S. Yesudas (10 September 1931 – 20 November 2022) known by his stage name Aaroor Dass, was an Indian stage, film and television Screenwriter who was active in

Tamil cinema Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Ch ...

during the latter part of the 20th century. Aaroor Dass has written the story and dialogues for over 1000 films, who dominate the

Tamil film Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Chen ...

for more than 40 years. He wrote his first film for actor

Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram. Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001), better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, was an Indian actor and film producer. He was mainly active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th centur ...

's ''

Pasamalar ''Pasamalar'' ( ) is a 1961 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by A. Bhimsingh. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan and Savitri Ganesan, with K. A. Thangavelu M. N. Nambiar and M. N. Rajam in supporting roles. It revolves ...

'' (1961). He debuted as a director with the film ''Penn Endral Penn'' (1967).

Early life

Dass was born on 10 September 1931 to Sathyagu and Arockiya Mary as Yesudas at

Thiruvarur Thiruvarur () also spelt as Tiruvarur is a municipality in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Thiruvarur district and Thiruvarur taluk. The temple chariot of the Thyagaraja t ...

Nagapattinam Nagapattinam (''nākappaṭṭinam'', previously spelt Nagapatnam or Negapatam) is a town in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Nagapattinam district. The town came to prominence during the period of Medieval ...

. He had three younger brothers and three younger sisters. Aaroor Dass attended Thiruvarur Jilla Board Higher Secondary School. Aaroor refers to

Career

Dass started his career as an assistant to Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass in 1955 and assisted in writing the dialogues for the film called '' Naattiya Thara''. He has said that he named his first child as Arokyamary and also gave a pet name, ''Thara Devi'' in remembrance of this film. He wrote his debut film as ''

Vaazha Vaitha Deivam ''Vaazha Vaitha Deivam'' () is 1959 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film, directed by M. A. Thirumugam, produced by Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar and written by Aaroor Dass with music by K. V. Mahadevan. It stars Gemini Ganesan and B. S ...

'' (1959) produced by

Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar Sandow Marudur Marudachalamurthy Ayyavoo Chinnappa Thevar (28 June 1915 – 8 September 1978) was a film producer of Tamil cinema in the mid-1950s through the 1960s and 1970s. He is best known for his films featuring animals, and has produced nu ...

. Then, he wrote next film for Sivaji Ganesan's ''

'' (1961) and continued to write for the thespian in 28 films. When he wrote Pasamalar, Das was 28 years, Sivji Ganesan was 32 and Savitri was 24. He wrote for nearly the same number of

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 – 24 December 1987), popularly known by his initialism M.G.R. and as Makkal Thilagam/Puratchi Thalaivar, was an Indian actor, politician, and philanthropist who served as the chief minister of ...

too (including a few that were not released). Dass worked with many top class directors of yesteryears, like A. Bhimsingh,

A. C. Tirulokchandar A. C. Thirulokachandar (11 June 1930 – 15 June 2016), also known as A. C. Tirulokchandar, was an Indian film director and screenwriter who worked mainly in Tamil films from the 1960s to 1988. He also directed a few films in Hindi and Telugu. ...

M. A. Thirumugam M. A. Thirumugam (died 2004) was an Indian film director and editor. He was the younger brother of the film producer Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar. Filmography As editor * Kaithi (1951) * Marmayogi (1951) * Rani (1952) * Edhir Paradhathu (1 ...

and many others. He was associate director under Tirulokchandar and Dever films. He has written stage plays like ''Thirisoolam'' and ''Jenma Thandanai''. In June 2022, Aaroor Dass received the Kalaignar Kalaithurai Vithagar Award from the government of Tamil Nadu.

Personal life and death

Dass married Baby, the couple had four children; three daughters Thara, Aasha and Usha and a son Ravichandran. He lived in Nathamuni Street in T. Nagar in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

. Dass died in

on 20 November 2022, at the age of 91.

Filmography

As writer

As director

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dass, Aaroor 1931 births 2022 deaths Writers from Tamil Nadu Tamil screenwriters 20th-century Indian male writers Dramatists and playwrights from Tamil Nadu 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Indian male dramatists and playwrights Indian male screenwriters