A. P. Nagarajan

Akkamappettai Paramasivan Nagarajan (February 24, 1928 – 1977) was a veteran Tamil and Telugu film director, producer, actor and writer who set a trend in film making in Tamil cinema in 1960s and 1970s.^[1]

Early life

A. P. Nagarajan was born in a family of wealthy landowners on February 24, 1928 under the name Kuppuswamy. His father, Paramasiva Gounder, died when Kuppuswamy was a young boy; within a few months, he mother Lakshmi Ammal died too. His maternal grandmother, Manicka Ammal, took charge of the boy. Afraid that he might not be cared for by the family, she admitted him to a drama company without informing them of the boy's antecedents. Later he shifted to Avvai T. K. Shanmugam's drama company. As there were many Kuppuswamis, his name was changed to Nagarajan. Nagarajan learnt the basics of theatre and rose to play the lead in the play “Gumasthavin Penn.” A remarkable actor, he brought to life all the roles he donned, his early “sthreepart” roles being very popular with the audience. He worked in the Madurai Jayarama Sangeetha Boys Company as well as Sakthi Nadaga Sabha, along with Sivaji Ganesan and Kaka Radhakrishnan.

Film career

Nagarajan started his own drama company, the Pazhani Kadiravan Nadaga Sabha, and, in 1949, married Rani Ammal. He wrote and acted in several plays and one of his plays “Nalvar” was made into a movie. Nagarajan wrote the screenplay for his own story and play the hero in this film. His film career thus began in 1953.

He also acted in many movies for producer M. A. Venu, formerly of Modern Theatres, such as Mangalyam, Nalla Thangal and Pennarasi. He wrote the screenplay for Town Bus and by 1956 decided to focus on writing. He wrote Naan Petra Selvam and Makkalai Petra Maharasi — in the latter, he introduced the ‘Kongu' Tamil accent for the hero. The first of his many mythological films — Sampoorna Ramayanam (1958) — was a big success, and Rajaji, who had little regard for cinema, watched this film and praised Sivaji Ganesan's performance as Bharatha in it. He then started to produce in partnership with actor V. K. Ramaswamy. Some of the works of this period include Nalla Idaththu Sammandham (1958), Thayai Pol Pillai, Noolai Pol Selai (1959) and Paavai Vilakku. He made his directorial debut with Vadivukku Valaigaappu (1962). He launched his own production company with Navarathri and then went on to make a mark in the field of mythological cinema as well.

In 1965, a year after the release of Karnan, Thiruvilayadal hit the screens and set box office records. This was followed by Saraswathi Sabatham, Kandhan Karunai, Thiruvarutchelvar, Thirumal Perumai, Agasthiyar, Thirumalai Deivam, Karaikaal Ammaiyar and Sri Krishna Leela. He made Thillana Mohanambal and Raja Raja Chozhan, both of which too deserve to be restored.

Filmography

Year	Film	Credited as				Language	Notes
		Director	Producer	Writer	Actor
1977	Navarathinam	Y		Y		Tamil
1977	Shri Krishna Leela	Y				Tamil
1976	Jai Balaji	Y				Tamil
1975	Melnaattu Marumagal	Y		Y		Tamil
1974	Gumasthavin Magal	Y		Y		Tamil
1973	Karaikkal Ammaiyar	Y		Y		Tamil
1973	Rajaraja Cholan	Y				Tamil
1973	Thirumalai Daivam	Y				Tamil
1972	Agathiyar	Y	Y	Y		Tamil
1972	Thirupathi Kanyakumari Yatra	Y				Tamil
1971	Kankatchi	Y				Tamil
1970	Balaraju Katha			Y		Telugu	Nandi Award for Best Feature Film
1970	Thirumalai Thenkumari	Y	Y	Y		Tamil
1970	Vilayattu Pillai	Y				Tamil
1969	Gurudakshinai	Y				Tamil
1969	Vaa Raja Vaa	Y	Y	Y		Tamil
1968	Thillana Mohanambal	Y	Y	Y		Tamil	National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil
1968	Thirumal Perumai	Y		Y		Tamil
1967	Kandan Karunai	Y		Y		Tamil
1967	Seeta	Y				Tamil
1967	Thiruvarutchelvar	Y	Y	Y		Tamil
1966	Saraswati Sabatham	Y	Y	Y		Tamil
1965	Thiruvilaiyadal	Y	Y	Y	Y		Tamil	National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil
1964	Navarathri	Y		Y		Tamil
1963	Kulamagal Radhai	Y		Y		Tamil
1962	Vadivukku Valai Kappu	Y		Y		Tamil
1960	Paavai Vilakku			Y		Tamil
1959	Alli Petra Pillai			Y		Tamil
1959	Thayapol Pillai Noolapol Selai			Y		Tamil
1958	Nilavukku Niranja Manasu			Y		Tamil
1958	Sampoorna Ramayanam			Y		Tamil
1958	Nalla Idathu Sambandam			Y		Tamil
1957	Makkalai Petra Magarasi			Y		Tamil
1956	Naan Petra Selvam			Y		Tamil
1955	Town Bus			Y		Tamil
1955	Nallathangal				Y	Tamil
1955	Pennarasi				Y	Tamil
1954	Mangalyam				Y	Tamil
1953	Naalvar			Y	Y	Tamil

References

External links

• A.P. Nagarajan at the Internet Movie Database