M. S. Rajashekar (died 29 October 2018) was an Indian

Kannada film Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. The 1934 film '' Sati Sulochana'' directe ...

director based in Bangalore. He made his directorial debut with ''

Dhruva Thare ''Dhruva Thare'' () is a 1985 Indian Kannada-language film directed by M. S. Rajashekar. The film stars Rajkumar, Geetha and Deepa. The movie is famous for its songs composed by Upendra Kumar. It is based on the novel ''Aparanji'' written by V ...

'' starring Rajkumar which earned the Karnataka State Award for Second Best Film. His second movie ''

Anuraga Aralithu ''Anuraga Aralithu'' () is a 1986 Indian Kannada-language film directed by M. S. Rajashekar. It is based on the Kannada novel ''Anuragada Anthahpura'' written by H. G. Radhadevi. The film was produced by M. S. Puttaswamy. The film stars Rajkum ...

'' was remade in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. He went on to make successful films like '' Ratha Sapthami'' and '' Nanjundi Kalyana''. Most of his films were either remakes or adapted from novels. He is credited with having brought nativity element in remakes since he is known only to retain the core storyline in the remakes. He is the second director after

Singeetam Srinivasa Rao Singeetam Srinivasa Rao (born 21 September 1931), commonly known as Singeetam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, composer, and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the most versatile directors of India. He is credited with hav ...

to direct matinee idol Rajkumar and his two sons. He also has the distinction of having directed

Shiva Rajkumar Nagaraju Shiva Puttaswamy (born 12 July 1962) known by his screen name Shiva Rajkumar, is an Indian actor, producer and television presenter, predominantly works in Kannada cinema.

in highest no. of movies - 14 - including his second and third movie (which earned him the title ''Hat-trick Hero'') and also

Raghavendra Rajkumar Raghavendra Rajkumar (born 15 August 1965) is an Indian actor, singer and producer of Kannada cinema. He is the son of actor Dr. Rajkumar and film producer Parvathamma Rajkumar. He made his debut as a lead in the film ''Chiranjeevi Sudhakar' ...

in highest no. of movies -8 (including his second and third movie). His movie '' Kanasina Rani'' earned

Malashri Malashri (born 10 August 1973) is an Indian actress. She has predominantly worked in Kannada films and was the topmost heroine in the 1990s. She has also worked in Telugu and Tamil cinema. Malashri was popular for playing diverse roles in wome ...

a title of same name.

Personal life

He is the son of make up artist Subbanna. Rajasekhar's son Raghavendra (Dharani) made his directorial debut with ''Baalashiva'' (2003) and went on to direct ''

Dhool ''Dhool'' () is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language masala film written and directed by Dharani. The film stars Vikram, Jyothika and Reema Sen. Vivek, Sayaji Shinde, Telangana Shakuntala, and Pasupathy, among others, play important roles. Produced by ...

'' (2011).

Career

After assisting director Vijay, Rajashekar made his directorial debut with ''

'' starring Rajkumar which became super hit. His second film ''Anuraga Aralithu'' was also successful. He directed Rajkumar's son Shivarajkumar in ''Ratha Sapthami'' and ''Mana Mecchida Hudugi''. Both films alongside ''Anand'' became successful and earned Shivrajkumar the tag of "Hat Trick Hero". Rajasekhar again directed him in films during 1980s like Ade Raaga Ade Haadu and Aasegobba Meesegobba with former being average grosser and latter being a super hit. He introduced Rajkumar's second son in the leading role in family comedy ''Nanjundi Kalyana'' which also marked the debut of actress Malashree. The film became a successful venture which led the cast and crew to collaborate with ''Gajapathi Garvabhanga'' in a similar genre. ''Hrudaya Haadithu'' and ''Mannina Doni'' were both films which starred Ambareesh and were adapted from novels which were successful. Both films featured Ambareesh in a soft natured character as opposed to action roles which he was playing up to that part of career. ''Midida Shruti'' and ''Muthanna'' which he again directed with Shivaraj did well. After the average success of ''Mana midiyuthu'', Rajasekhar after four years sabbatical returned with ''Hrudaya Hrudaya'', a romantic film with Shivarajkumar and Ramesh Aravind which was an average grosser but was well known for the song "O Premada". However, in the later part of Rajasekhar's career in 2000s, he directed mostly remakes with ''Yaarige Saluthe Sambala'' and ''Dakota Express'' being only successful ventures while his subsequent ventures like ''Vijayasimha'', ''Pakkadmane Hudugi'' and ''Ravi Shastri'' became failures. ''Ravi Shastri'' was the last film he had directed before his retirement.

Death

Rajasekhar died on 29 October 2018 at the age of 75 due to breathing problems.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rajashekar, M.S. Kannada film directors 2018 deaths Indian film directors Year of birth missing 20th-century Indian film directors 21st-century Indian film directors Film directors from Bangalore Recipients of the Rajyotsava Award 2014