Sedapatti Suryanarayana Rajendran, also known by his initials SSR (January 1928 – 24 October 2014), was an Indian actor, film director, film producer and politician who worked in Tamil theatre and cinema. He often referred as Latchiya Nadigar.

Film career

''Sri Aandal'' was to have been the debut film for S. S. Rajendran as an actor. He received an offer to act in a negative role, and an advance as well. However, T. R. Sundaram, who oversaw the production, overruled Rajendran's selection because he "appeared like a boy with curly hair and was unsuitable for the villain role." S. S. Rajendran was cast in the title role, but was relieved after only two weeks of shooting from the film as T. K. Muthusamy of the TKS Brothers drama troupe revealed that Rajendran was still under contract with them, and threatened legal action if the film continued production. Thus the role went to newcomer S. M. Kumaresan. Rajendran made his acting debut with the 1952 film '' Parasakthi'', directed by the directing duo

Krishnan–Panju R. Krishnan (1909–1997) and S. Panju (1915–1984), collectively referred to as Krishnan–Panju, were Indian film directors. The duo directed more than 50 films in South Indian languages and in Hindi. Early life R. Krishnan was born on 18 ...

, with the character Gnanasekharan. He followed with '' Mudhalali'', ''President Panchatcharam'', ''Pillai Kani Amudhu'', ''Thalai Koduthan Thambi'', ''Thedi Vandha Selvam'', C. N. Annadurai's ''Edhayum Thangum Idhayam'', M. Karunanidhi's ''Avan Pithana'', ''

Poompuhar Poompuhar is a town in the Mayiladuthurai district in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The town, also known as Puhar, is referred to as Kaveri Poompattinam in ancient Tamil literature. It was once a flourishing ancient port city known as ...

'' and

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 ...

''Kumudham''. SSR acted with

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 ...

in '' Raja Desingu'' as Mohamed Khan and in '' Kaanji Thalaivan'' as Paranjothi. He had worked in many films with

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 ...

such as ''

Manohara Manohara is the kinnari (half-woman, half-bird) heroine of one of the Jataka tales. Typically referred to as Manohara and Prince Sudhana, the legend appears in the Divyavadana and is documented by stone reliefs at Borobodur. Versions of the st ...

'', '' Rangoon Radha'', '' Raja Rani'', '' Deivapiravi'', '' Aalayamani'', '' Pachai Vilakku'', '' Pazhani'', '' Kunkhumam'', '' Santhi'' and '' Kai Kodutha Dheivam''. Other notable films were '' Sorgavasal'', '' Ammaiyappan'', '' Ratha Kanneer'', '' Kula Dheivam'', '' Thai Pirandhal Vazhi Pirakkum'', '' Kalyanikku Kalyanam'', ''

Sivagangai Seemai ''Sivagangai Seemai'' () is a 1959 Indian Tamil-language historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which prese ...

'', also in AVM's '' Kaakum Karangal'', '' Poomalai'' and K. Balachander's '' Ethiroli''. His drama company ''SSR Nadaka Mandram'' staged plays including''Or Iravu'' ( C. N. Annadurai), ''Manimagudam'' ( M. Karunanidhi) and ''Thenpaandi Veeran'' ( P. Nedumaran). He introduced and gave opportunities to actress Manorama.

Director K. S. Gopalakrishnan was introduced from his film ''Saradha'' (a silver jubilee hit) and ''Saradha Studios'' was established to commemorate the success of this film by its producer A. L. Srinivasan. Likewise, SSRs film ''Thai Pirandhal Vazhi Pirakkum'', in which his co-star was Raja Sulochana, was a successful film in 1958.

Personal life

He had 8 children named Elangovan, Rajendrakumar, Kalaivanan, Bhagyalakshmi, Selvaraj, Ravikumar, Kannan & Lakshmi Sitara from his 3 wives including Actress C. R. Vijayakumari.

Political life

He joined the

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; ; DMK) is an Indian political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu, where it is currently the ruling party, and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry, where it is currently the main ...

(DMK) party and became the first actor to become an elected member of a legislative assembly in India when he was elected to the

Tamil Nadu legislative assembly The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a strength of 234 members, all of whom are democratically elected using the first-past-the-post system. The presiding office ...

as a DMK candidate for the Theni Constituency in the 1962 Madras State legislative assembly election. Subsequently, he was elected as a member (MP) of the

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

. He joined the

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK, also abbreviated as ADMK), also shortened to Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, is an Indian Regionalism (politics), regional political party with great influence in the Federated state, sta ...

(AIADMK) and was elected from Andipatti constituency in the 1980 assembly election. He shared good friendship with M.G.R and M. Karunanidhi.

Personal interests

Rajendran, being a strict follower of

Periyar Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 187924 December 1973), commonly known as Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician. He was the organizer of the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam and is considered the architect o ...

's policy of rationalism, never acted in films based on Ithihasas and

Puranas Puranas (Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature
(1995 Editio ...

. He earned the sobriquet "Latchiya Nadigar" (Idealistic Actor) as he never acted in films against his policy.

Death

Rajendran was admitted into Chennai Meenakshi hospital on 20 October 2014 to treat a lung infection. He died on 24 October 2014.

Filmography

Actor

References

External links

Acting, the SSR Way in My Movie Minutes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajendran, S. S. 1928 births 2014 deaths Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam politicians Male actors in Tamil cinema People from Madurai district Periyarists All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam politicians