'Galatta Kalyanam' director CV Rajendran passes away at 81

CHENNAI: Renowned director C V Rajendran, who made films across South for over three decades, breathed his last on Sunday morning. The 81-year-old filmmaker was reportedly suffering from a chronic illness and was recently admitted to Miot hospitals.

The cousin of late filmmaker CV Sridhar, Rajendran assisted him before going on to make hit Tamil films like Galatta Kalyanam, Sumathi En Sundari (starring Jayalalithaa and Sivaji Ganesan), Ullasa Paravaigal (featuring Kamal Haasan), and Garjanai (with Rajinikanth). He was also quite prolific in Kannada cinema toward the late 70s, with most of them being remakes of films he had done in Tamil.

It all began for him when he directed his first venture, Anubavam Pudhumai, in 1967. Rajendran also did films in Malayalam and Hindi. He was the one to introduce Prabhu (Sivaji Ganesan’s son) in Sangili (1982), and in keeping with his penchant for remakes, it was one too, of the Hindi film, Kalicharan (1976).  
Recalling his friendship with Rajendran, veteran character artiste, Delhi Ganesh, who worked with him in Sandhippu, says he was a ‘gem of a person’. “Post his stint as a director in cinema, he made a teleserial, which was shot at my house for Sivaji Productions. He was an ardent fan of Sivaji Ganesan too, and produced over 15 films with him as a hero.”

Delhi Ganesh notes that only ten days back, a sabha held a felicitation ceremony for senior artistes including him. “One quality that I will always admire in him is how he was never jealous of anybody.”

“We used to meet at Sivaji Ganesan’s house a lot, during the 80s. I acted in Vietnam Colony (1994) and Once More (1996), which he produced,” film historian-actor Mohan Raman said.

(Inputs from A Sharadhaa)