‘Balachander was my father figure’

Superstar Rajinikanth, who is shocked over the death of legendary filmmaker K. Balachander, said he always treated him like his father and not just as his mentor. Balachander, 84, died at a private hospital here Tuesday following prolonged illness and age-related ailments.

Balachander launched Rajinikanth in 1975 in Tamil film Apoorva Raagangal, which revolved around a youth falling in love with a woman many years elder to him.