Sedapatti Suryanarayana Rajendran, also known by his initials SSR (January 1928 – 24 October 2014), was an Indian actor, director, producer and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who worked in Tamil theatre and cinema.

Film career

Rajendran made his acting debut with the 1952 film '' Parasakthi'', directed by the directing duo

Krishnan–Panju 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 ...

, with the character Gnanasekharan. He followed with ''

Mudhalali ''Mudhalali'' () is a 1957 Indian Tamil-language drama film, the directorial debut of Muktha Srinivasan and written by Venkat Ramanujam. The film was produced by M. A. Venu under M. A. V. Pictures. It stars S. S. Rajendran and debutante Devi ...

'', ''President Panchatcharam'', ''Pillai Kani Amudhu'', ''Thalai Koduthan Thambi'', ''Thedi Vandha Selvam'',

C. N. Annadurai Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai (15 September 1909 – 3 February 1969), popularly known as Anna also known as Arignar Anna or Perarignar Anna (''Anna, the scholar'' or ''Elder Brother''), was an Indian Tamil politician who served as the f ...

's ''Edhayum Thangum Idhayam'',

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 (Ar ...

's ''Avan Pithana'', ''

Poompuhar Puhar (also known as Poompuhar) is a town in the Mayiladuthurai district in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was once a flourishing ancient port city known as Kaveri Poompattinam, which is described in Sangam literature like Silappa ...

'' and

Modern Theatres Modern Theaters Ltd was an Indian film studio in Salem, Tamil Nadu started by T. R. Sundaram Mudaliar in 1935. The studio produced over more than 150 films until 1982 in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Sinhalese and even English of ...

''Kumudham''. SSR acted with

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...

in ''

Raja Desingu ''Raja Desingu'' () is a 1960 Indian Tamil-language biographical film starring M. G. Ramachandran, S. S. Rajendran, Bhanumathi and Padmini. Based on the life of Desingh, the film was directed by T. R. Raghunath and had a delayed release in 2 ...

'' as Mohamed Khan and in '' Kaanji Thalaivan'' as Paranjothi. He had worked in many films with

Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Gan ...

such as ''

Manohara Manohara is the Kinnara, kinnari (half woman, half bird) heroine of one of the Jataka tales. Typically referred to as Manohara and Prince Sudhana, the legend appears in the Divyavadana and is documented by stone reliefs at Borobodur. This story f ...

'', '' Rangoon Radha'', '' Raja Rani'', '' Deivapiravi'', ''

Aalayamani ''Aalayamani'' () is a 1962 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by K. Shankar and produced by P. S. Veerappa. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, S. S. Rajendran, B. Saroja Devi and C. R. Vijayakumari. It was released on 23 November 1962, ...

'', '' Pachai Vilakku'', ''

Pazhani Palani ( or ''Palni'' as in British records, is a town and a taluk headquarters in Dindigul district of the western part of Tamil Nadu state in India. It is located about south-east of Coimbatore and north-west of Madurai, from Kodaikan ...

'', '' Kungumam'', '' Santhi'' and ''

Kai Kodutha Dheivam ''Kai Kodutha Deivam'' () is a 1964 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by K. S. Gopalakrishnan. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Savitri, S. S. Rajendran and K. R. Vijaya. It was released on 18 July 1964 and became a success, w ...

''. Other notable films were ''

Sorgavasal ''Sorgavasal'' () is a 1954 Indian Tamil film, directed by A. Kasilingam and produced by M. Somasundaram and M. K. Kaliapa. The film starred K. R. Ramasamy, Padmini, S. S. Rajendran and Anjali Devi in lead roles. The film had a musical sco ...

'', ''

Ammaiyappan Ammaiyappan is a village in the Tiruvarur taluk of Tiruvarur district, Tamil Nadu, India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populo ...

'', ''

Ratha Kanneer ''Ratha Kanneer'' () is a 1954 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by Krishnan–Panju, and written by Tiruvarur K. Thangaraj. Based on Thangaraj's play of the same name, the film stars M. R. Radha, Sriranjani and S. S. Rajendran, wi ...

'', '' Kula Dheivam'', ''

Thai Pirandhal Vazhi Pirakkum ''Thai Piranthal Vazhi Pirakkum'' () is a 1958 Indian Tamil-language drama film, written directed and produced by A. K. Velan in his directorial debut. The film stars S. S. Rajendran, M. N. Rajam, Prem Nazir, Rajasulochana and V. K. Ramasamy. ...

'', ''

Kalyanikku Kalyanam ''Kalyanikku Kalyanam'' () is a 1959 Indian Tamil-language film directed by A. S. A. Sami. The film stars S. S. Rajendran, Mynavathi and M. N. Rajam. Plot Kalyani is an uneducated village girl who lives with her mother and two brothers. Her un ...

'', ''

Sivagangai Seemai ''Sivagangai Seemai'' () is a 1959 Indian Tamil-language historical drama film directed by K. Shankar and written by Kannadasan. Based on the life of the Maruthu Pandiyars, the film stars S. S. Rajendran, S. Varalakshmi, Kamala Lakshmanan an ...

'', also in AVM's ''

Kaakum Karangal ''Kaakum Karangal'' () is a 1965 Indian Tamil-language drama film, directed by A. C. Tirulokchandar. Inspired by British writer W. Somerset Maugham's 1925 novel '' The Painted Veil'', it was produced by Murugan Brothers, a subsidiary of AVM ...

'', ''

Poomalai ''Poomalai'' () is 1965 Indian Tamil-language woman's film, directed by P. Neelakantan and written by M. Karunanidhi. The film was produced by Murasoli Maran under Karunanidhi's production company Meghala Pictures, which also distributed the ...

'' and

K. Balachander Kailasam Balachander (9 July 1930 – 23 December 2014) was an Indian film maker and playwright who worked mainly in the Tamil cinema. He was well known for his distinct film-making style, and the Indian film industry knew him as a master of u ...

's ''

Ethiroli ''Ethiroli'' () is a 1970 Indian Tamil-language legal drama film, directed by K. Balachander, featuring Sivaji Ganesan. The film had musical score by K. V. Mahadevan and became a commercial success. It was also the only collaboration between ...

''. His drama company ''SSR Nadaka Mandram'' staged plays including''Or Iravu'' (

), ''Manimagudam'' (

) and ''Thenpaandi Veeran'' (

P. Nedumaran Pazha Nedumaran ''Krishnan Pillai Pazhaniyappan'' ( ta, :ta:பழ. நெடுமாறன், பழ. நெடுமாறன்/கிருஷ்ணன் பிள்ளை பழநியப்பன்) is a Tamil politician from the s ...

). He introduced and gave opportunities to actress Manorama.

Director

K. S. Gopalakrishnan K. S. Gopalakrishnan was an Indian screenwriter, director, producer, and lyricist, who worked in Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi films. Since the early 1960s, he directed 70 films. He spent most of his career directing and producing movies with soc ...

was introduced from his film ''Saradha'' (a silver jubilee hit) and ''Saradha Studios'' was established to commemorate the success of this film by its producer A. L. Srinivasan. Likewise, SSRs film ''Thai Pirandhal Vazhi Pirakkum'', in which his co-star was

Raja Sulochana Chittajallu Rajeevalochana (15 August 1935 – 5 March 2013), better known as Rajasulochana, was an Indian classical dancer and actress. She has acted in more than 300 Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi language films. Early life She w ...

, was a successful film in 1958.

Personal life

He had 8 children named Elangovan, Rajendrakumar, Kalaivanan, Bhagyalakshmi, Selvaraj, Ravikumar, Kannan & Lakshmi Sitara

Political life

He joined 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 ...

(DMK) party and became the first elected member of a legislative assembly among actors in India when he was elected to the

Tamil Nadu legislative assembly The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a strength of 234 members of whom are democratically elected using the First-past-the-post system. The presiding officer of the Assembl ...

as a DMK candidate

Theni Theni is a valley town situated in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu at the foothills of Western Ghats. It is the headquarters of the Theni district, located in a distance of 70km from Madurai. It is known for the large-scale trading of garlic, c ...

(State Assembly Constituency) in

1962 Madras State legislative assembly election The third legislative assembly election to the Madras state (presently Tamil Nadu) was held on 21 February 1962. The Indian National Congress party, led by K. Kamaraj, won the election. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam made significant in-roads in the ...

. Subsequently, he was elected as a member (MP) of

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, wikisource:Constitution of India/Part V#Article 80, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legisl ...

. He joined the

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK) is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former chief ...

(AIADMK) and was elected from Andipatti constituency in the 1980 assembly election.He shared good friendship with ,M.G.R and Kalaingar

Personal interests

Rajendran, being a strict follower of

Periyar E. V. Ramasamy Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 1879 – 24 December 1973), revered as Periyar or Thanthai Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician who started the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam. He is known as the 'F ...

's policy of rationalism, never acted in films based on Ithihasas and Puranas. He earned the sobriquet "Latchiya Nadigar" (Idealistic Actor) as he never acted in films against his policy.

Death

Rajendran was admitted into Chennai Meenakshi hospital on 20 October 2014 to treat a lung infection. He died on 24 October 2014.

Filmography

Actor

References

External links

Acting, the SSR Way in My Movie Minutes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajendran, S. S. 1928 births 2014 deaths Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam politicians Male actors in Tamil cinema Tamil Nadu politicians People from Madurai district Periyarists All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam politicians