Daniel Balaji is a prominent figure in Tamil Cinema and television serial industry. He is the nephew of famous Kannada director Shri Siddalingaiah and brother of famous Tamil actor Murali. He was born and brought up in Chennai and Kolkata. From childhood itself, he showed a feverish inclination to acting.
He made his first appearance in television through Tamil serial “Chinthi” in which he played the character called “Daniel”. It brought wide adulation and attention to him. In his second serial “
Alaigal
” by Director Sundar K Vijayan, he was named as Daniel Balaji owing to wide spread recognition he received from the debut performance. Daniel played the role of a drug addict in the serial. His performance was much appreciated for intense and passionate acting.
He made his introductory appearance in Tamil film industry through “April Maadhathil” a story telling the rare friendship of 8 friends including boys and girls . He played the role of a police officer in the movie “Kaakha Kaakha” and it was well received. “April Madhathil” - a love story portraying the intense love of two teenagers, “Kadhal Kondain”- another blockbuster hit love story, “Kaakha Kaakha” - a suspense thriller movie, ”Polladhavan’, “
Chirutha
” - a romantic hit, “
Marumugam
”, “
Vai Raja Vai
” etc are some of his noticeable performance. In Polladhavan,
Daniel plays the role of criminal with underground connections and in Vai Raja Vai he played the role of a street vendor. Both were well received by his audience.
He shows extreme commitment to his work. For his character in “Vettayadu Vilayadu” which has homosexual references, he called on public chat rooms where he got the opportunity to mingle with people of that stock. He conversed with them, learned about their emotions, their body language and their temperamental inclination. That is the kind of dedication and sincerity he shows to his roles and character selection.
In a short time, he was able to make his foot prints in Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada film industry also. He acted in the Telugu adaptation of Kaakha Kaakha and acted in two Malayalam films also. He is one of the blessed guys to work with legendaries like Kamala Hassan, Surya, Mammotty etc.
Balaji died on 29th March 2024 due to cardiac arrest. He was just 48. He was last seen in Ariyavan directed by
Mithran Jawahar
.