He was one of the very few actors who excelled as a villain, as well as in character roles and comic roles.
Balaiah was introduced to the cine field by director Ellis R. Dungan in Sathi Leelavathi (1936), along with M. G. Ramachandran, N. S. Krishnan and M. K. Radha.
Actor Sivaji Ganesan had once mentioned that Balaiah along with M. R. Radha was his most admired actor.
He gained lot of weight at the age of 40 in 1954, hence started getting more character roles.
He was an Indian actor, and is best known for playing supporting roles in Tamil films.