Jugnu at 14:37, 15 April 2025

2025-04-15T14:37:47Z

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{{Short description|Indian film director}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| name = K. Rajeshwar
| birth_date =
| birth_place = India
| birth_name =
| other_names = Somasundareswar
| alma_mater = [[Loyola College, Chennai]]
| occupation = Film director
| spouse =
| yearsactive = 1989–present
| website =
}}

'''K. Rajeshwar''' is an Indian film director, who has worked in Tamil films. He was active primarily as a film maker and a writer in the 1990s collaborating in ventures which often included [[Pratap Pothan]].

==Career==
Rajeshwar grew up in Mumbai and became interested in films, as his father was also in the business. He later schooled in [[Tirunelveli]], before moving to [[Chennai]] and enrolled in [[Loyola College, Chennai]] to study Economics. During his time at college, he was actively involved in writing scripts for skits and plays before his passion for cinema and writing, saw him join the [[M.G.R. Government Film and Television Training Institute|Adyar Film Institute]].<ref name="krss">{{Cite web |url=http://silverscreen.in/features/rajeshwar-interview-futuristic/ |title=K. Rajeshwar Interview: Future Perfect|work=Silverscreen.in |access-date=6 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109103207/http://silverscreen.in/features/rajeshwar-interview-futuristic/ |archive-date=9 January 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Rajeshwar started his career as scriptwriter under the name Somasundareshwar. His first script was ''[[Aval Appadithan]]'' (1978), and was adapted by his college senior [[C. Rudhraiya]] from a short story to a feature-length film featuring [[Rajinikanth]] and [[Kamal Haasan]]. Upon release, the film won critical acclaim and is widely considered as one of the finest Tamil films of all time. He also went on to write scripts for successful films including the romantic dramas ''[[Panneer Pushpangal]]'' (1981), ''[[Kadalora Kavithaigal]]'' (1986) and ''[[Solla Thudikuthu Manasu]]'' (1988).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://baradwajrangan.wordpress.com/2009/02/14/between-reviews-a-small-slice-of-great-genius/|title = Between Reviews: A Small Slice of Great Genius|date = 14 February 2009}}</ref> He changed his screen name to Rajeshwar, following the insistence of director [[Bharathiraja]], who wanted to distinguish him from a different director called Somasundar during the period.<ref name="krss"/>

Rajeshwar then gained acclaim after writing the script and screenplay for the successful [[Kamal Haasan]] starrer ''[[Vetri Vizha]]'' (1989), before going on to win the second runner up award for the [[Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film|Best Film Award]] by the Tamil Nadu State for his first directorial venture, ''Nyaya Tharasu'' (1989). The film was a remake of the Malayalam film ''[[Panchagni]]'', and had a screenplay written by [[M. Karunanidhi]]. He then went on to make two successful films with [[Karthik (actor)|Karthik]] in the lead with ''[[Idhaya Thamarai]]'' and ''[[Amaran (1992 film)|Amaran]]'', before writing the script for [[Pratap Pothan]]'s ''[[Seevalaperi Pandi]]'' (1994). He planned a project titled ''Kovilppatti Veeralakshmi'' as early as 1996 with [[Swetha Menon]] but could not find financiers for the venture.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/soc.culture.tamil/J68fuQkdCtw|title=Redirecting to Google Groups}}</ref> Both the latter films were inspired by real-life characters and prompted Rajeshwar to head back to their respective villages and have an elongated recce, while writing the script.<ref name="krss"/>

He subsequently ended up starting ''[[Kovilpatti Veeralakshmi]]'' with [[Simran (actress)|Simran]] in the lead role, though despite much pre-release publicity, the film released in 2003 and became a commercial failure.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://sify.com/movies/tamil/preview.php?id=12631728&ctid=5&cid=2423| title = sify.com| website = [[Sify]]| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030503075218/http://sify.com/movies/tamil/preview.php?id=12631728&ctid=5&cid=2423| archive-date = 3 May 2003}}</ref> Rajeshwar announced a film titled ''Malligai Malare'' in 2007 with [[Namitha]] roped in to play five roles, though the film never took off.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiaglitz.com/namitha-in-malligai-malarae-tamil-news-30327|title = Namitha in Malligai Malarae - Tamil News|date = 5 April 2007}}</ref> He returned in 2009 by directing ''[[Indira Vizha]]'', featuring [[Srikanth (actor, born 1979)|Srikanth]], Namitha and [[Sruthi Marathe]], though the film garnered poor reviews at release.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-cinemaplus/glam-game-gone-awry-indira-vizha/article3021683.ece| title = Glam game gone awry -- Indira Vizha - CHEN - The Hindu| website = [[The Hindu]]}}</ref> Rajeshwar then co-wrote the story for the Hindi film ''[[Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani]]'' alongside [[Rajkumar Santoshi]] and in 2010, revealed that he was set to direct the Tamil remake of that film titled ''Dhideer Nagaril Oru Kadhal Gaana'' with his son Ranjan in the lead role. The film began production but eventually did not release.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://sify.com/movies/director-rajeshwar-launches-his-son-news-tamil-klnjP6gjjeb.html| title = sify.com| website = [[Sify]]| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101115152442/http://sify.com/movies/director-rajeshwar-launches-his-son-news-tamil-klnjP6gjjeb.html| archive-date = 15 November 2010}}</ref> In 2015, he revealed that another one of his son's had taken over the project and it was in its pre-production stages.<ref name="krss"/> Later in 2015, he began work on a sequel to ''Amaran'' starring Karthik, but the project was shelved after the actor fell ill.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/news/Gautham-Karthik-offers-his-tips-for-Amaran-2/articleshow/47624398.cms|title = Gautham Karthik offers his tips for Amaran 2|website = [[The Times of India]]}}</ref>

==Filmography==
===As director===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
! Year !! Film !! Notes
|-
| 1989 || ''[[Nyaya Tharasu]]'' || 3rd – [[Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film]]
|-
| 1990 || ''[[Idhaya Thamarai]]'' ||
|-
| 1992 || ''[[Amaran (1992 film)|Amaran]]'' ||
|-
| 1996 || ''[[Thuraimugam]]'' ||
|-
| 2000 || ''[[Athey Manithan]]'' ||
|-
| 2003 || ''[[Kovilpatti Veeralakshmi]]'' ||
|-
| 2009 || ''[[Indira Vizha]]'' ||
|-
|}

===As writer===
* ''[[Aval Appadithan]]'' (1978)
*''[[Panneer Pushpangal]]'' (1981)
*''[[Ezhavathu Manithan]]'' (1982)
*''[[Meendum Oru Kaathal Kathai]]'' (1985)
*''[[Kadalora Kavithaigal]]'' (1986)
*''[[Thulasi (1987 film)|Thulasi]]'' (1987)
*''[[Solla Thudikuthu Manasu]]'' (1988)
*''[[Vetri Vizha]]'' (1989)
*''[[Seevalaperi Pandi]]'' (1994)
*''[[Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani]]'' (2009; Hindi)

===As lyrics===
*''Thuraimugam'' (all songs)

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajeshwar, K.}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Film directors from Chennai]]
[[Category:M.G.R. Government Film and Television Training Institute alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian people]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian people]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]

K. Rajeshwar - Revision history

Jugnu at 14:37, 15 April 2025