R. Krishnan (1909–1997) and S. Panju (1915–1984), collectively referred to as Krishnan–Panju, were Indian film directors. The duo directed more than 50 films in South Indian languages and in Hindi.

Early life

R. Krishnan was born on 18 July 1909 in

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 ...

, Tamil Nadu, India. Previously, he was in charge of the laboratory in Pakshiraja Studios (then known as Kandhan studio) in Coimbatore. S. Panju was born on 24 January 1915 as Panchapakesan in Umayalpuram near Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu. Previously, he worked as an assistant editor under

P. K. Raja Sandow Raja Sandow (born P. K. Nagalingam) was an Indian film actor, film director and producer. He began his career as an actor in silent films and later became a prominent actor and director in Tamil and Hindi films of the 1930s. He is considered to ...

and as assistant director under

Ellis R. Dungan Ellis Roderick Dungan (May 11, 1909 – December 1, 2001) was an American film director, who was well known for working in Indian films, predominantly in Tamil cinema, from 1936 to 1950. He was an alumnus of the University of Southern Californ ...

. He was also a film editor who edited films under the name Punjabi or Panjabi.

Career

They both worked for the Tamil film ''Araichimani or Manuneethi Chozhan'' (1942), which was directed by P. K. Raja Sandow in Kandhan Studio. Krishnan and Panju became friends at this time. Later, when Raja Sandow saw their skills, he gave them his next project ''Poompavai''. The film ''Poompavai'' (1944) was their first directorial venture. In 1947, they directed '' Paithiyakkaran'' to support N. S. Krishnan's drama troupe, when he was jailed in the Lakshmikanthan murder case. After his acquittal, N. S. Krishnan also starred in the film. In 1949, they made '' Nallathambi'', inspired by '' Mr. Deeds Goes to Town'', in which C. N. Annadurai, who later became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, debuted as a script writer. In 1952, they made '' Parasakthi'', for which the dialogues were written by

M. Karunanidhi Muthuvel Karunanidhi (3 June 1924 – 7 August 2018) was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011. He was popularly referred to as Kalaignar (Art ...

, who also later became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. ''Parasakthi'' became a cult film in Tamil cinema and influenced the emergence of the

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; DMK) is a political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu where it is currently the ruling party having a comfortable majority without coalition support and the union territory of Puducherry where it is curre ...

, a regional party, as a political force in Tamil Nadu. They also made Hindi films such as '' Bhabhi'' and '' Shaadi''. They received the

Kalaimamani The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the ''Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram'' (literature, music and theatre), a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government o ...

award in 1960.

Personal lives

Krishnan has sons and daughters, among his sons is film director K. Subash, who died in 2016 at the age of 57.

Deaths

On 6 April 1984, S. Panju died in Chennai. Krishnan did not make any films after Panju's death. On 17 July 1997, Krishnan died in Chennai.

Filmography

Awards

Filmfare Award for Best Film - Tamil ''Filmfare'' is an Indian English-language fortnightly magazine published by Worldwide Media. Acknowledged as one of Indian most popular entertainment magazines, it publishes pieces involving news, interviews, photos, videos, reviews, events, a ...

- Server Sundaram (1964)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Krishnan-Panju 20th-century Indian film directors Film directors from Chennai Hindi-language film directors Indian filmmaking duos Kannada film directors Tamil film directors Telugu film directors