Ethnicity Tamil Thevar Name M. Bhaskar | Years active 1978-2013 | |
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Born 3 April 1935 ( 1935-04-03 ) Pattamputhur, Virudhunagar district, Tamil Nadu Died 13 July 2013(2013-07-13) (aged 78)
Chennai, Tamil Nadu Education BA (Hons) English Literature, MA Political Science, FL (Law) Alma mater Presidency College, University of Madras, Madras Law College, Chennai Occupation Story Writer, Screenplay Writer, Dialogue Writer, Director & Producer (Founder of Oscar Movies) | ||
Padithathil Pidithathu - Writer & Journalist M. Bhaskar | Interview| படித்ததில் பிடித்தது
M.Bhaskar (Tamil:மா.பாஸ்கர்; 3 April 1935 – 13 July 2013) was a South Indian filmmaker who worked mainly in the Tamil film industry. Bhaskar started his film career as an assistant to director C. V. Sridhar. After relieving from his mentor and guru C. V. Sridhar, he was working under Sundaram's Modern Theaters, Chinnappa Thevar (along with S. P. Muthuraman, Panju Arunachalam, Thuyavan, Uthiripookkal balakrishnan and others). He also worked for the Hollywood Company '20th Century Fox', during their production in Goa, India.
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Early life and career
M. Bhaskar hailed from a village called Pattamputhur, Virudhunagar district. He started his career as an associate to C. V. Sridhar. He made his directorial debut with Bairavi. The film gave major breakthrough in the career of Rajinikanth as a lead actor. Rajini gained the tag "Superstar" from this film.
Bairavi is a 1978 Tamil-language Indian feature film directed by Director Oscar Movies M Baskar, starring Rajinikanth in lead role. It was Rajinikanth's first movie as a solo hero in Tamil cinema. He was also given the "Superstar" title through this film. The film stars Sripriya as the female lead and Geetha playing the title role as Rajini's sister. Geetha was introduced in this film. Sreekanth played the role of the main villain. Malayalam actor Sudheer played Bairavi's step brother, while Manorama and Suruli Rajan played other major roles.
Director Oscar Movies M Baskar who was impressed with Rajini's dedication in Aarupushpangal, went straight ahead casting Rajini in lead role for Bhairavi. Director Oscar Movies M Baskar, having faith in Rajini to pull the crowds as hero. Initially, Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar agreed to give financial support for Bhairavi but when he heard Rajini is the hero, he withdrew the support and advised Director Oscar Movies M Baskar to stop the movie or change the hero. He questioned Director Oscar Movies M Baskar for choosing a villain in the lead role and hero as villain (Srikanth was acting as hero those days) and he assured to Director Oscar Movies M Baskar that it will be a huge loss. Director Oscar Movies M Baskar approached Muthuraman to play negative role but he refused to portray a negative character, Srikanth was finally selected for the role. With all these burden, Director Oscar Movies M Baskar decided to direct the film.
When the film was released, Devar watched the film in Rajakumari theatre. He was quite shocked to see the response for Rajini and during the interval itself the film was declared as Super Hit. Devar withdrew all his words and asked Director Oscar Movies M Baskar to book Rajini for their banner. It was the idea of Director Oscar Movies M Baskar (who was the director of this movie) to give Rajinikanth the "Super Star" tag, which is still used by many people to refer to him. A cutout of Rajinikanth with the height of 35 feet was built in Plaza Theatre. The film was dubbed into Telugu and released as Bhairavi.
The soundtrack and background score was composed by Ilaiyaraaja. Bairavi was the third film for Ilaiyaraaja.All lyrics were penned by Kannadasan.
Some of the Bhaskar’s hit movies include Sattathin Thirappu Vizha, Soolam, Chakravarthy. He then turned producer starting a company called "Oscar Movies" and produced films like Vishnu, Kadhal Rojave and Thotta.
M Bhaskar was four times 'Secretary' of "Tamil Film Producers' Council", when his contemporary legends Kovai Chezhian, K Balachander, Bharathiraja and KRG were 'President'. He also served the 'South Indian Producers' Guild' as Secretary. He was also the Vice-president of South Indian Directors' Association. He served the 'South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce' for three decades. M Bhaskar along with Bharathiraja rose the Tamil Film Producers' Council's funds from a meager INR 26 to INR 2,00,000 during his tenure of service. M Bhaskar was considered to one of pillars of Tamil Film Producers' Council for reviving it from the financial crisis. He also served as Censor Board Member of Central Board of Film Certification, Government of India for many years. He was also an outside expert for sponsored programme of Doordarshan Kendra, Chennai for a long period.
Bhaskar of Oscar Movies in 1997 initially signed, the son of former actress Sheela to debut in his production, Kadhal Rojavae in 1997 and according to the deal signed, Vishnu was not supposed to act in any other film until Kadhal Rojavae had been completed and released. However, during production, Vishnu could not wait and starred in a Malayalam film, while Keyaar was still shooting causing a rift between the actor and producer Bhaskar during the making of the project. Pooja Kumar, who was crowned Miss India USA in 1995, was selected to make her debut as heroine and during production she was signed and dropped from other Tamil films of the period including V. I. P and Chinna Raja. The actress notably returned more than a decade later starring in the lead role in Kamal Haasan's bilingual Vishwaroopam. Kadhal Rojavae released after a delay in production in 2000.
Death
Bhaskar died on 13 July 2013 at the age of 78 due to a heart attack. Bhaskar is survived by his wife Meena Rani, sons Balaji prabhu,Mariappa babu, and a daughter janakipriya. It was reported immediately by television news channels, as well as other dailies, magazines, and other media.