Joseph Thaliath Jr. was an Indian film director and producer.

Early life

Hailing from a Christian family, he was the son of a High Court Judge in

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

when it was known as Trivandrum in the Princely State of

Travancore The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...

before independence. After completing his degree, he developed a flair for cinema and, much against his father's wishes, went to Madras (now

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

) and worked as an assistant to a multi lingual film director called S. Soundararajan (S. Soundararaja Aiyengar, owner of the Tamil Nadu Talkies Laboratory.).

Career

F. Nagoor was an art director, film producer and a partner of Newtone studios in Chennai. Joseph Thaliath Jr. joined him as a partner. With the help of F. Nagoor, he launched a new film company named Citadel Film Corporation. He wrote a story based on a Christian folklore and together with F. Nagoor, produced and directed the film '' Gnana Soundari''. The film was released in 1948 and was a great success. Following the success of ''Gnana Soundari'', he established his own studio and named it as "Citadel Studios", inspired by the

A. J. Cronin Archibald Joseph Cronin (19 July 1896 – 6 January 1981), known as A. J. Cronin, was a Scottish physician and novelist. His best-known novel is ''The Citadel'' (1937), about a Scottish doctor who serves in a Welsh mining village before achievi ...

novel ''

The Citadel The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a Public college, public United States senior military college, senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1842, it is one ...

''. It was built on a spacious plot in Kilpauk, Chennai with two entrances. One entrance faced Poonamallee High Road and the other, Landon's Road. In 1950, he wrote, produced and directed ''

Ithaya Geetham ''Ithaya Geetham'' is a 1950 Indian Tamil-language historical romance film written, directed and produced by Joseph Thaliath Jr. The film stars T.R. Mahalingam and T. R. Rajakumari. Plot A king is on his deathbed. He requests his friend to ...

'', all on his own. The film was shot mostly in his Citadel Studios. He later dubbed the film into

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

with the title ''Jeeva Taara''. Film stars C. L. Anandan of

Vijayapuri Veeran ''Vijayapuri Veeran'' () is a 1960 Indian Tamil-language swashbuckler film directed by Joseph Thaliath Jr. and written by A. C. Tirulokchandar. An adaptation of the novel ''The Three Musketeers'' by Alexandre Dumas, it stars C. L. Anandan (i ...

fame and

Jaishankar Jaishankar (12 July 1938 – 3 June 2000) was an Indian actor known for his work in Tamil cinema. He was a very popular lead actor in the 1960s and 70s. He was credited onscreen with title of ''Makkal Kalaingnar'' (people's artiste) or '' ...

were introduced to the screen by Joseph Thaliath Jr.

Filmography

*'' Gnana Soundari'' (1948) *''

'' (1950) *''Jeevan Tara'' (1951) *''

Aathmasanthi ''Aathmasanthi'' is a 1952 Indian Malayalam-language film, directed by Joseph Thaliyath. The film stars T. K. Madhavan Nair and Miss Kumari. The film was dubbed into Tamil with the same title and released in the same year. Tamil dialogues and ...

'' (1952) *''

Mallika Mallika is a Hindu/Sanskrit Indian feminine given name, which means "jasmine".''Baby Names''"Given Name Mallika" Retrieved on 27 January 2016. Notable people with the name include: *Mallika (actress), Indian actress * Mallika Chabba (born 1985), ...

'' (1957) *'' Payal'' (1957) *''

'' (1960) *''Teen Dost'' (1964) *''

Iravum Pagalum ''Iravum Pagalum'' () is a 1965 Indian Tamil-language crime thriller film directed by Joseph Thaliath Jr. The film stars then newcomers Jaishankar and C. Vasantha, while S. A. Ashokan, Nagesh, Ganthimathi and Pandari Bai play supporting rol ...

'' (1965) *''Vilakketriyaval'' (1965) *'' Kathal Paduthum Padu'' (1966)

References

External links

Our Lady of Gnanasoundary
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thaliath, Joseph Year of birth missing Possibly living people Tamil film directors Tamil-language film directors Film directors from Thiruvananthapuram People of the Kingdom of Travancore 20th-century Indian film directors Film producers from Thiruvananthapuram Malayalam film producers