S. Balasubramanian
| S. S. Balan | |
|---|---|
| Born | Balasubramanian 28 December 1935 Chennai, British India |
| Died | 19 December 2014 (aged 78) Chennai, India |
| Occupation | Journalist, Filmmaker & Political Analyst |
| Nationality | Indian |
S. S. Balan (or S. Balasubramanian) (28 December 1935 – 19 December 2014) was an Indian journalist, filmmaker, political analyst, and media personality as well as internationally famous aviculturalist and agriculturalist. He was a dominant force in Indian media over six decades having been at the helm of Ananda Vikatan magazine as editor and managing director as well as managing director of the erstwhile Gemini Studios since the 1950s. He was the son of media baron S. S. Vasan. He was chairman emeritus of the Vikatan Group having retired from active involvement at the helm of the media conglomerate.
Born in Madras, on 28 December 1935, Balan grew up studying in Presentation Convent, Church Park and P.S. High School before going on to complete his B.Com at Loyola College in Madras. With a keen interest in cricket, he was part of many local league and college league matches. Balan indulged in his pastime of animals, birds and wildlife with a multitude of pets that grew into serious hobbies later in life. Born to S. S. Vasan and Pattammal Vasan, Balan was the second child and only son, with an older sister Lakshmi Narayani. The family lived on Edward Eliots Road that later became Radhakrishnan Salai in a heritage home that has now given way to an office building. Dominated by the growth of cinema and media, Balan was groomed to take on the mantle of running the Gemini and Vikatan companies by his father being made the joint managing director at 19 on 26 August 1956. With a penchant for the camera and pen alike, Balan had a successful innings alongside his father and later took over the reigns of the media empire on his father's demise on 26 August 1969.
Ananda Vikatan, the flagship weekly magazine of Vasan Publications was founded in 1926 and bought in 1928 by the late media mogul S. S. Vasan. It is one of the top ranked publications in Tamil (in readership, respect and influence), it is also one of the oldest vernacular magazines in the world with around half a million readers. In the eight decades of family ownership, Vikatan rose to pre-eminence across the Tamil speaking populations and that has identified, introduced and nurtured some of the finest talent in Indian media, literature and arts. Balan has the distinction of having been the editor, publisher and managing director of the group for 50 years before he retired in 2006 to become chairman emeritus of the group. Balan entered Ananda Vikatan as joint managing director and joint chief editor on 26 August 1956 and became managing director of the organisation on 26 August 1969 on the death of his father S. S. Vasan. Due to his powerful position as managing director of both Ananda Vikatan and Gemini Studios, he earned the moniker "M.D." amongst Chennai media circles in the 1970s.
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