Rajendra Talak is an Indian film director, from

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to th ...

. He is best known for his award-winning Konkani films, ''Aleesha'' and ''

O Maria ''O Maria'' is a Konkani language film released in 2010 in Goa, India. It is the fourth film by Rajendra Talak after the National Award winning ''Aleesha'' in 2004, ''Antarnad'' in 2006 and ''Sawariya.com'' in 2008. Plot Maria is a single wom ...

''.

Early life

Talak was born in Comba,

Margao Margao or Madgaon is the commercial capital of the Indian state of Goa. It stands on banks of the Sal river and is the administrative headquarters of Salcete sub-district and South Goa district. It is Goa's second largest city by population a ...

. He attended the Mahila Nutan and Popular High Schools in Margao and later joined

Parvatibai Chowgule College Parvatibai Chowgule College of Arts & Science is Goa's first and only autonomous college with NAAC A+ Grade college based in the South Goa district Headquarters of Margao, on the west coast of India. History Shri.Vishwasraw.D.Chowgule, an i ...

, from which he graduated with a bachelor's of science. He was a state-ranked

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

player, and represented his college in table tennis and

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

competitions. In the 1970s, Talak was a part of

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

player Sushant Keshav Naik's ''Mahesh Kumar & Party'' music group. The group merged into the ''Gomant Vidya Niketan Kala Vibha'', and staged award-winning dramas in

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

. Talak's experience in drama and theatre, led him to a love for cinema. While composing the music for their play, ''Shitu'', Talak decided that the story was worth making into a movie, beginning his journey into filmmaking.

Career

Talak began his career with the tele-film ''Shitu'' in 1994, which was based on a child widow. Talak received praise for this film from director

Shyam Benegal Shyam Benegal (born 14 December 1934) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Often regarded as the pioneer of parallel cinema, he is widely considered as one of the greatest filmmakers post 1970s. He has received s ...

, whom he had invited for the film's release. In 2002, Talak decided to make a film about the pollution caused by mining in Goa. Upon learning that Goa would host the International Film Festival of India in 2004, Talak quickly finished the shooting and post production of ''Aleesha''. The film premiered at the

35th International Film Festival of India The 35th International Film Festival of India was held from November 29 - December 9 2004 in Goa. The edition is the first globally competitive edition with a permanent venue at Goa. The "Beach Screening" section of Hollywood blockbusters was inst ...

and went on to win the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Konkani at the

52nd National Film Awards The 52nd 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 2004. The selection process o ...

. His next film was bilingual, titled ''Antarnaad'' in Konkani and ''Savalee'' in

, and premiered at the IFFI 2006. It won five national awards and seven state awards. He then made another bilingual film, ''Saavariyaa.com'' in 2010, about internet marriages in Goa. Talak's 2011 film, ''

'', dealt with the loss of identity that Goa faced and was a commercial success in the state. In 2014, Talak released the Marathi film ''A Rainy Day'', which was about corruption. It was screened at the Jagran Film Festival 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 secon ...

in 2014. In 2016, Talak was appointed as the Vice-Chairman of Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) by the

Government of Goa The Government of Goa is a state government created by the Constitution of India and has executive, legislative and judicial authority of the state of Goa. It is headquartered in Panaji, the capital city of Goa. History The governor's role is ...

. ESG co-hosts the International Film Festival of India. In 2019, Talak directed the drama film ''Miranda House''.

Incident at IFFI 2018

On 22 November 2018, at the

49th International Film Festival of India The 49th International Film Festival of India was a film festival held from 20 to 28 November 2018 in Goa. In the 49th event new sections such as "Sketch on Screen (Animation Film Package)", "A Retrospective of Masters" are inculcated. 212 fi ...

, delegates who had gathered to watch the Danish crime thriller ''The Guilty'' began protesting at

Kala Academy Kala Academy (Academy of the Arts) is a prominent cultural centre run by the Government of Goa, in Goa, India. Situated at Campal, Panjim, it is registered as a society, and was started in February 1970. The building was designed by Charles Co ...

when they were not allowed to enter the theater. This led to an argument between them and the organizers, in which Talak was quoted as asking delegates from

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 C ...

to "go back home". A complaint was filed by Kerala-based director Kamal KM to IFFI CEO, Ameya Abhyankar. Following this, 29 other

Malayali The Malayali people () (also spelt Malayalee and also known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala in India, occupying its southwestern Malabar coast. They are predomina ...

delegates, including 11 National Film winners like Dileesh Pothen and Dr Biju, signed a petition requesting a formal apology from Talak. When asked to comment, Talak replied that he had simply told the delegates to go back as the show was completely booked.

Filmography

Personal life

Talak also runs a construction business named "Talak Constructions". He also co-founded the "Kalangan Centre for Performing Arts" in Margao, of which he has previously been the president. Talak has planted trees under the

Swachh Bharat Mission Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, or Clean India Mission is a country-wide campaign initiated by the Government of India in 2014 to eliminate open defecation and improve solid waste management. It is a restructured version ...

in his hometown of Margao. He also helps out in the landscaping of mini gardens in the city. Talak lives in Borda, Margao, with his wife, Priyanka Bidaye (who starred in ''Aleesha'') and son Manas.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Talak, Rajendra Living people Film directors from Goa Konkani-language film directors 21st-century Indian film directors People from South Goa district Year of birth missing (living people)