Sundaram Balachander
| Sundaram Balachander எஸ். பாலச்சந்தர் |
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| Born | 18 January 1927 Mylapore, Madras Presidency , British India |
| Died | 13 April 1990 (aged 63) Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, India |
| Occupation | Veena player, director, dancer, singer, poet, cine actor, playback singer, music composer, photographer, string artist |
| Years active | 1934 to 1990 |
| Spouse(s) | Shantha (1953–1990) (his death) |
| Children | Raman (son) |
| Awards | Padma Bhushan |
Sundaram Balachander (18 January 1927 – 13 April 1990) was an Indian veena player. He was also an accomplished film maker as a producer, director, music director, actor, singer and dancer.
His ancestors were from Srivaajiyam village in Tanjore area, which is acclaimed as the seat of culture and fine arts in South India. His grandfather is Rao Saheb Vaidyanatha Iyer. He was born to V. Sundaram Iyer and Parvathi alias Chellamma. His father bought a house in Mylapore in 1924, at the suggestion of Pudukkottai Dakshinamurthy Pillai he added a hall in the first floor exclusively to entertain and be entertained. Stalwarts like Ariyakudi Ramanujam Iyengar, Madurai Mani Iyer, Ambi Deekshithar, Muthaiah Bagavathar, Karaikudi Sambasivam and Papanasam Sivan have all performed in that hall. In fact, it was Sundaram Iyer who took Papanasam Sivan under his fold when Sivan relocated to Madras from Trivandrum to earn a livelihood. Papanasam Sivan in his reminiscences (1900) refers to the popularity of Swathi Thirunal compositions in Trivandrum and ironically, the acquaintance with such a person in the childhood itself did not help Balachander to escape his prejudice against Swathi Thirunal and Kerala Music.
His elder brother S. Rajam was a well-known singer and teacher, and a gifted artist as well. His elder sister is S. Jayalakshmi (who later acted as M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar's pair in Sivakavi), S. Saraswathi was his younger sister, followed by the twins S. Karpagam and S. Gopalaswami.
From the age of five he showed an interest in classical music and his first musical attempt was with the kanjeera, which is a small, circular percussion instrument. Within a year he was accompanying his brother and other musicians on the kanjeera during regular concert engagement, in Sabhas, in temple festivals, in devotional congregations, etc. From age six on his career achieved steady growth. He also learnt to play tabla, mridangam, harmonium, bulbul tarang, dilruba, and shehnai .
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