C. V. Sridhar | |
|---|---|
 Sridhar on a 2013 stamp of India | |
| Born | Chithamur Vijayaragavalu Sridhar (1933-07-22)22 July 1933 Chithamur,Chengalpattu,Madras Presidency, British India |
| Died | 20 October 2008(2008-10-20) (aged 75) Chennai |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1959–1991 |
| Spouse | Devasena |
| Children | 2 |
Chithamur Vijayaraghavalu Sridhar (22 July 1933 – 20 October 2008) was an Indian screenwriter and film director. He has directed nearly 60 films inTamil,Hindi andTelugu languages.
In 1951, 18-year-old Sridhar went toAVM Productions with his storyLatchiyavathi butP. Neelakantan rejected his story.[1]Avvai T. K. Shanmugam was very much impressed by the story and Sridhar wrote the screenplay and dialogues for the drama. It was staged asRaththa Paasam and was one of the most successful dramas staged by TKS brothers. Sridhar was proudly taken to the stage and introduced to the audience as the writer. It was later produced jointly by TKS and Jupiter pictures under Jupiter – Avvai Productions where Jupiter pictures recommended some other writer to write the dialogues for the film. It was T. K. Shanmugam who was staunch that Sridhar should write the screenplay and dialogues. Sridhar made his entry into films as a screenwriter inRatha Paasam. LaterAVM Productions produced it in Hindi asBhaai Bhaai in 1956 starringAshok Kumar andKishore Kumar but direction was by R. S. Mani. The film Bhai Bhai gave a big commercial break for the music directorMadan Mohanand the writer Sridhar himself.[2]
Sridhar wrote story and dialogues forEdhir Paradhathu. Sridhar wrote the dialogues in Tamil for the Telugu movieParivartana and the movie was dubbed in 1955 asLatchadhipathi. Sridhar continued on writing for films likeMaaman Magal,Maheswari,Amara Deepam,Maadharkula Manikkam,Engal Veetu Mahalakshmi,Yaar Paiyan,Manjal Mahimai,Uthama Puthiran andPunar Jenmam.
While working inModern Theatres as writer for the filmMaheswari, Sridhar had an opportunity to improve his knowledge and skills about film production.T. R. Sundaram had a huge library of international books about great films and directors, about film production, critical and technical essays. Sridhar had a very high esteem on the legendary directorV. Shantaram.[3]
In 1956, Sridhar turned producer along with associates Krishnamoorthi, Govindarajan and Sundararajan inVenus Pictures where he scriptedAmara Deepam and followed byUthama Puthiran. Both films hadSivaji Ganesan andPadmini as the main roles. He made his debut as a director withKalyana Parisu. This movie ran for more than 25 weeks, and is revered to this day as a milestone in the history of Tamil cinema. After this, he had a huge fan following and his name was talked about among the middle class movie going audience.[4]
He started his own production companyChitralaya (the emblem was designed by Art director Ganga) in 1961 with his friendsGopu,A. Vincent,P. N. Sundaram and Tiruchi Arunachalam madeThen Nilavu. The latter which hadGemini Ganesan andVyjayanthimala in the lead was the first Tamil film to be shot inJammu and Kashmir.[5] He made a series of commercially successful films likeNenjil Or Aalayam,Kaadhalikka Neramillai,Vennira Adai and many more.[citation needed]
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(November 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Sridhar was known as Nava-rasa-director, as he made films in a variety of styles, from the comedyKaadhalikka Neramillai to the serious Kalai-kovil andNenjil Or Aalayam. The latter was remade in Hindi withRajendra Kumar andMeena Kumari asDil Ek Mandir which earn him two nomination atFilmfare Awards,Best Director andBest Story categories. He brought out the best in comediansT. R. Ramachandran,K. A. Thangavelu, andNagesh, and helped introduceMurthy andNirmala to a wider audience inVennira Aadai. Moorthy, Nirmala, now a TV and movie comedian, is still referred to as Vennira Aadai Moorthy after the fame he received from his performance in the movie. Even the actresses Jayalalitha and Nirmala used to be referred to as Vennira AadaiJayalalitha and Vennira Aadai Nirmala[6][7]
Sridhar'sKaadhalikka Neramillai was one of the greatest blockbusters ofTamil film history. It was later remade in Hindi with actorKishore Kumar andShashi Kapoor by himself. Sridhar helped launch the career of many celebrities in Tamil cinema, namely, Saroja Devi in Kalyaana Parisu,R. Muthuraman andDevika inNenjil Or Aalayam,Srikanth,J. Jayalalithaa,Vennira Aadai Nirmala andVennira Aadai Moorthy inVennira Adai (White Dress),Ravichandran,Kanchana andRajasree inKaadhalikka Neramillai, Kamal and Rajini in Ilamai Oonjal Aadigirathu, Karthik and Gigi in Ninaivellaam Nithya, Jayashree inThendralae Ennai Thodu andVikram inThanthu Vitten Ennai.
HisBollywood films includeNazrana (1961),Dil Ek Mandir (1963),Pyar Kiye Jaa (1966) andGehri Chaal (1973).Nazrana, starring byRaj Kapoor,Vyjayanthimala,Usha Kiran andGemini Ganesan in guest appearance, earned himFilmfare Award for Best Story.The landmark filmNai Roshni directed by him in Hindi had Ashok Kumar, P. Bhanumati, Mala Sinha, Biwajeet and Raajkumar in lead roles and became the 7th highest-grossing film of the year 1967 in Hindi. Subsequently, this film was remade in Tamil as Poovum Pottum directed by Dada Mirasi.
Sridhar's films withSivaji Ganesan includeOoty Varai Uravu,Nenjirukkum Varai,Sivantha Mann.Sivanthaman was the first color movie in Tamil shot at foreign locations.Dharti, the Hindi version was released in 1970 withRajendra Kumar,Waheeda Rehman andSivaji Ganesan in lead roles.
When in 1973, he went through sudden financial problems, at the insistence ofRajendra Kumar he approachedM. G. Ramachandran, who suggested that a film be made and using that his financial woes would get resolved. Sridhar then madeUrimai Kural which was a commercial success in 1974 and went on to direct M.G.R again inMeenava Nanban that was released in 1977.
In 1978, he brought together Kamal Hasan, Rajnikanth, Sripriya for romantic film Illamai Oonjal Aadugirathu. Then he remade the same in 1982 in Hindi asDil-E-Nadan starringRajesh Khanna,Shatrughan Sinha andJaya Prada in lead roles. Both versions were successful.
In all his films he used a combination of stars, melodrama and melodious songs. He has directed films inTamil,Hindi andTelugu. Sridhar was considered an expert in song picturisation as he could transform any song into sheer poetry. The formidable Sridhar –Kannadasan –M. S. Viswanathan combination held a magic spell on the audience and the songs contributed to the tremendous success of those films. Later on he switched to the Maestro Ilayaraaja for music and all his films with Ilayaraaja's music were known for their songs.
Sridhar died of Cardiac arrest inChennai on 20 October 2008, aged 75.[8]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
