Antony Mitradas (3 November 1913 – 20 February 2017) was an Indian film director who directed films in three languages: Tamil, Malayalam and Sinhalese.

Early life

Mitradas was born in

Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...

on 3 November 1913. He did his B.A. Statistics at American College, Madurai. His passion for film direction took him to Calcutta, and he enrolled in an institute run by Mr. Balchandani. There the noted director Ellis R. Dungan had come to deliver a guest lecture. Dungan was much impressed by Mitradas and recommended him to T. R. Sundaram of

Modern Theatres Modern Theaters Ltd was an Indian film studio in Salem, Tamil Nadu started by T. R. Sundaram Mudaliar in 1935. The studio produced over more than 150 films until 1982 in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Sinhalese and even English ...

, Salem. Thus he got the opportunity to direct his first film '' Dayalan'' starring P. U. Chinnappa in 1941, as soon as he finished his studies at the film institute.

Career

Mitradas' best known films are '' Baalyasakhi'', '' Avakasi'' and '' Pizhaikkum Vazhi''. ''Avakasi'' was a turning point in the career of

Prem Nazir Prem Nazir (born Abdul Khader; 6 April 1926 – 16 January 1989) was an Indian actor known as one of Malayalam cinema's definitive leading man, leading men of his generation. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential actors in the hist ...

. ''Duppathage Duka'' (1956) is the remake of the Tamil hit '' Ezhai Padum Padu''. With the outbreak of the World War II, he felt the necessity to serve the nation. He joined the army and was posted in Singapore and Chittagong during 1942-1945. At the end of the war, he restarted his film career and directed a few films.

Death

He died at the age of 103 on 20 February 2017 at Chennai.

Filmography

References

External links