Bharathiraja the Paragon of Tamil Cinema

  

                                        

      Homage to the genius of Tamil cinema.

                          10th June 2026

       The glory of Tamil cinema rests with its fantastic film makers of fascinating creativity and felicitous narration. From the days of A.Bhimsingh,Tamil cinema has been gifted with film makers of prolific creative stuff in presenting themes, and events related to the themes, with enormous credibility, acceptability, and inimitable grandeur. Besides.A.Bhimsingh directors like P.Madha van,the duo Krishnan Panju, K.Balachander K..S.Gopalakrishnan, A,P.Nagarajan, A.C. Thirulokchandar, Balu Mahendra, J.Mahen dran and several others made Tamil Cinema stand up uniquely and occupy a proud place in the Indian celluloid panorama. 

.  But in the mid Seventies there came a different kind of film maker with a wholesome rural comprehension and commitment to reflect the multifarious features of aspiration of the rural block of Tamil Nadu. Yes! It was K. Bharathiraja who is now adored as the Himalayan height of Tamil cinema.

    What was distinct about this extraordinary film maker was his commendable gift hamper of themes of variety,harboring rural romance, rural casteism, rural gossip,rural superstitions, rural rivalry, rural stigma and rural concept of right and wrong,fixed by the village chieftains, held in high esteem by the respective villages. 

   Starting from his very first film Padhinaaru Vayadhinile {for which he received the best director award from the state of Tamil Nadu} his focus on villages continued in films like Kizhakke Pogum Rayil,Puthiya Vaarpukal, Niram Maaraadha Pookal, Alaigal Oivadhillai {for which he again got the best director award from the TN government} Man Vaasanai,Muthal Mariyaadhai {which won the national award for the best feature film} Kadalora Kavidhaikal,Vedham Pudhithu{for which also won the national award for the best film) Puthu Nellu Puthu Naathu,Nadodi Thenral, Kizhakku Cheemaiyile Karuthamma{ A national award winning film}and Pasumpon.

     All the films mentioned above, were of a worthy watch and the two very special films in this list are Vedham Puthithu and Muthal Mariyadhai on account of the serene element of humanism in the former and the exalting romantic appeal in the latter, with its soul sustaining reach. The beauty of Bharathi Raja's films is the unifying sense of actors becoming one with the characters, lyrics and music creating an extolling oneness, and songs unifying the moods of the listeners.

   The Bharathiraja,Ilayaraja Vairamuthu combination is a special kind of trio seeking and setting the unifying process, at all levels. Majority of songs in Bharathiraja's films carried an enchanting musical core and no film could be said to have gone without leaving at least a couple of songs ringing in our ears and reaching our souls,to get deeply implanted there.

    Romance excelled in films like Padhinaaru Vayadhinile,Kizhakke Pogum Rayil,Kadalora Kavdhaikal Muthal Mariyaadhai.and Alaigal Oivadhillai.While religion and casteism prevailed in Alaigal Oivadhillai and Vedham Pudhithu, the soul's inner cry for someone to give a soothing touch to the scars of the undue wounds, heaped upon a venerable human being, became the sparkling undercurrent of Mudhal Mariyadhai. 

    It is doubtful whether any other film maker has travelled into the inner self of the characters of their films, as Bharathiraja has done. It is this special trait that makes Bharathiraja an ever-engrossing film maker. The fraternal bonding was firmly clicked in the film Kizhakku Cheemaiyile and it was almost similar to the emotional depth witnessed in Pasamalar. While feminism was explicitly witnessed in films like Puthumai Penn, womanhood was cherished both in Karuthammaa and Mann Vaasanai.

    Bharathiraja did not simply stop with the rural stuff. His creative wings were so wide, that they could fly into a variety of zones, such as the conflict between politics and the police& administrative edifices, as seen in films like Kodi Parakkuthu and Thamizh Selvan.{with Rajinikanth in the former and Vijayakanth in the latter}. Bharathiraja's dynamic hands tackled even action thrillers like Tik Tik Tik, Oru Kaidhiyin Diary,{which was also produced by Bharathiraja with its story line rendered by his disciple Bhagyaraj who later on turned into another most popular film maker} and the psychologically intricate Sigappu Rojaakkal. After Padhinaru Vayadhinile Kamalahasan starred in all the three films. Captain Magal was another film with a totally different thematic content with elements of politics and thriller effects. En Uyir Thozhan was another political film made by Bharathiraja.

   Bharathiraja has also directed his son Manoj's entry film Tajmahal. It is unfortunate that such an endearing film maker had to witness and endure the passing away of his son Manoj. Apart from making Tamil films, Bharathiraja has also directed a couple Hindi and Telugu films. Later he took to acting and he has done paternal, grandfather and other types of roles in about thirty films.

   Appearing first as a Station master in his own film Kizhakke Pogum Rayil,he did significant roles in Mani Ratnam's Ayutha Ezhuthu,Thamira's Rettai Chuzhi ,Suseend hran's Pandi Naadu, Kennedy Club, Kutram Kutrame, and Eswaran,Vikraman's Ninaithathu Yaaro,Nithilan Saminathan's Kurangu Bommai, Namma Veettu Pillai of Pandiraj,Mithran R.Jawahar's Thiruchitram balam,Thangar Bachan's Karu Megangal Kalaiginrana,Nandha Periyasamy's Thiru. Manickam.Venky Atlury's Vaathi his son Manoj Bharathiraja's Margazhi Thingal, Harish Prabhu's Thiruvin Kural and in his self-directed film Meendum Oru Mariyaadhai. In addition to this,he has also appeared in the latest Malayalam film Thudarum. All the important films in which Bharathiraja has donned a role, have been listed here. Some of the television serials that included his role play are, Thekkathi Ponnu and Appanum Aathaalum.

     From Theni to Kollywood, Bharathiraja's journey as an exuberant film maker and actor, became an exemplary point of reference, reverence and reverberation for Tamil cinema. Each of his films will start with his celebrated utterance My sweet Tamil folks {En Iniya Thamizh Makkale }and penetrate into the souls of lovers of Tamil and Tamil cinema. There was least exaggeration of events or characters or dialogues in any of his films. 

     Bharathiraha was poetic even in rendering titles for his films.Titles like Nadodi Thenral ( Nomadic Breeze ) Kadalora  Kavidhaikal (Seashore Lyrics ) Puthiya Vaarpukal ( Fresh Castings)Niram Maraadha Pookal (Never Colour Changing Flowers and Alaigal Ouvadhillai ( Waves never rest)are a few captivating titles of his films. 

  The audience would be made to travel into every nook and corner of villages and not just view but participate in the course of events. Many film makers have come and gone in Tamil cinema. But the top notch respect {Muthal Mariyaadhai}will always be shown to Bharathi Raja, who will ever remain at the peak of film making grandeur of Tamil cinema.That is why he remains as the paragon among Tamil film makers.

Note: - Also read, "The Two Big Bs of Tamil Cinema" in my Blog:-

 mymovieminutes.blogspot.com

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