A diamond falls from a tree – last tribute to Director Sridhar
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A shocking news to read this morning – Director Shridhar – most successful classy director in thamizh cinema whose movies did well uniformly well in all languages passed away at the age of 80 yesterday.
He was the first director to introduce feminism in thamizh cinema.
He was the first director to bring modernist visions of movie making as far as thamizh cinema is concerned, choosing silent pauses and making his characters speak softly and make everlasting impression.
He was the first director to make a movie on love failure of a guy in a decent un-misogynist way.
He was the first director to shoot a full length comedy movie in colour and that too in a riotous manner (Kadhalikka Neramillai, Pyar Kiye jaa)
His movies and its songs still remain the structural backbone on which quality movies and songs are compared against. His screenplays for Nenjil or aalayam and Nenjam Marappadhillai are some of the most revisited screenplays by younger directors. This year also is set to be the release of the updated version of ‘Kadhalikka Neramillai’ (Pyar kiye ja). He was the inspiration for talented directors like K.Balachander to adapt their scripts in hindi and achieve considerable success.
He was the director who screen tested Hema Malini first and chose to introduce J.Jayalalitha in that role for his movie “Vennira Aadai”. When the whole industry had written him off in the late 70s he gave the monstrous hit Ilamai oonjalaadugiradhu with young turks Rajini, Kamal and Ilaiyaraaja(music). He would again surprise the pundits with successful ‘Thendrale Ennai thodu’ in mid eighties.
In his long and inspiring career he has faced so many failures and with every failure would bounce back with an origninal and tastefully done movie that would send the audience to rapture. He is probably the only director to have directed the big 4 of MGR (Urimaik kural), Sivaji (Amara dheepam, ootty varai uravu, Sivandha mann), Rajini and Kamal hassan (ILamai oonjalaadugiradhu). He is also the only director to have directed the legends Sivaji and Dileep Kumar at the height of their acting prowess. He was also one of the most favourite director of the great Meena Kumari and someone who drew amazing performances from artistes like Muththu Raman , Rajendra Kumar, RajKumar, Baalaiah and Nagesh.
He was a king of comedies as much as making heart stopping tragedies.
While generations of audiences fell down laughing to the antics of K.Thangavelu as the manager of ‘Mannar & co’ in Kalyana parisu and the movie story narration by Nagesh to his Father Baalaiah in ‘Kadhalikka Neramillai’(Mehmood came close to the live wire performance of Nagesh along with Om Prakash in the remake Pyaar Kiye jaa), there were equally good number of men and women who cannot but stop shedding their tears at the plight of the characters in ‘Kalyana Parisu’ and the ever unforgettable ‘Sumai thaangi’.
As far as music is concerned – what Sridhar has achieved – no director in India has achieved it.
Collaborating with A.M.Rajah, M.S.Viswanadhan- T.K.Ramamoorthy, Shankar - Jaikishan, Laxmikant -Pyarelal and my favourite Ilaiayaraaja to produce mindboggling range of melodious music that saw the voices of A.M.Rajah, T.M.Sounderrajan, Jikki, K.J.Yesudhas, S.P.Balasubramaniam, Lata Mangeshkar, Seergaazhi Govindarajan, P.B.Shrinivas, Mohd.Rafi, Kishore Kumar and many other playback stalwarts heard on the screen electrifying the earbuds for generations to come is another feat never equalled by any other director.
IF there was any director who could claim to be pan-indian – there is no one else but C.V.Sridhar who can raise his hands up and that hand fell down first years back when he suffered a stroke and now rest of his aged and tired body fell silent – yet his works in a wide spectrum of themes, topics and genres will always be the guide book for any director aspiring to be called ‘versatile’.
Tags: Dil Ek Mandir, Dileep Kumar, Dir.Shiridhar, Ilaiyaraja, Indian Cinema, J.Jayalalitha, Kalyana parisu, Kamal Hassan, mehmood, Nagesh, Nenjil or aalayam, obituary, Pyaar Kiye ja, Sivaji Ganesan, Thamizh cinema
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A gud write up about a great director who redefined thamizh cinema. Kadhaalika Neramilai is his best.
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Befitting.
But sorry boss, a diamond and a tree!!!????
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Didn’t know about the director till now. It’s a heart-felt tribute from you VPJ….
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VPJ: Sridhar was also the director who introduced spoken tamil (not shudh tamil) in tamil cinema. Truly a great loss…Thanks VPJ for a fantastic tribute.
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A great loss to Tamizh and Indian cinema. GReat Write up and an apt tribute. Good work sir.
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Most of Sridhar’s movies were also remade into Telugu, and directed by him.
Kalyana Parisu-Pelli Kanuka
Nenjil Oru Aalayam- Manase Mandiram
ILamai oonjalaadugiradhu- Vayasu Pilichindi
Incidentally ANR who played the other role in Kalyana Parisu, was the main lead in the Telugu version.
Most of Sridhar’s telugu movies had ANR in the lead role.
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He was also the first director whose screenplay did not have a single baddie and yet the film as a whole worked magically well.
Thanks Ratnakar for that info!!
Arthi V . it would do you a world of good to discover him again. Most of his movies have the quality and dignfied humour that makes so good for repeated viweings. His portrayal of female leads is by far the most dignified and realistic – a notch better than K.Balachander in my opinion.
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thanks for this fitting tribute VPJ.
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It took me some time to realize which Shridhar you are talking of.. Even in Hindi films he had significant contribution with films like Dil Ek Mandir, Saathi, Nazrana, Gehri Chaal and Nai Roshni.. and as you said all the films had great music.. and with such an extensive list of music director you can also add Naushad saab (Saathi), Ravi (Nazrana and Nai Roshni), Khayyam (Dil.e.Naadaan) and SJ(Dil ek mandir) to the list.. Infact Saathi was the film which brought Naushaad saab and Majrooh saab together after about 20 years..
a great loss to cinema.. rest in peace..
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@VPJ,
“He was also the first director whose screenplay did not have a single baddie and yet the film as a whole worked magically well.”
and was the director who picked Amitabh to play a baddie in Gehri Chaal..
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Rest in Peace..
May be we can re-live some of his movies here on PFC…
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Saathi was the remake of Paalum Pazhamum directed by P Bhimsingh. Didnt know Sridhar did the Hindi version.
It was also the movie which made Naushad exclaim that he couldnt match the music of the original created by M.S.Viswanthan-Ramamoorthy especially Naan pesa Ninappedhellam
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The corresponding Hindi song was Mera Pyar bhi tu hai
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Good write-up. He is a class apart. Great director. When we are taking about moving cameras through a hole, through an object, he introduced it in Nenjor oru Alayam. If one happens to see the song “Sonnudu Nee dhaana”, the camera moves from the top and comes under the Cot (where the patienct Muthuraman sits) and again goes up – all in one shot. I loved that scened for the directors innovative thinking. Another scene in another film, where Gemini Ganesan’s face will come in the middle of the Jyoti (fire). He and PB Sreenivas have given memorable songs.
I need to mention about his wife. Vairamuthu, the famous lyricist, had mentioned in a magazine, mentioned his wife’s name in top 5 important women he met. He says- for the past 10 years Sridhar had been suffering with Parkinson and not even one day his wife moved away from him, taken care of him like a baby. Such a lovely relationship.
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@Pavan
Sridhar did some formulaic hero – villain movies in the late 70s for MGR and Sivaji – but his main forte was family oriented romance movies of 50s and 60s.
Another point about him that springs to my mind is the use of different themes and bringing them to celluloid without overt use of melodrama to spoil the theme. He took the theme of amnesia and wove a beautiful love triangle in ‘Amara dheepam’ which he remade in hindi with dileep kumar playing the role that Sivaji Ganesan played.
He took the theme of rebirth and used it in a thriller kinda format in nenjil Or aalayam and nambiyaar’s 100 year old man character spooked the hell out of me the first time i saw the movie.
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@Ramakrishnan
‘Engirundhaalum Vaazhga’ song of Nenjam marappadhillai also had long glancing shots of the miniature model of the hospital and then cleverly moving to the gradual roving shots of the big set he had erected for the same hospital. When it was released, audience were amazed at how the movie stayed in the same set – and the likeably satellite stories of other patients in the same hospital – the bubbly little girl having serious ailment – played by kutti padmini, the compounder Nagesh providing some comic relief. He established a screenplay pattern that is being reused till date in thamizh cinema.
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