Chaplin Balu | |
---|---|
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1992–present |
Chaplin Balu is an Indian actor and comedian who predominantly featured in comedy roles in Tamil cinema. For the major part of his acting career, he shared screen space with fellow veteran comedian actor Vadivelu in many film comedy sequences. He had acted in over 150 films in his acting career.
During his acting career, he frequently collaborated with lead actor Vijay in most of the latter's earlier films, often appearing as a friend of him in a supporting character role. Chaplin Balu was one of the five close friends of Vijay alongside Vaiyapuri, Vivek, Dhamu and Mayilsamy and the five of them often teamed up with Vijay in majority of the films during his initial stages of his acting career. [1]
His prominent collaborations with Vijay include Naalaiya Theerpu (1992), Senthoorapandi (1993), Deva (1995), Coimbatore Mappillai (1996), Maanbumigu Maanavan (1996), Vasantha Vaasal (1996), Once More (1997) and these films significantly marked the integral part of the initial phase of Vijay's acting career before making a rapid transformation in 2000s. At the shooting set of Maanbumigu Maanavan (1996), Vijay engaged in a heated exchange with his own father S. A. Chandrasekhar where Vijay asked for the rationale behind slapping Chaplin Balu for a careless mistake committed by an assistant director in the shooting spot, which Chandrasekhar mistook and misunderstood as he thought the mistake was due to Chaplin Balu's fault. [2] [3]
He also collaborated in comedy sequences along with veteran actor Vivek in several of his films including Pennin Manathai Thottu (2000), Budget Padmanabhan (2000), Shahjahan (2001), Saamy (2003), Dhool (2003). In Prabhu Deva starrer, Pennin Manathai Thottu (2000), he alongside Vivek and Mayilsamy acted in a film sequence which was shot and set within a single take. [4] He also reportedly gave an hint to Vivek to apply dirty particles and black stain around his body in order to capture and grab the attention of audience for the comedy track sequence in Vijay starrer Shahjahan (2001), which also involved veteran actress Kovai Sarala where the latter played the role of a beggar woman. [5] Chaplin Balu also featured in few scenes playing as a sidekick to Vivek in Shahjahan and subsequently appeared in scenes related to the romance and chemistry sequences involving Vivek and Kovai Sarala as both of them had embraced the lives of being street beggars in Shahjahan.
However, his career took a backseat when veteran actor Vadivelu often interfered and took away the acting opportunities of him and other character artists. Initially, he was signed to play a role in Poonthottam (1998) and shoot for the film for ten days but Vadivelu advantage and took the role instead. [5] Vadivelu apparently did not let other supporting comedy actors to shine and peak using their own mannerisms and Chaplin Balu was one of the casualties of Vadivelu's antics according to sources. [6] He later began to act in small budgeted films collaborating with debutant directors.
Prabhu Deva is an Indian dance choreographer, film director, producer and actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu language films. In a career spanning 32 years, he has performed and designed dancing styles and has garnered two National Film Awards for Best Choreography. In 2019, he was awarded the Padma Shri for his contributions to dance.
Dhamu is a retired Indian actor, comedian and mimicry artist who mainly acted in Tamil films. He is known for his role as Otteri Nari in Ghilli (2004). He was a part of Gaana Galata Group, a popular touring and acting comedy troupe. Since then, he has appeared in several films. He has quit mainstream acting and has opened an agency to represent comedy shows known as 'Tamarai Bharani Comedy Agency'. He once hosted a program "Kalakkal Comedy" on Sun TV. He worked as assistant to the former Indian President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam for seven years. He was also a children's education advocate.
Maanbumigu Maanavan is a 1996 Indian Tamil-language action drama film and was directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar. The film stars Vijay and Swapna Bedi, while Chinni Jayanth, Manivannan, Vijayakumar, Mansoor Ali Khan and Shrinath play other supporting roles. Music was composed by Deva. Vijay had a completely different hair and beard style, and an image makeover in this film. This was the debut film for Bedi.
Vasantha Vaasal is a 1996 Indian Tamil-language romantic action film written, produced and directed by M.R. The movie stars Vijay and Swathi, while Mansoor Ali Khan, Vadivelu, and Kovai Sarala play supporting roles. This was a debut film for the music director Masa. The film was originally scheduled to be released in 1995, but was delayed later in March 1996. The film collected ₹1.30 crore end of its run made on a budget of ₹20 lakh in 1996 and declared a box office success.
Naalaiya Theerpu is a 1992 Indian Tamil-language vigilante action film directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar and produced by his wife Shoba Chandrasekhar which marked the debut of their son Vijay as a leading actor. The film which also starred Keerthana and Easwari Rao, with Srividya, Radha Ravi and Sarath Babu in supporting, had music composed by newcomer Manimekalai, cinematography by R. P. Imayavaramban and editing by Gautham Raju. The story revolves around a businessman who has many extra-marital affairs, molests his wife. However, things take an unexpected turn when she gets pregnant and has a son who later avenges against the deeds of his father.
Senthoorapandi is a 1993 Indian Tamil-language romantic action film directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar. The film stars Vijayakanth and Vijay in the lead roles. It revolves around Vijay (Vijay) who falls in love with Meena. But Meena's brother opposes their marriage due to rivalry between both the families. Whereas Vijay's brother Senthoorapandi (Vijayakanth) returns from jail to help him to win his love.
S. Alex Chandrasekar is an Indian film director, film producer, screenwriter, and actor who primarily works within Kollywood. He made his directorial debut with Aval Oru Pachai Kuzhanthai (1978), He got his breakthrough with Sattam Oru Iruttarai (1981). He has directed over 70 movies in all south Indian languages, and is known for directing films focusing on social issues.
Manadhai Thirudivittai is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by newcomer R. D. Narayanamurthy. The film stars Prabhu Deva in the main lead role alongside Kausalya and newcomer Gayatri Jayaraman, while Vadivelu, Vivek, Ranjith and Sriman play supporting roles. The film is produced by K. R. Gangadharan and the music is composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja.
Pennin Manathai Thottu is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Ezhil. The film stars Prabhu Deva and Jaya Seal, with R. Sarathkumar in an extended guest appearance. Produced by Kaja Mydeen, the film was released on 7 July 2000 and became a commercial success.
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Kanal Kannan is an Indian actor, action choreographer and screenwriter who works in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi films. He has worked with actors Ajith Kumar, Vijay, Vikram, Suriya, Vishal, Arjun Sarja and R. Sarath Kumar in many films. Stunt coordinators including Stunt Silva, Peter Hein, Anal Arasu, K. Ganesh Kumar, Silva, Rajasekhar, Hari Dinesh, T. Ramesh and Thunder Jeeva have worked as fighters and assistants to him.
Ezhilmaaran S. is an Indian film director who works in the Tamil film industry. He made his directorial debut with the 1999 romance film Thulladha Manamum Thullum. His success streak continued with Pennin Manathai Thottu (2000), Poovellam Un Vasam (2001) and Deepavali (2007). He made a comeback in 2012 after a brief sabbatical with Manam Kothi Paravai which opened to moderate reviews from critics but was a commercial hit. He has won two Tamil Nadu state awards. Film Directors Suseenthiran and Karu Pazhaniappan were his assistants.
Crane Manohar is an Indian actor who appears in Tamil films, mostly in comedy roles. He appeared in many Vadivelu and Vivek comedy tracks.
Inidhu Inidhu Kadhal Inidhu is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language buddy romance film directed by Sakthi Chidambaram, and produced by Ramoji Rao. The film stars Jai Akash reprising his role from the original and Neha, with Hamsavardhan and Monica in supporting roles. A remake of the 2001 Telugu film Anandam, it was released on 9 May 2003.
Poonthottam is a 1998 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by Kalanjiyam. The film stars Murali and Devayani, while Raghuvaran, Manivannan and Vijayalakshmi play other supporting roles. It was released on 10 July 1998.
Kalyan is an Indian choreographer who has primarily worked on Tamil and Telugu language films as well as Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada films. After beginning his career as a dancer and actor, he has gone on to choreograph songs in over two hundred films as a popular choreographer. He has also been a judge in the popular reality TV dance shows Jodi Number One and Kings of Dance for Vijay TV.
Prabhu Deva is an Indian dance choreographer, film director, producer and actor, who has worked in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada films. In a career spanning 30 years, he has performed and designed a wide range of dancing styles and has predominantly acted in Tamil films. He made his debut as a boy playing a flute in the song "Panivizhum Iravu", from the Tamil film Mouna Ragam (1986). After several appearances as a dancer, he made his debut as a lead actor in Pavithran's Indhu. He made his career breakthrough in his second film Kadhalan (1994) directed by S. Shankar. Prabhu Deva acted as a college student who loves the daughter of state governor, who has ties with a terrorist. The film was a commercial success and critics lauded Prabhu Deva's choreography and his dance sequences in the songs "Mukkabla" and "Urvasi Urvasi", became very popular.
Pasi Sathya is an Indian actress who has worked predominantly in Tamil cinema and television. She has worked in popular movies like Veedu, Magalir Mattum, Pudhupettai. She made her debut in the National award-winning Tamil film, Pasi, in 1979. She played Chellamma, a friend of Shoba, who played the main lead role. After the film, she has used the prefix Pasi. Sathya debuted in Netru Indru Naalai. The film was released in 1974. It has been more than 40 years since she came to the cinema and she has acted in over 250 films and 2000 stage plays.
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