Krishnaswami Subrahmanyam
Krishnaswami Subrahmanyam | |
---|---|
| |
Born |
Papanasam, Madras Presidency, British India | 20 April 1904
Died |
7 April 1971 66) Madras | (aged
Occupation |
Film Director, Film Producer, Screenwriter |
Years active | 1931-1957 |
Krishnaswami Subrahmanyam (1904–1971) was an Indian film director of the 1930s and 1940s. Popular Indian danseuse Padma Subrahmanyam is his daughter.[1]
Biography
K. Subrahmanyam was a key figure behind the establishment of the Tamil film industry. He started his film career as a scenarist and producer, working on P. K. Raja Sandow's silent films such as Peyum Pennum. He started Meenakshi Cineton with R. M. Alagappa Chettiar, directing his first film Pavalakkodi, in which the Tamil film star M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar debuted. He made a remarkable shift with the politically emphatic Balayogini, criticizing the caste system prevalent then.
In 1938, he made Sevasadanam, advocating a better deal for women, the saint film Bhaktha Chetha, critiquing untouchability and the war effort film Maanasamrakshanam. His best-known work is the strident nationalistic reformist film Thyagabhoomi. Thyagabhoomi was a novel by Kalki Krishnamurthy, which was banned by the British government.[2] He also directed the Malayalam film Prahlada (1941), which was scripted by noted playwright N. P. Chellappan Nair. He is one of the founders of Nadigar Sangam in 1952.
Family life
K. Subrahmanyam married Meenakshi and had children Balakrishnan, S. V. Ramanan, Krishnaswami, Chandrasekar, Lalitha, Bhama, Leela and Dr. Padma Subramanyam. He married S. D. Subbulakshmi with consent of his first wife Meenakshi and was blessed with Abaswaram Ramji. He kept both the families together and managed them without any discrimination. Among his children, only S. V. Ramanan, Krishnaswami and Dr. Padma Subramanyam are associated with cinema and dance. His first grandson and son of Bama Sundaram, S.Raghuram followed his footsteps became a very famous legendary dance choreographer in the Indian film industry and directed five films and choreographed over 1600 films, achieving many awards. His great-granddaughter and daughter of S. Raghuram; Gayathri, Raghuram and Suja Manoj we'll know as actresses and choreographers in the Tamil film industry. Anirudh Ravichandran his great grandson and grandson of S.V. Ramanan, well known music director, started at a very young age. Hrishikesh, also great grandson and grandson of S.V. Ramanan is a new budding actor in VIP, and acted as Danush's brother.
Filmography
- Pavalakkodi (1934)
- Naveena Sadaram (1935)
- Naveena Sarangadhara (1936)
- Bhaktha Kuchela (1936)
- Usha Kalyanam (1936)
- Balayogini (1937)
- Mr. Ammanchi (1937)
- Kowsalya Parinayam (1937)
- Sevasadanam (1938)
- Thyagabhoomi (1939)
- Bhaktha Chetha (1940)
- Prahlada (1941) (Malayalam)
- Ananthasayanam (1942)
- Bharthruhari (1944)
- Maanasamrakshanam (1945)
- Vikatayogi (1946)
- Vichitra Vanitha (1947)
- Kapati Arakshakaya (1948) (Sinhalese)
- Gokuladasi (1948)
- Geetha Gandhi (1949)
References
- ↑ "A progressive film-maker". Frontline. India. 3 July 2004.
- ↑ "Film directors Who Made a Difference in Tamil Cinema World". Indolink.com. Retrieved 2016-10-21.
External links
- Gowri Ramnarayan (14 June 2004). "Salute to a stalwart". The Hindu.