Filmmaker, screenwriter and cinematographer Balu Mahendra, has been among the most successful film makers in Tollywood. He was born in 1939 in a Sri Lankan Tamil family in Amirthakali near Batticaloa. As a child, he got an opportunity to witness the making of David Lean's ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ (shot in Sri Lanka) during a school field trip. This inspired Mahendra to become a film-maker as a child.

After completing his education from Methodist Central College and St. Michael's College, Batticaloa, he joined the London University and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree (Honours) in Science. He then returned to Sri Lanka and worked in Colombo as a researcher in the survey department for a short period during which he edited a Tamil literary magazine titled Thyen Aruvi. He also worked as a part-time theatre artist with Radio Ceylon and got acquainted with the Sinhala theatre groups.

Mahendra's obsession for cinema impelled him to leave for India and join the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune in 1966.  Here, the works of François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard motivated him to a large extent. 

He got his first break as a cinematographer in 1971 in the Malayalam film ‘Nellu’; however, production delays postponed its release for three years to 1974. Mahendra’s work in the film won him the Best Cinematographer Award at the Kerala State Film Awards. However, P. N. Menon's ‘Panimudakku’ which was released in 1972, became his first release. 

He continued to work in Malayalam films such as Sasthram Jayichu Manushyan Thottu (1973), Kaliyugam (1973) and Chattakari (1974). Mahendra also achieved commercial and critical success for his work in Tamil films. Movies like Prayanam (1975) and Chuvanna Sandhyakkal (1975) fetched him huge accolades for his photography. 

Till his debut as a Director, he worked as a Cameraman in 21 films and did camera work for many eminent film makers. His directorial debut with Kokila (in Kannada) too, was much appreciated by the masses and the critics. The film was both critically acclaimed and commercially successful. In fact, it is the only Kannada film to complete 150 days in Chennai as of 2014.

In Bollywood, Mahendra is known for his movie Sadma (1983), a remake of his own Tamil film ‘Moondram Pirai’.