RJ Balaji

RJ Balaji
Balaji conducting Mr. and Ms. Techofes, 2013
Born	Balaji Patturaj (1985-06-20) 20 June 1985 (age 31)
Nationality	Indian
Other names	Cross Talk Balaji
Occupation	Radio jockey, presenter, actor
Years active	2006–present

Balaji Patturaj (born 20 June 1985), popularly known as RJ Balaji, is an Indian radio jockey, presenter, comedian and actor based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He is best known as the host of the BIG FM 92.7 show Take it Easy and its now defunct segment Cross Talk, where he made prank calls to unsuspecting victims. Although mainly a radio jockey, Balaji is also active in other fields; he is known for his association with the television shows Ungalil Yaar Adutha Prabhu Dheva and Why This Kolaveri, and for his performance in the films Theeya Velai Seiyyanum Kumaru (2013), Vadacurry (2014) Naanum Rowdy Dhaan (2015) and Pugazh (2016). He has also been a presenter at many inter-school cultural events in Chennai, and has contributed to many social causes, such as providing relief support to the victims of the 2015 South Indian floods along with other actors.

Balaji was born on 20 June 1985, and was raised in Chennai. He said that his father abandoned his family at an unspecified point. Balaji said in a 2013 interview with The Hindu that he changed 24 houses and 11 schools while growing up in Chennai, because his "mother just cannot stay in one place. She would move from Perambur to Thiruvanmiyur to Mylapore... no place close to each other." He failed in the twelfth grade once, while his friends passed. Before the news of his failure could spread in his neighbourhood, Balaji and his family shifted to another locality; he saw this failure as a "disaster". Balaji roamed around in random company and even assisted his friend, an AC mechanic, to keep himself occupied. Balaji eventually passed in the twelfth grade, and when he was in college, he realised that his strength was in interaction, and that the attention and acclaim he received in his college culturals gave him confidence and he realised that he had to be in the media.