Rudraiah Chockalingam ( – 18 November 2014) was an Indian

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, ...

most known for directing the film, ''

Aval Appadithan ''Aval Appadithan'' () is a 1978 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language Drama (film and television), drama film directed by C. Rudraiah in his directorial debut, and co-written by him with K. Rajeshwar, Somasundareshwar. The film was produced by ...

'' (1978) which starred

Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali f ...

Rajinikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 160 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannad ...

and

Sripriya Sripriya is an Indian actress, film director and politician from Tamil Nadu. She has acted in over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi languages. She has also directed films in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu languages, includi ...

Career

He graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics from

St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirapalli St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli (SJC) is a Catholic college in Tamil Nadu, India. It was established in 1844 by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and it is regarded as one of the most prestigious institutions in India. It was affiliated wi ...

and went on to pursue a diploma in film direction from

Film and Television Institute of Tamil Nadu The M.G.R. Government Film and Television Training Institute, formerly known as the Adyar Film Institute, is Asia's first-ever film and television training institute. Established in 1945 as Adyar Film Institute, it is one of the pioneer film in ...

, Chennai. His directorial debut ''Aval Appadithan'' 'made an impact at the time of its release because its story and dialogues were different from many other

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

films. The photography throughout the film emphasises moods by using shadows, and close-up shots are used extensively.

Jump cut A jump cut is a cut in film editing in which a single continuous sequential shot of a subject is broken into two parts, with a piece of footage being removed in order to render the effect of jumping forward in time. Camera positions of the subje ...

s are also common throughout the film. ''Aval Appadithan'' is considered as a

milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway, railway line, canal or border, boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the rou ...

in Tamil film history. Indian filmmaker

Mrinal Sen Mrinal Sen (''Beng.'' মৃণাল সেন; 14 May 1923 – 30 December 2018) was an Indian film director, and screenwriter known for his work primarily in Bengali, and few Hindi and Telugu language films. Regarded as one of the finest Ind ...

remarked that the film "was far ahead of the times". Rudraiah's second film, '' Gramathu Athiyayam'' (1980) was a rural tale set in a rustic Tamil village. Despite the success of his first film, Rudraiah found it difficult to continue making films as a result of the changing style of the film industry and the audience's preference for star-driven projects. In 1982, he began a venture titled ''Raja Ennai Mannithuvidu'' featuring

Chandrahasan S. Chandrahasan (6 March 1936 — 18 March 2017) was an Indian film producer and actor from Tamil Nadu, India. Early life Born to advocate Srinivasan and Rajalakshmi, Chandrahasan was the second of four children. His elder brother Charuhasan ...

, Sujatha and

Sumalatha Sumalatha (born 27 August 1963) is an Indian actress, politician who is the current Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Mandya, Karnataka. She has acted in more than 220 films in Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Hindi. She gaine ...

, which dealt with conflicts between two brothers. The film was shot simultaneously in Telugu and was 40% complete, when Kamal Haasan pulled out citing he wanted to work on scripts with more star value, and the film eventually was thereafter shelved. The songs recorded for the film by

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in Tamil films. Reputed to be one o ...

were later used in other ventures. Rudraiah then announced another film titled ''Unmayai Thedi'' which also failed to materialise, before he began work on the road movie, ''TXT7'' in 1988. Written by Sujatha, the team signed on

Raghuvaran Raghuvaran Velayutham (11 December 1958 – 19 March 2008) was an Indian actor who predominantly acted in films made in South India. He has acted in more than 200 Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. According to the ''Hindustan ...

to play the lead role of a taxi driver and

L. Vaidyanathan Lakshminarayana Vaidyanathan ( ta, லக்ஷ்மிநாராயண வைத்தியநாதன்; kn, ಎಲ್.ವೈದ್ಯನಾಥನ್; 9 April 1942 – 19 May 2007) was an acclaimed musicologist, music director and compo ...

to compose music. However financial problems meant that the film was soon after indefinitely postponed. The failure for his own productions to take off meant that by 1990, Rudraiah was open to directing films for other producers and began work on a tragic love story titled ''Kadalpurathil'' featuring Archana. Soon after production began, the makers decided to change the lead actress and create it as a television film instead, and it was later premièred on

Doordarshan Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest b ...

Death

Rudraiah died in Chennai on 18 November 2014 at the age of 67 after an illness.

Filmography

*''

'' (1978) *'' Gramathu Athiyayam'' (1980)

References

External links

*
An Outsider who saw within
- Ganga Rudraiah (The Hindu, 2016 Nov 19) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rudraiah, C. 2014 deaths Tamil film directors M.G.R. Government Film and Television Training Institute alumni St Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli alumni 1947 births Film directors from Tamil Nadu 20th-century Indian film directors Artists from Tiruchirappalli