Name K. Hariharan | Role Film director | |
Residence Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India Occupation Film director, Writer, Professor Movies Ezhavathu Manithan, Current, Ghashiram Kotwal, The Postman Awards National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil, National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film Similar People Mani Kaul, L Vaidyanathan, Om Puri, Vijay Tendulkar, Mohan Agashe | ||
K. Hariharan is an Indian film director who has directed films in Tamil, Marathi and Hindi. Born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, his father was the vice-president of Eastman Kodak. An alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Hariharan formed "Yukt Film Co-operative" in 1976 together with his batch mates to make an experimental film called Ghashiram Kotwal. Ezhavathu Manithan, his directorial debut in Tamil cinema, won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil and was nominated for Golden St. George (Best Film) at the Moscow International Film Festival. He is a former director of L. V. Prasad Film and TV Academy, Chennai. He was the dean at Mahindra Ecole Centrale, Hyderabad. Currently he is the professor of Film Studies at Ashoka University in Sonepat Haryana on the outskirts of New Delhi.
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Biography
Born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, Hariharan completed a basic degree in commerce from Poddar College, Mumbai and later joined the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune to do a course in screen-writing and direction. His father, a qualified cinematographer also served the Eastman Kodak as its vice-president. After passing out of the FTII, Hariharan formed "Yukt Films Co-operative" together with his batch mates that included Saeed Akhtar Mirza, Kamal Swaroop and their senior FTII alumni Mani Kaul. The co-operative made an experimental film in Marathi named Ghashiram Kotwal. Describing the film as "an esoteric piece of art", it was entered into the Berlin International Film Festival in 1978. The film was screened again at the festival inn 2014 after being digitally restored. As a young film-maker Hariharan started making films for Children's Film Society (India). After that he started making children's films on the insistence of V. Shantaram, thus making Wanted Thangaraj (1979) which also was his directional debut in Tamil. After the release of the film, he relocated to Chennai and started working on Tamil films. His Ezhavathu Manithan, which marked Raghuvaran's debut, won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil and the Afro-Asian solidarity award. The film was also nominated for Golden St. George (Best Film) Award at the 35th Moscow International Film Festival. In 1991, he made his Bollywood debut through Current that starred Om Puri and Deepti Naval in the lead. Made on a shoestring budget, the film focused on the plight of farmers in India.
Hariharan is married and resides in Chennai. He was the director of L.V. Prasad Film and TV Academy, Chennai. Presently he is the Professor of Film Studies at Ashoka University, a new Liberal Arts University in Sonepat Haryana on the outskirts of New Delhi. He is also a visiting faculty at FTII, and the universities of Pennsylvania and Miami.