Junior Balaiah

Junior Balaiah is a well-known theater and movie actor in Kollywood. His real name was Raghu. His father was T.S. Balaiah, a reputed comedian, and villain of the 1970’s and 1980’s. He was the third kid in their family. His stage name has been taken from his father’s name. He has mainly portrayed supporting characters in a career spanning over forty years. His first movie Suttaan Sutten’s production got stalled after the death of his father just three days after production had started. This was to be helmed by M.R. Radha, and he was to act alongside his father in the movie. He appeared in numerous films after this, but they failed, not living up to the high standards that his father had set. His failures pushed him into bankruptcy and finally he began to practice as an Evangelist. He also set up a healing center known as Healing Stripes Ministry. He returned to movies in the 2010’s though. Mainly portraying supporting characters, he was highly appreciated and received critical acclaim for his role of a headmaster in the 2012 Movie Sattai.

It was a movie about a teacher who is unhappy with the education system and is also worried about the pitiable condition of education in government schools. The movie follows his efforts on how he reforms the school. After Sattai, he appeared in fewer movies and became selective about his roles. Junior Balaiah is married to Suzanna. He has a wonderful family consisting of son Murali and daughter Nivedha. He has an intention of turning producer to launch his son in movies. As a practicing evangelist, his testimony proclaims Jesus Christ as the only true God and Savior of mankind. He is of the opinion that love marriage is the best form of marriage. He believes in the concept of love, not in infatuation. As he stated once “Parents should love and be affectionate towards their children so that the children take them as a role model and feel proud of their parents.”

Junior Balaiah died on 2nd November 2023 due to suffocation at his home in Valasaravakkam, Chennai. 

Balaiah Family Tree (Infographic Family Tree)