Narayanan Lakshmi Balakrishnan (born Velayudhan), commonly known as N. L. Balakrishnan, was an Indian film still photographer and actor who worked in Malayalam cinema. He worked as a still photographer in about 170 films and has associated with great directors including G. Aravindan, John Abraham, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, P. Padmarajan, Bharathan and K. G. George. He was an actor, with 180 credits to his name, and has also worked as a photo journalist with Kerala Kaumudi.