Chandran Rutnam is a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n filmmaker and entrepreneur. Rutnam has hosted numerous

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

films for their location shoots in Sri Lanka and

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. He was the Line Producer/Production Supervisor on several international productions including the Sri Lankan location shoot of

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

' ''

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'' is a 1984 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the second installment in the ''Indiana Jones'' franchise, and a prequel to the 1981 film ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'', fea ...

'' (1984) and '' Indochine'' (1992). He is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Asian Film Location Services which mostly hosts foreign films to be shot in South and South East Asia.

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

once referred to Rutnam as "Our most valued friend in the Far East". Rutnam has also worked with Sir David Lean,

Sir Carol Reed Sir Carol Reed (30 December 1906 – 25 April 1976) was an English film director and producer, best known for ''Odd Man Out'' (1947), '' The Fallen Idol'' (1948), ''The Third Man'' (1949), and '' Oliver!'' (1968), for which he was awarded the ...

John Boorman Sir John Boorman (; born 18 January 1933) is a British film director, best known for feature films such as ''Point Blank'' (1967), ''Hell in the Pacific'' (1968), ''Deliverance'' (1972), ''Zardoz'' (1974), '' Exorcist II: The Heretic'' (1977), ...

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairm ...

and Regis Wargnier. Rutnam wrote the screenplay, produced, directed and edited the film '' The Road from Elephant Pass'', which was a Finalist Award Winner at the New York International Television and Film Awards in 2011. He also wrote the adapted screenplay and produced and directed, '' A Common Man'' which starred

Sir Ben Kingsley Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and two ...

and

Ben Cross Harry Bernard Cross (16 December 1947 – 18 August 2020) was an English stage and film actor. He was best known for playing Billy Flynn in the original West End production of the musical ''Chicago'', and his portrayal of the British Ol ...

. The film was nominated for the four main awards at the Madrid International Film Festival in 2013, winning the Best Picture, Best Director and the Best Actor awards. Rutnam was the founder of Lionair, a defunct Sri Lankan airline, and owns the Asian Aviation Centre, an aeronautical engineering and flying academy.

Family

Rutnam was born to a

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 ...

father Dr.

James T. Rutnam James Thevathasan Rutnam (1905-1988) was a Sri Lankan historian, educationalist, writer, and politician. Born in Jaffna, he was educated at the Manipay Hindu College, St. Joseph's College, Colombo and S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, before en ...

and a

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

mother Evelyn Wijeyaratne. He lived in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

for 38 years and now resides in

Colombo, Sri Lanka Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo met ...

. He is a brother of

Jayam Rutnam Jayam Rutnam is a Sri Lanka born American and the founder of the Sri Lanka America Association of Southern California (SLAASC) in 1973. Jayam is retired from his shipping business and currently involved as a film critic and journalist. Rutnam ...

, the founder of the Sri Lanka America Association of Southern California (SLAASC). Asian Aviation Hangar

Life and career

Rutnam was a school boy when David Lean arrived in Sri Lanka to shoot his

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

epic, ''

The Bridge on the River Kwai ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' is a 1957 epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the 1952 novel written by Pierre Boulle. Although the film uses the historical setting of the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–1943, the pl ...

''. The film crew hired a house that belonged to his parents for the shooting. Due to this exposure, to the consternation of his parents, he dropped out of school and went to London to pursue his dream of a career in films. He later moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and attended the film school at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

and the San Fernando Valley College of Law. While working in Hollywood studios, Rutnam's break in selling Sri Lankan locations to international filmmakers came when he managed to convince

John Derek John Derek (born Derek Delevan Harris; August 12, 1926 – May 22, 1998) was an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer and photographer.Tarzan the Apeman'', to shoot the film in Sri Lanka rather than in Africa. Rutnam also dreamt of making a mark in the

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

field. He stated, "I was the sort of guy who would go to an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

and watch the planes taking off. I remember as a kid, I went to the

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

port and watched the ships coming and going out. I do not know whether it was wanderlust or freedom of movement. I do not know which one it was. Some years ago a friend of mine and I decided that we should have an

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

." He founded Asian Aviation Centre and Lionair. Lionair was established in October 1993 and started its operations on 24 October 1994. Lionair suspended its domestic services when

Lionair Flight 602 Lionair Flight 602 was a Lionair Antonov An-24RV which crashed into the sea off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka on 29 September 1998. The aircraft departed Jaffna Airport with 48 passengers and a crew of seven; it disappeared from radar scr ...

, an

Antonov An-24 The Antonov An-24 (Russian/Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-24) (NATO reporting name: Coke) is a 44-seat twin turboprop transport/passenger aircraft designed in 1957 in the Soviet Union by the Antonov Design Bureau and manufactured by Kyiv, Irku ...

aircraft went missing shortly after it took off from

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most ...

in 1998, but resumed services in October 2002.

Flight International ''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's oldes ...

5–11 April 2005

Filmography

Theatrical releases

Awards and nominations

Gallery

File:William Holden and Chandran Rutnam while shooting The Bridge on the River Kwai.jpeg,

William Holden William Holden (born William Franklin Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor, and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film ''Stalag 17'' (1953) ...

and Chandran Rutnam during the shooting of ''

'' File:George Lucas and Chandran Rutnam.jpeg,

and Chandran Rutnam File:Chandran Rutnam with John and Bo Derek.jpeg, Chandran Rutnam with

John Derek John Derek (born Derek Delevan Harris; August 12, 1926 – May 22, 1998) was an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer and photographer.Bo Derek Bo Derek (born Mary Cathleen Collins, November 20, 1956) is an American actress and model. Her breakthrough film role was in the romantic comedy '' 10'' (1979). Her first husband John Derek directed her in '' Fantasies''; '' Tarzan, the Ape Man ...

File:Harrison Ford and Chandran Rutnam in Sri Lanka.jpg,

Harrison Ford Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. His films have grossed more than $5.4billion in North America and more than $9.3billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America. He is the recipient o ...

and Chandran Rutnam on the set of ''

'' which was shot in Hantana, Sri Lanka in 1983 File:Steven Spielberg with Chandran Rutnam in Sri Lanka.jpg,

and Chandran Rutnam on location in Sri Lanka during the filming of ''

'' File:Chandranratnum2.JPG, Rutnam with

at a benefit honoring Spielberg (December 9, 2009) File:Anton Wickremasinghe, Chandran Rutnam and Alfred Hitchcock at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles.jpeg, Anton Wickremasinghe, Chandran Rutnam (center) and

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

at the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

in Los Angeles.

References

External links

*
''Uththareethara: Chandran Rutnam'' (documentary video)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutnam, Chandran Sri Lankan Tamil film directors Sinhalese people Living people Film producers from California American film directors of Sri Lankan descent American male screenwriters Sri Lankan emigrants to the United States Sri Lankan Tamil film producers 1948 births Film directors from Los Angeles Screenwriters from California American film editors