Akkamappettai Paramasivan Nagarajan was an Indian film director, producer, actor and writer who set a trend in film making in Tamil cinema in 1960s and 1970s.
Early life
A. P. Nagarajan was born on 24 February 1928 under the name Kuppuswamy. His father, Paramasiva Gounder, died when Kuppuswamy was a young boy; within a few months, his mother Lakshmi Ammal died too. His maternal grandmother, Manicka Ammal, took charge of the boy. Afraid that he might not be cared for by the family, she admitted him to a drama company without informing them of the boy's antecedents. Later he shifted to Avvai T. K. Shanmugam's drama company. As there were many Kuppuswamis, his name was changed to Nagarajan. Nagarajan learnt the basics of theatre and roles to play the lead in the play "Gumasthavin Penn." A remarkable actor, he brought to life all the roles he donned, his early "sthreepart" roles being very popular with the audience. He worked in the Madurai Jayarama Sangeetha Boys Company as well as Sakthi Nadaga Sabha, along with Sivaji Ganesan and Kaka Radhakrishnan.
Film career
Nagarajan started his own drama company, the Pazhani Kadiravan Nadaga Sabha, and, in 1949, married Rani Ammal. He wrote and acted in several plays and one of his plays "Nalvar" was made into a movie. Nagarajan wrote the screenplay for his own story and play the hero in this film. His film career thus began in 1953. He also acted in many movies for producer M. A. Venu, formerly of Modern Theatres, such as Mangalyam, Nalla Thangal and Pennarasi. He wrote the screenplay for Town Bus and by 1956 decided to focus on writing. He wrote Naan Petra Selvam and Makkalai Petra Maharasi — in the latter, he introduced the ‘Kongu' Tamil accent for the hero. The first of his many mythological films — Sampoorna Ramayanam — was a big success, and Rajaji, who had little regard for cinema, watched this film and praised Sivaji Ganesan's performance as Bharatha in it. He then started to produce in partnership with actor V. K. Ramaswamy. Some of the works of this period include Nalla Idaththu Sammandham, Thayai Pol Pillai, Noolai Pol Selai and Paavai Vilakku. He made his directorial debut with Vadivukku Valaigaappu. He launched his own production company with Navarathri and then went on to make a mark in the field of mythological cinema as well. In 1965, a year after the release of Karnan, Thiruvilayadal hit the screens and set box office records. This was followed by Saraswathi Sabatham, Kandhan Karunai, Thiruvarutchelvar, Thirumal Perumai, Agasthiyar, Thirumalai Deivam, Karaikaal Ammaiyar and Sri Krishna Leela. He made Thillana Mohanambal and Raja Raja Chozhan, both of which too deserve to be restored. Thillana Mohanambal is based on a novel published as a serial in Anandha Vikatan. Sri Kothamangalam Subbu, a staff member of Gemini studios, wrote the story under the pseudonym Kalaimani. The film follows the turmoils of the hero Sikkil Shanmughasundaram, a nathaswaram player portrayed by Sivaji ganesan, and Thillana Mohanambal, played by Padmini. Nagarajan condensed the story into a 150-minute screen time. The film is set to a score by K. V. Mahadevan.
Filmography
Death
He died of cardiac arrest on 5 April 1977 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. He was aged just 49 when he died.
