu Kollaam ?
• Kaanatha Sulthanu Snehapoorvam
• Ammayanay Sathyam
• Ariyathathu, Ariyendathu^[12]
• Balachandramenonte 12 cherukathakal^[13]
• His book Ithirineram Othirikaryam recently released by veteran actor Madhu by handing over a copy to lyricist Sreekumaran Thampi.^[14][15]

Awards

Civilian Awards:

• 2007 – Padma Shri^[16]

National Film Awards:

• 1997 – Best Actor – Samaantharangal
• 1997 – Best Film on Family Welfare – Samaantharangal

Kerala State Film Awards:

• 1979 – Best Screen Play – Uthrada Rathri
• 1997 – Special Jury Award – Samaantharangal

Filmfare Awards South:

• 1983 – Best Director – Karyam Nissaram
• 1998 – Best Actor – Samaantharangal

Others:

• 2018 - Limca Book of Records - Filmmaker who is credited as actor, director and writer in the most number of feature films^[17]

Filmography

As a director, writer, and producer

Year	Film	Credited as				Notes
		Director	Writer	Producer	Editor
1978	Uthrada Rathri	Y	Y
1979	Radha Enna Pennkutti	Y	Y
1980	Aniyatha Valakal	Y	Y
	Ishtamanu Pakshe	Y	Y
	Kalika	Y
	Vaiki Vanna Vasantham	Y	Y
1981	Maniyan Pilla Adhava Maniyan Pilla	Y	Y
	Prema Geethangal	Y	Y
	Tharattu	Y	Y
1982	Chiriyo Chiri	Y	Y
	Ithiri Neram Othiri Karyam	Y	Y
	Kelkatha Shabdam	Y	Y
	Kilukilukkam	Y	Y
1983	Karyam Nissaram	Y	Y
	Prashnam Gurutharam	Y	Y
	Sesham Kazhchayil	Y	Y
1984	Inakkilly
	April 18	Y	Y
	Arante Mulla Kochu Mulla	Y	Y
	Oru Painkilikatha	Y	Y
1985	Ente Ammu Ninte Thulasi Avarude Chakki	Y	Y	Y
	Manicheppu Thurannappol	Y	Y
1986	Thaiku Oru Thalattu	Y	Y Story			Tamil film
	Vivahitare Itihile	Y	Y	Y
	Rithubhedam
1987	Achuvettante Veedu	Y	Y		Y
	Vilambaram	Y	Y
1989	Kandathum Kettathum	Y	Y
	Najangalude Kochu Doctor	Y	Y		Y
1990	Kuruppinte Kanakku Pustakom	Y	Y		Y
1991	Nayam Vyakthamakkunnu	Y	Y
1993	Ammayane Sathyam	Y	Y
1994	Santhana Gopalam
	Sukham Sukhakaram	Y	Y
1996	Kanden Seethaiyai	Y	Y			Unreleased film
	April 19	Y	Y
1998	Samaantharangal	Y	Y	Y	Y
2002	Krishna Gopalakrishna	Y	Y		Y
2003	Varum Varunnu Vannu		Y
2008	De Ingottu Nokkiye	Y	Y
2015	Njan Samvidhanam Cheyyum	Y	Y	Y
2018	Ennaalum Sarath..?	Y	Y

As an actor

Year	Film	Role	Notes
				1978	Uthrada Rathri	Dinesh
1981	Maniyan Pilla Adhava Maniyan Pilla	Gopinathan
	Prema Geethangal	Doctor
	Tharattu	Dileep
	Thenum Vayambum	Babu Mathew
1982	Chiriyo Chiri	Unni
	Ithiri Neram Othiri Karyam	Geejo
	Kelkatha Shabdam	Lambodharan Nair
	Kilukilukkam	Mahendran
1983	Karyam Nissaram	Shekhar
	Prashnam Gurutharam	Balu
	Sesham Kazhchayil	G K Raja
1984	Inakkilly	Johnay
	April 18	Ravikumar
	Arante Mulla Kochu Mulla	Prabhakaran
	Oru Painkilikatha	Kannan
1985	Ente Ammu Ninte Thulasi Avarude Chakki	S. Nandakumar
	Daivatheyorthu	Achuthankutty
	Manicheppu Thurannappol
1986	Vivahitare Itihile	Appu
	Rithubhedam	Rajan
1987	Achuvettante Veedu	Vipin
	Vilambaram	P. K. Nampoothiri
	Oru Maymasappularayil
1988	Kudumbapuranam	Krishnanunni
	Janmandharam	Police Officer
	Isabella	Unnikrishna Menon
	David David Mr. David	David
	Oohakachavadam	Charlie
1989	Kandathum Kettathum	P K Krishnankutty
	Najangalude Kochu Doctor	James Varghese
1990	Varthamana Kalam	Jameskutty
	Noottonnu Raavukal	Vishnu
	Sasneham	Thomas Kurien
	Kuruppinte Kanakku Pustakom	Vinayachandra Kurup
1993	Ammayane Sathyam	S. Narayanan
1994	Santhana Gopalam	Sudhakaran
	Sukham Sukhakaram
1995	Avittam Thirunaal Aarogya Sriman	Prabhakaran
1996	Kanden Seethaiyai		Unreleased film
	April 19	Jayapraksh
1997	Krishnagudiyil Oru Pranayakalathu	Pavi
	Janathipathyam	Krishnamoorthy IPS
1998	The Truth	Chief Minister Madhavan
	Samaantharangal	Ismail
2000	Sathyameva Jayathe	Ahammed Basheer
	Sathyam Sivam Sundaram	K.S.K Nambiar
2001	Ishtam	Anjana's Father
2002	Krishna Gopalakrishna	Gopalakrishnan
	Album	Ranganathan	Tamil film
	Nammal	Sathyanadhan
2003	Saphalam	Barrister Nambiar
	Varum Varunnu Vannu	Johny
2005	Rappakal	Deva Narayanan
	December	Dr Keshava Patteri
2006	Classmates	Prof. Iyer
2007	Pranayakalam	Balagopal
2008	De Ingottu Nokkiye	Joji
	College Kumaran	Narayanan
2009	Utharaswayamvaram	Sreedhara 'Yamandan' Kurup
	Nammal Thammil	Ramachandran Nair
2013	Buddy	Shankaran Namboothiri/Shanku Bhai
	Kunjananthante Kada	Adv. Moidu
	Kadal Kadannu Oru Maathukutty	Father Vattathara
2015	Njan Samvidhanam Cheyyum	Krishna Das
2016	Oozham	Krishnamoorthy
2018	Ennaalum Sarath..?	Dr. Sam
2021	One	Dr. Sreekar Varma
2023	Pulimada	Dr. Joshi Kuriyan
	A Ranjith Cinema	Chandraprakash	[18]
2026	Prathichaya	KN Varghese	[19]

Television

• Suryodayam (Doordarshan, Direction)
• Vilakku Vekkum Neram (Doordarshan)
• Megham (Asianet)
• Malayogam (Asianet)
• Nizhalukal (Asianet)
• Shamanathalam

Discography

As composer

• Kuruppinte Kanakku Pustakom (1990)
• Samaantharangal (1998)
• Krishna Gopalakrishna (2002)

As playback singer

• Oru Painkilikatha (1984) - "Aanakoduthaalum"
• Ente Ammu Ninte Thulasi Avarude Chakki (1985) "Kochu Chakkarachi Pettu"
• Najangalude Kochu Doctor (1989) - "Kaattinum Thaalam"
• Krishna Gopalakrishna (2002) - "Choodulla Kaattil"

References

1. "Balachandra Menon – Who am I?". Archived from the original on 26 October 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
2. "Balachandra Menon :: A Complete Webiography". 26 October 2012. Archived from the original on 26 October 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
3. "Home". Archived from the original on 30 November 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
4. "Balachandra Menon thrilled by Dubai audience". emirates247.com. 18 December 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
5. "Balachandra Menon in Limca Book of Records". Balachandra Menon – Official Website. Archived from the original on 9 January 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
6. "Melodrama surrounds release of Balachandra Menon's book". Archived from the original on 18 December 2013.
7. "CiniDiary". CiniDiary. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
8. "Actor Balachandra Menon enrolled as lawyer". Chennai, India: www.thehindu.com. 29 July 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
9. "ഇത്തിരിനേരം ഒത്തിരികാര്യം - ബാലചന്ദ്രമേനോന്‍". 20 January 2016. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
10. "Forced to watch sexual act: Malayalam actor's big charge against filmmaker". India Today. 29 September 2024.
11. "ബാലചന്ദ്ര മേനോനും എന്‍.കെ അഹമ്മദ് ലോഡ്ജും". Media One. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
12. "CM Oommen Chandy releases Balachandra Menon's memoir". 3 September 2011. Archived from the original on 15 December 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
13. "Ace director, master storyteller". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 7 July 2012.
14. "Balachandra Menon's New Book Released". Archived from the original on 18 December 2013.
15. "Ithri Neram Othiri Karyam". Manorama Online. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
16. "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
17. "Limca Book of Records recognizes Balachandra Menon". 14 May 2018.
18. "Asif Ali's next film- 'A Ranjith Cinema' to roll from December 6th". The Times of India. 3 December 2021. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
19. "Nivin Pauly's Prathichaya gets release date". Cinema Express. 17 March 2026. Retrieved 26 March 2026.

External links

• Balachandra Menon official website
• Balachandra Menon at MSI
• Balachandra Menon at IMDb
• malayalachalachithram.com