Balakrishna

Tirumakudalu Narasipura Balakrishna (2 November 1911 – 18 July 1995) was an Indian actor in Kannada cinema. He was said to have a hearing problem and some say that he was totally deaf. However, he would catch the lip movements of the artists and would narrate the dialogues spontaneously. He was popular for his comic and villainous roles in films like Kantheredu Nodu (1961), Muriyada Mane (1964), Bangaarada Manushya (1972), Gandhada Gudi (1973) and Kaamana Billu (1983) and appeared in numerous versatile roles over a hundred films that starred Rajkumar in the lead role. Balakrishna is known to have played the most roles in Kannada cinema, having appeared in over 560 films as a hero, villain, comedian, good Samaritan, loving father and lunatic. Sudha Chandran is his ex-daughter in law. She was married to Balakrishna's son B.Srinivas who was the associate director of her Kannada movie Bisilu Beladingalu (1989). Sudha Chandran later produced Balakrishna's biopic Kalabhimani (1989) which was directed by B.Srinivas.