R. Balakrishnan, popularly known as R. Balki is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of the advertising agency Lowe Lintas (India).

Early Life of R. Balki
R. Balki was born in Kumbakonam, Thanjavur district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He is best known for directing Cheeni Kum (2007) and Paa (2009).

Career of R. Balki
R. Balki started his career with Mudra at the age of 23. His passion had always been film making; after college, he even applied to the Madras Film Institute to do a course in direction. However, he did not like the panel that interviewed him, so he walked out. After this, he got into the Masters in Computer Application (MCA) course in a college directly opposite the film institute. He always liked computers, so he thought that he could do well in this course. After studying there for three years, he was thrown out in the last year because of lack of attendance. According to him, this was mainly because he played a lot of cricket and watched a lot of movies.

Career of R Balki with Mudra
R. Balki saw an advertisement in the papers for Mudra and he remembered seeing it after Buniyaad. The ad asked people to send in 100 words describing who they were. His idol was Ramesh Sippy when he started his career; he wished to emulate him in advertising and got to meet Sippy only much later.

Creative Idea of R. Balki
R. Balki have included "Daag Achche Hain" for `Surf Excel`, "Jaago re" ads for `Tata Tea` and the "walk when you talk" Idea Cellular advertising campaign. He has written and directed Cheeni Kum (2007), which starred Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu. His second feature film was the critically acclaimed and commercially successful Paa, (produced by Sunil Manchanda), released on 4 December 2009, starring Amitabh, his son Abhishek Bachchan, and Vidya Balan. Shamitabh is his third Bollywood venture starring Amitabh Bachchan, Dhanush and Akshara Haasan, making her debut in the film. The film released on February 6, 2015. Ilaiyaraaja, the noted Indian composer, is his favourite composer.

Personal Life of R. Balki
R. Balki has been married to Gauri Shinde since 2007. She is an Indian ad film and feature film director.

Awards Received by R. Balki
R. Balki received 14 nominations at the 16th Star Screen Awards and won five awards of those for Paa movie starring Abhishek Bachhan and Amitabh Bachchan.