Veteran filmmaker and Kerala State Film Development Chairman, Lenin Rajendran, passed away in Chennai yesterday. The 67-year-old was undergoing treatment after a liver transplant at a private hospital here.
The Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan paid his condolences. “He understood that cinema was not just of entertainment value, but could be used to document history. He was a person who stood steadfast with progressive left groups,” the CM said.
CM Pinarayi Vijayan has condoled the death of Lenin Rajendran. As a filmmaker, Lenin Rajendran possessed an exceptional ability to document history. His film about the Kayyur struggle, “Meenamasathile Sooryan”, and the biopic on Swathi Thirunal are fine examples. pic.twitter.com/gKUoVQuzIp
— CMO Kerala (@CMOKerala) January 14, 2019
Known for his serious movies, Lenin Rajendran has won five state film awards. He is perhaps most known for Swathi Thirunal, a biopic on the 19th-century king. The movie bagged him his first state award – a special jury mention. Subsequently, he won his first state award for best film in 1992 for Daivathinte Vikrithikal.
He won his first state award for best director in 2006 with Rathri Mazha. Makarmanju, starring cinematographer-director Santhosh Sivan as Raja Ravi Varma won the second best film award.
Chillu, Prem Nazarine Kanmanilla, Mazha, Puravrutham and Anyar are some his other famous works. Songs were a major area of interest for him. His movies have been characterised by good songs. Oruvattam Koodiya, a poem by the late ONV Kurup, featured in Chillu has been hailed as an evergreen classic.
Lyricism and Malayalam cinema don’t go together a long way together… Padmarajan, Aravindan, Ajayan, and now, Lenin Rajendran. pic.twitter.com/z2a2jImLiB
— N.S. Madhavan این. ایس. مادھون (@NSMlive) January 14, 2019
Lenin Rajendran RIP-
God bless .. pic.twitter.com/1c8nFR0Eoy— SantoshSivanASC. ISC (@santoshsivan) January 14, 2019
A native of Trivandrum, Rajendran was a student of the University College. During his campus days, he was a member of CPI(M). He began his career assisting director PA Backer and then went on to make his directorial debut with Venal in 1982.
“He directed 16 films. He always treaded a different path and that’s what made him different. He was a known Left traveller, that was evident in most of his pictures. His unexpected demise has come as a shock. The Malayalam film industry would miss him,” said the State Minister for Culture, A.K. Balan, according to a News18 report.
The director had also ran for a Lok Sabha seat from the Ottapalam constituency as a CPM candidate twice in 1989 and 1991 and went up against the former president K.R. Narayanan. He was however unsuccessful both times.
He is survived by his wife and two children.
Image Courtesy: IE
