Nationality Indian Ex-spouse Sakunthala Chidambaram Role Filmmaker | Name Gnana Rajasekaran Occupation Filmmaker | |
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Children Sindhu Rajasekaran, Nandita Parents Gnanaprakasam, Sharadambal Awards National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil, Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director Movies Ramanujan, Bharathi, Mogamul, Mugam, Periyar Similar People Sindhu Rajasekaran, Nizhalgal Ravi, Suhasini Maniratnam, Sunny Joseph, B Lenin | ||
Director Gnana Rajasekaran Speech @ Padachurul 3rd year function
Gnana Rajasekaran (born January 23, 1953) is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter, playwright and Retired IAS Officer. His directional debut was Mogamul (1994) won the Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director. His other works include Bharathi (2000), Periyar (2007) and Ramanujan (2014). As of 2014, Rajasekaran has won three National Film Awards, three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. His films have been screened at international film festivals including the International Film Festival of India.
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Early life
Gnana Rajasekaran was born in Pallikonda, Tamil Nadu, India, to Gnanaprakasam and Sharadambal, both teachers. He graduated with a BSc in Physics from Sacred Heart College, Tiruppatur; he gained a master's degree in physics from the Presidency College, Chennai. After he graduated, he worked as a technical officer with the Intelligence Bureau in Mumbai for four years, where many of his plays were staged. In 1983, he was appointed to the Indian Administrative Service, and was allotted the Kerala Cadre. Rajasekaran married Sakunthala Chidambaram in 1985, and they have two daughters, Sindhu Rajasekaran and Nandita.
Career
Before his career as a film-maker, Rajasekaran published an allegorical novel titled “Yanai Kuthirai Ottagam”, which was judged the best novel of the year by the Tirupur Tamil Sangam. He has written and directed several plays including a collection of three plays titled “Vayiru” (published in 1980) and the 1996 Hindi version of the Play “Vayiru” won an all India award for the best script.
Rajasekaran’s debut film, ‘Mogamul’ (1995), is based on the novel written by T. Janakiraman. The film won the ‘Indra Gandhi National award for First Best Film’, and the Special Jury award for best Tamil film, given by the Government of Tamil Nadu. He then went on to direct the Nassar-starrer Mugam (1999), with the film fetching poor reviews and faring badly at the box office. ‘Bharathi’ (2000), is a biography of the poet Subramaniya Bharathi. The film starred the Marathi actor Shayaji Shinde and Devayani. The film won four national awards and six state awards. ‘Periyar’ (2007) the biography of E.V.Ramaswamy, focused on the history of the Dravidian movement, collating various incidents of the period. The film starred Satyaraj and Kushboo, and won a national award and was screened in various international film festivals. Ramanujan (2014) is a biographical film based on the life of renowned Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. The film received mixed reviews from critics.
Rajasekaran has also directed various short films such as ‘Oru Kan, Oru Parvai’ (1999, Tamil), ‘Vivaram Onum Ariyam’ (Malayalam), ‘Puthia Keralam’ (Malayalam), ‘Kanavu Nijamagum’ (Tamil, 2007), etc.
Rajasekaran is the dean of SRM Sivaji Ganesan Film Institute, Chennai. He also serves as a director on the board of BGR Energy Systems Ltd.