Balamurali Balu

Balamurali Balu
BornJuly 16
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupation(s)Music director
lyricist
music producer
Years active2012–present

Balamurali Balu is an Indian film music director and lyricist who has worked predominantly in the Tamil film industry. His first movie was Madhiyal Vell and composed music for Pallu Padama Paathuka. Subsequently, he composed music for Peechankai. This critically acclaimed film[1] was Balu's debut as a composer. He was praised for "adding the quirkiness"[2] to the music aligning with the theme of the movie's script.

Early life

Balu is a professional music composer in South India. He has also worked as a music director and a film score composer. Balu was born on the 16th of July and was raised in Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. Prior to his music career, Balu completed his PhD from Georgia Tech in chemical engineering in 2009[3] and worked as a Process Engineer with Intel Technologies.[4] He is also an alumni from the Berklee College of Music.[5] He entered the music industry through Tamil cinema since 2016.

Career

In 2012, he worked on the short film Tamil Ini. In 2017, Balu got his first chance in the Tamil film industry when he was offered an opportunity to score music for the movie Peechankai. The music was well-received and appreciated for adding value to the quirkiness of the script.[6][2] He won the Best Music Producer Award in the Regional Film Category at the Indian Recording Artists Association Awards 2018 for the movie.[1]

In 2018, Balu joined hands with director Santhosh P. Jayakumar to score music for the film Hara Hara Mahadevaki, which starred Gautham Karthik. The music created a lot of attention, especially with the title song "Hara Hara Mahadevaki" becoming a viral hit.[7] With the success of Hara Hara Mahadevaki, Balu continued with Iruttu Araiyil Murattu Kuththu, his second collaboration with Jayakumar and Gautham Karthik. He later composed the biographical film Traffic Ramasamy, based on the life of activist Traffic Ramaswamy. Afterwards, Balu collaborated with Jayakumar for the third time with the Arya-starrer Ghajinikanth, a remake of the Telugu film Bhale Bhale Magadivoy.

In 2019, Balu composed music for Chikati Gadilo Chithakotudu, the Telugu remake of Iruttu Araiyil Murattu Kuththu, which marked his Telugu film debut. In 2022, Balu produced the soundtrack for Kuthukku Pathu, a comedy-drama web series.

Discography

Films

Year Film Title (Tamil) Other languages Notes
2016 Madhiyal Vell Unreleased film[8]
Thagadu Thagadu unreleased film
2017 Peechankai Best Music Producer (IRAA Awards - 2018)[1]
Hara Hara Mahadevaki [9]
2018 Iruttu Araiyil Murattu Kuththu Chikati Gadilo Chithakotudu (Telugu)
Traffic Ramasamy
Ghajinikanth
2020 Thatrom Thookrom
2023 Pallu Padama Paathuka[10]
2024 Chiclets Chiclets (Telugu)
Amigo Garage
TBA Nabika (Malayalam) Upcoming

Television

Year Series Notes
2022 Kuthukku Pathu Released on Aha

Albums

Balu has collaborated with Lady Kash as a music producer in her albums Rap Smash and Villupaattu.

References

  1. ^ a b c "IRAA Awards - 2018 Winners". Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  2. ^ a b Rao, Subha (15 June 2017). "Director Ashok talks about his first feature, the quirky 'Peechaankai'". The Hindu. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  3. ^ "Plasma processing of cellulose surfaces and their interactions with fluids". Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  4. ^ "Hess Group Alumni - Georgia Institute of Technology". Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  5. ^ "Berklee College of Music - Alumni Member". Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  6. ^ Ramanujam, Srinivasa (16 June 2017). "'Peechankai' review: the left comes to power" – via www.thehindu.com.
  7. ^ "Viral Hit: Hara Hara Mahadevaki- Official Video Song". 25 October 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  8. ^ "This song is for Indian women". 14 January 2017 – via The Economic Times - The Times of India.
  9. ^ "Music Review: Hara Hara Mahadevaki". 16 September 2017 – via The Economic Times - The Times of India.
  10. ^ "Pallu Padama Paathuka, Tamil cinema's second zombie film". Retrieved 16 June 2018.