Gnana Rajasekaran (born 23 January 1953) is an Indian filmmaker,

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and Retired

IAS IAS may refer to: Science * Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, New Jersey, United States * Image Analysis & Stereology, the official journal of the International Society for Stereology & Image Analysis. * Iowa Archeological Society, Uni ...

Officer. His directional debut was ''

Mogamul ''Mogamul'' is a 1995 Tamil language film directed by Gnana Rajasekaran based on a novel written by Thi. Janakiraman. The film stars Archana Joglekar, Nedumudi Venu and Abhishek, while Vivek and Vennira Aadai Moorthy play supporting roles. The ...

'' (1994) won the Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director. His other works include '' Bharathi'' (2000), ''

Periyar Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 1879 – 24 December 1973), revered as Periyar or Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He is known as the 'F ...

'' (2007) and ''Ramanujan'' (2014). As of 2014, Rajasekaran has won three

National Film Awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...

, three

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence in Tamil cinema in India. They were given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to the South Indian film industry by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The aw ...

. His films have been screened at international film festivals including the

International Film Festival of India The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually, currently in the state of Goa, on the western coast of the country, the festival aims at providing a common pla ...

Early life

Gnana Rajasekaran was born in Pallikonda, Vellore district,

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

, India, to Gnanaprakasam and Sharadambal, both teachers. He graduated with a BSc in

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

from Sacred Heart College, Tiruppatur; he gained a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in physics from the Presidency College, Chennai. After he graduated, he worked as a technical officer with the Intelligence Bureau in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

for four years, where many of his plays were staged. In 1983, he was appointed to the

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...

, and was allotted the Kerala Cadre. Rajasekaran married Sakunthala Chidambaram in 1985, and they have two daughters,

Sindhu Rajasekaran Sindhu Rajasekaran is an Indian author and film maker. Her debut novel ''Kaleidoscopic Reflections'' was longlisted for the Crossword Book Award in 2011, while her prose and poetry have appeared in internationally acclaimed literary magazines. S ...

and Nandita.

Career

Before his career as a film-maker, Rajasekaran published an allegorical

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

titled ''Yanai Kuthirai Ottagam'', which was judged the best novel of the year by the Tirupur Tamil Sangam. He has written and directed several plays including a collection of three plays titled ''Vayiru'' (published in 1980) and the 1996 Hindi version of the play won an all India award for the best script. Rajasekaran's debut film, ''

'' (1995), is based on the novel written by Thi. Janakiraman. The film won the Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director at the

42nd National Film Awards The 42nd National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1994. Ceremony took place in 199 ...

and the Special Jury Award for Best film at the

48th National Film Awards The 48th National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 2000. Ceremony took place on 12 ...

. He then went on to direct the

Nassar Nassar ( ar, نصار, lit=helper, protector, supporter, victory-maker), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer ...

-starrer ''

Mugam Mugham ( az, Muğam) or Mughamat ( az, Muğamat) is one of the many classical compositions from Azerbaijan, contrasting with tasnif and ashik. It is a highly complex art form that weds classical poetry and musical improvisation in specific ...

'' (1999), with the film fetching poor reviews and faring badly at the box office. '' Bharathi'' (2000), is a biography of the Tamil poet Subramanya Bharathi. The film starred the Marathi actor

Sayaji Shinde Sayaji Shinde (Marathi pronunciation: əjaːd͡ʒiː ʃin̪d̪eː born 13 January 1959) is an Indian actor who has acted in Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Bhojpuri films and several Marathi Plays. Sayaj ...

and

Devayani Devayani ( sa, देवयानी, translit=Devayānī) is a character in Hindu literature. She is described to be the daughter of Shukra, the acharya (preceptor) of the asuras, and his wife Jayanti, the daughter of Indra. She marries K ...

. The film won four

and six Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. ''

'' (2007), a biopic on E.V.Ramaswamy, focused on the history of the

Dravidian movement The Dravidian movement in British India started with the formation of the Justice Party on 20 November 1916 in Victoria Public Hall in Madras by C. Natesa Mudaliar along with T. M. Nair and P. Theagaraya Chetty as a result of a series of non- ...

, collating various incidents of the period. The film starred

Satyaraj Rangaraj Subbiah (born 3 October 1954), professionally known as Sathyaraj, is an Indian actor, producer, director and a media personality who has predominantly appeares in Tamil cinema and Telugu cinema, Telugu Cinema. His 240 films also includ ...

and Khushbu, and won the Best Feature Film in Tamil at the

and was screened in various international film festivals. '' Ramanujan'' (2014) is a biographical film based on the life of Indian mathematician

Srinivasa Ramanujan Srinivasa Ramanujan (; born Srinivasa Ramanujan Aiyangar, ; 22 December 188726 April 1920) was an Indian mathematician. Though he had almost no formal training in pure mathematics, he made substantial contributions to mathematical analysis ...

. The film received mixed reviews from critics. Rajasekaran has also directed various short films such as ''Oru Kan, Oru Parvai'' (1999, Tamil), ''Vivaram Onum Ariyam'' (Malayalam), ''Puthia Keralam'' (Malayalam) and ''Kanavu Nijamagum'' (Tamil, 2007). Rajasekaran is the dean of SRM Sivaji Ganesan Film Institute, Chennai. He has held high positions in various public sector entities. He such as Secretary to Government for the 'Energy and Labour Departments' - Government of Kerala and Chairman for 'Kerala State Electricity Board'. He also serves as a director on the board of BGR Energy Systems Ltd.Board of Directors, BGR Energy Systems Limited
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Early life

Career

Filmography

References

External links