Thoothukudi Govindachari Raghavachari, also known by his initials TGR and the pseudonym Acharya, was an Indian filmmaker and lawyer who was active in

Tamil cinema Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywood' ...

in the 1940s and 1950s.

Early and personal life

Thoothukudi Govindachari Raghavachari, nicknamed TGR, was born into an

Iyengar Iyengar (also spelt Ayyangar or Aiyengar, pronounced ) refers to the name of an ethnoreligious community of Tamil-speaking Hindu Brahmins, whose members follow Sri Vaishnavism and the Visishtadvaita philosophy propounded by Ramanuja. Found mos ...

family. A scholar in Sanskrit and English, he was a lawyer in the

Madras High Court The Madras High Court is a High Court in India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is located in Chennai, and is the third oldest high court of India after the Calcutta High C ...

, and had in-depth knowledge of fine arts. Raghavachari was married to Rajalakshmi, and the two had a son T. R. Govindachari.

Career

Due to cinema being considered taboo in India at the time, Raghavachari worked anonymously and uncredited in films. He wrote the screenplay for ''Ratnavalli'' (1935), based on a play by

Pammal Sambandha Mudaliar Pammal Vijayarangam Sambandham Mudaliar (1873–1964), who has been described as "the founding father of modern Tamil theatre", was a playwright, director, producer and actor of the late nineteenth- and early twentieth centuries. He was a recipi ...

. He was also involved in the writing and direction of '' Rishyasringar'' (1941), although the credit of directing went only to producer S. Soundararajan. The first film where Raghavachari worked with credit was

Gemini Studios Gemini Studios was an Indian film studio based in Madras, Tamil Nadu. It was launched when S. S. Vasan, a businessman of many ventures (including the ownership of Ananda Vikatan) bought Motion Picture Producers' Combines from Krishnaswamy Subr ...

' '' Mangamma Sabatham'' (1943), produced by

S. S. Vasan Subramaniam Srinivasan (4 January 1904 – 26 August 1969), popularly known by his screen name S. S. Vasan, was an Indian journalist, writer, advertiser, film producer, director and business tycoon. He is the founder of the Tamil-language maga ...

, although he was credited as "Acharya". He was later signed on to direct another Gemini film '' Chandralekha'' (1948), although Raghavachari shot a large portion of the film, differences with Vasan led to him quitting and Vasan taking over direction. Nonetheless, the film became a success, and the two reunited for '' Apoorva Sagodharargal'' (1949), where Raghavachari was again credited as "Acharya" to maintain anonymity. He later began directing '' Kalyani'' (1952) for

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 ...

, although cinematographer M. Masthan later took over after Raghavachari contracted tuberculosis; both men received director's credit. Raghavachari also co-wrote ''

Doctor Savithri ''Doctor Savithri'' is a 1955 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language thriller film directed by R. M. Krishnaswamy and written by Acharya. A contemporary adaptation of the Hindus, Hindu story of Savitri and Satyavan, the film stars Anjali Devi, S ...

'' (1955), directed by R. M. Krishnaswamy.

Illness and death

Raghavachari retired from the film industry due to health issues. He died in the early 1960s after suffering from years of tuberculosis.

Filmography

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Raghavachari, T. G. 1960s deaths 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Indian filmmakers Indian lawyers Tuberculosis deaths in India Year of birth missing Year of death uncertain