R. Sarath is an Indian

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and

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. ...

working primarily in the Malayalam film industry.

Career

Sarath's rendezvous with films started with ''

Sayahnam ''Sayahnam'' ( en, Twilight) is a 2000 Malayalam feature film that marks the directorial debut of R. Sarath with screenplay by himself. The film is a drama centred on the environmental and anti-nuclear issue in India. It stars O. Madhavan, Gomat ...

(Twilight)'' in 2000.The film marked his debut as a director and script writer and he won accolades for both at the Kerala State Film Awards. ''

'' won seven awards at the State Film Awards and also the Indira Gandhi National Award for debut director. The film was featured at the

Munich International Film Festival Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, 2001 in the competition section and was invited to many popular international film festivals. In his next feature film ''

Sthithi ''Sthithi'' ( en, Plight) is a 2003 Malayalam feature film written and directed by R. Sarath. The film tells the tale of a couple employed in the Secretariat. It stars Unni Menon, Nandini Ghosal, Master Achuth, Master Anand Pillay and Mallika Suk ...

(Plight)'' Sarath told the tale of a middle-class couple who face the onslaughts of fortune. The film premiered at the Bangkok International Film Festival in 2003. His third feature film ''

Seelabathi ''Seelabathi'' is a 2005 Malayalam drama film written and directed by R. Sarath, starring Kavya Madhavan and Narain (actor), Narain in the lead roles. The film, according to the director, is for "all those girls who have been reported missing fr ...

(2006'') a drama set in rural

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. The film received both box-office success and positive remarks from critics and featured at the Asia Pacific film festival in Taiwan. Sarath also scripted and directed a Hindi feature film, an Indo-Chinese co-production tilted ''The Desire - A journey of a woman'' (2011). '' The Desire'' depicts the eventful journey of an Indian classical dancer and her love for a Chinese artist who she met during a travel assignment. In ''Parudeesa'' (2012) Sarath embraced new horizons of thought delineating the perpetual disagreement between orthodox and unorthodox paths of religion. His film '' Buddhan Chirikkunnu'' (Buddha Smiles) pays homage to

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...

. During the filming of his documentary ''The Painted Epics'', Sarath discovered some rare mural paintings of

Raja Ravi Varma Raja Ravi Varma ( ml, രാജാ രവിവർമ്മ; 29 April 1848 – 2 October 1906) was an Indian painter and artist. He is considered among the greatest painters in the history of Indian art. His works are one of the best examples ...

in Kilimanoor temple. Sarath has studied murals in detail and received a junior fellowship from the Department of Culture,

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

in 1996, for his research on murals. He is now involved in experimental non-feature films which covers contemporary themes. Of date there are 10 documentaries and 5 short films also to Sarath's credit. ''Purani Dhun'' (Hindi), ''The Painted Epics'', ''Divine Love'', and ''Lasyangana'' mesmerised art lovers in India and abroad with its visual poetry and classic rendering. The docu-fictional ''Bhumikku Oru Charamagitam'' (''A Requiem to Earth'') is a short film on eco-feministic aesthetics based on the

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

poem of the same name by legendary poet

O. N. V. Kurup Ottaplakkal Neelakandan Velu Kurup (known as O. N. V. Kurup; 27 May 1931 – 13 February 2016) was a Malayalam poet and lyricist from Kerala, India, who won the Jnanpith Award, the highest literary award in India for the year 2007. He receive ...

. He is currently working as Deputy Director at the Information and Public Relations Department,

Government of Kerala Government of Kerala is the subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision ...

. He previously served as the Director of MPCC and Secretary of Bharat Bhavan under the Kerala State Cultural department. Sarath also works as Visual Director in India's first multi-media project - Geet Govinda, a collaboration involving The Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, New Delhi and the multimedia design expertise of XEROX Palo Alto Research centre, USA. Dr Kapila Vatsyayan wrote the script for this multimedia venture in 1997. Sarath was the festival director of IUKFF 2007 in London. He also served as a jury member for the

National Film Award 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 Directorate ...

in 2011 and was the jury Chairman of the Kerala State Television Award in 2012 and 2021.

Filmography

Feature films

Awards

* Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director - ''

'' * Kerala State Film Award for Best Film - ''Sayahnam'' * Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Film - ''Sthithi'' * Kerala State Film Award for Best Short Film - ''Bhoomikku oru charamageetham'' *

Kerala State Film Award for Best Story The Kerala State Film Award for Best Story is an honour, begun in 1969, presented annually at the Kerala State Film Award of India to a writer for the best story in a Malayalam film. Until 1997, the awards were managed directly by the Departme ...

- ''Sayahnam'' * Award for Best Narrative Feature Film at the 2011

Geneva International Film Festival The Geneva International Film Festival (GIFF) (french: link=no, Festival international du film de Genève) is an annual film festival founded in 1995. The festival, previously called the Geneva International Film Festival Tous Ecrans, was renamed ...

- '' The Desire'' Awards in- South Asian film festival, new jersey ctress Asian film festival London est film New York city international film festival ctress Jaipur international film festival ctress official selection in London film festival,

012 012 may refer to: * Tyrrell 012, a Formula One racing car * The dialing code for Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassie ...

Boston international film festival

"The Desire makes waves"
''The Hindu''. 22 April 2011. Retrieved 25 April 2011. * Award for Best Film at the London Asian Film Festival">London Asian film festival The UK Asian Film Festival, previously known as the London Asian Film Festival, is a British film festival organised by the not-for-profit organisation Tongues on Fire Ltd. and takes place annually in the spring in London. The festival is the leadi ...

- The Desire *Award for Best Director at Asia Pacific film festival, Taipei *Best Screenplay Award at the Mexican International film festival (shared with Vinu Abraham) - Parudeesa *Best Dramatic Editing Award at the Amsterdam International film festival (shared with B. Ajithkumar) - Parudeesa

References

External links

R. Sarath
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

Movie Database * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarath, R Malayalam film directors People from Kollam district Malayali people Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Malayalam screenwriters Screenwriters from Kerala Film directors from Kerala 21st-century Indian film directors Director whose film won the Best Debut Feature Film National Film Award