A.P. Nagarajan

A.P. Nagarajan was a Tamil writer, director, and producer. He was born in district Salem in Madras in the year 1928. Nagarajan had a difficult childhood; he lost his father followed by his mother within a few months, at a very young age. He fell into the care of her grandmother who indulged him in theatre and drama. Nagarajan was born with the name Kuppuswamy which was later changed to Nagarajan because many at the drama company had the same name. He played the lead in the play Gumasthavin Penn. He worked with several drama companies including Madurai Jayarama Sangeetha Boys Company and Sakthi Nadaga Sabha. Nagarajan then went on to open his own theatre company - Pazhani Kadiravan Nadaga Sabha. Around this time he also got married to Rani Ammal. He entered the film industry in 1953. He acted in movies including Pennarasi, Nalla Thangal, and Mangalyam.

One of the plays written by him – ‘Nalvar’ was adapted into a movie for which he wrote the screenplay and starred as the lead. He was the screenwriter for the movies Town Bus, Makkalai Petra Maharasi, Naan Petra Selvam, and Sampoorna Ramayanam (1958). Soon, Nagarajan changed the course of his career and entered the production space in association with his long-time friend V.K. Ramasamy. He produced movies like Paavai Vilakku, Thayai Pol Pillai, Noolai Pol Selai, and Nalla Idaththu Sammandham among others. In 1962, he became a director with the film Vadivukku Valaigaappu. Nagarajan opened his production house and carved his niche in the cinema by producing mythological films.

He won the Filmfare award in the Best Film category for Thiruvilaiyadai. In this film, he was seen as an actor, director, producer, and screenplay writer. Other productions included Thirumal Perumai, Saraswathi Sabatham Saraswathi Sabatham is a Tamil television soap ope >> Read More... , Raja Raja Chozhan, Kandhan Karunai, Agasthiyar, Karnan, Karaikaal Ammaiyar, Thiruvarutchelvar, and Sri Krishna Leela. The film Thillana Mohanambal (1968), written, produced, and directed by Nagarajan won the National Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil. He had a very short-lived career in Tamil Cinema as he died early in 1977 due to heart failure in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.