Bharathiraja: The Aladdin of Tamil cinema

CHENNAI: Film director Bharathiraja, whose rustic themes won millions of hearts across the world — and six national awards — died in Chennai after prolonged illness on Wednesday.

Born in Theni-Allinagaram as Chinnasamy in 1941, Bharathiraja worked briefly as a malaria inspector in the Tamil Nadu health department. After short apprenticeships under different directors, Bharathiraja dished out 16 Vayadhiniley (1977), and announced his arrival with a bang. The movie immortalised Rajinikanth as Parattai, Kamal Haasan as Chappaani and Sridevi as Mayilu. And, Rajini, a would-be superstar, got his first punch line —Idhu Eppidi Irukku? (How is this one?)

Like Aladdin swiping the magic lamp to set free the genie, Bharathiraja liberated Tamil cinema that remained bottled up in studio sets and shooting floors. His ‘16 Vayadhiniley’ revealed the rugged and lush beauty of Tamil Nadu’s countryside to both movie-makers and movie-goers. It was a cult movie that marked the beginning of a new era in Tamil cinema.

Asked about his achievement, Bharathiraja would famously tell a film gathering later: “Cinema took me to Chennai. I took cinema to my villages. I filmed the life of laymen.” Bharathiraja made the director a hero, and chose to directly connect with his audience by addressing them as ‘En iniya Tamil makkaley’ (My dear Tamils) with folded hands and in his signature baritone voice at the beginning of his films.

After his second movie — Kizhakkey Pogum Rayil — too became a runaway hit, Bharathiraja wanted to shake off his ‘ country’ image. He conjured up ‘Sigappu Rojakkal’ where ‘Chappani’ Kamal transformed into suit-booted psycho-killer Dileep, and Mayilu became a soigne Sarada.

Super-confident about his story, script and directorial toolkit, Bharathiraja turned producer for his fourth film, ‘Puthiya Vaarpugal’, and made his assistant director K Bhagyaraj debut as actor alongside the 16-year-old Punjabi girl, Rati Agnihotri.

Both of them went on to become superstars in years to come. The industry still talks about how the hero was finalized just a day before the camera started to roll.

That is Bharathiraja. He will cast anyone and shoot anywhere, for his craft was the hero. He spawned countless directors and actors. Inspired by the success of Bharathiraja and his assistants, boys from small towns and villages landed in Kodambakkam carrying bags overflowing with stories and dreams.

He refused to be bracketed by a definition. ‘Nizhalgal’ in 1980 gave him the first taste of box office failure, but it launched the career of lyricist Vairamuthu, and actors Chandrasekar, Nizhalgal Ravi and Manivannan. The film failed, but filmdom gained.

Then came his films — a sparkling teenage romance ‘Alaigal Oayvathillai’, murder mystery ‘Tik Tik Tik’, Revathi-Pandian debut ‘Mann Vasanai’, ‘Pudhumai Pen’, ‘Oru Kaidhiyin Diary’, ‘Mudhal Mariyaadhai’ and ‘Vedham Pudhithu’. It was a dream run. Each film bore his signature, but no resemblance. However, between 1988 and 1993, at least six of his films didn’t do well in the box office.

In 1988, his big-budget home production, ‘Kodi Parakkuthu’, a Rajini-starrer bombed because Bharathiraja tried to make a ‘Rajini movie’. When he set out to shoot the film, he said directing Rajini in ‘16 Vayathiniley’ was like walking in a breeze. “In ‘Kodi Parakkuthu’, working with Rajini felt like riding a storm,” said Bharathiraja.

When the industry began to wonder if it was end-card for the ‘Iyakkunar Imayam’ (Himalayan director), Bharathiraja went back to his roots and dug out his double-gems — ‘Kizhakku Seemaiyile’ (1993) which is the most authentic yet movie spun on a Madurai-canvas, and ‘Karuthamma’ (1994), which captured female infanticide rampant in Tamil Nadu’s southern districts at that time.


Bharathiraja made a dozen more movies till 2020, but they did not measure up to what he had achieved till 1994. In a career spanning 43 years, Bharathiraja made 42 movies, besides many series. He acted, sang, dubbed, and, more importantly, stayed active and visible till the end.

Though he wanted to be an actor initially, destiny had other plans and put him behind the camera. However, he started doing cameos in 1978 (‘Kizhakkey Pogum Rayil’) and it continued till 2025 (‘Thudarum’) in Malayalam.

Bharathiraja had a fetish for stories that gelled with not just the lush green fields of Theni and manicured grass hills of Ooty, but also the rugged, cactus-rich dust bowl of Usilampatti and the rock-strewn beaches of Muttam.

He was a Midas when it came to women making their film debuts — Radhika, Vijayashanthi, Rati, Revathi, Radha, Rekha, Ranjitha and Sukanya. He gave them meaty roles. Silk Smitha, who was being used only as an ‘item girl’, got a role of consequence in his ‘Alaigal Oayvathillai’.

While he taught newcomers how to act and go up the ladder, in the case of Sivaji Ganesan he succeeded in making the legend “not act”. He let Sivaji be, and lived the life of a middle-aged village elder Malaichamy in ‘Muthal Mariyadhai’. It brought out Sivaji’s best in his twilight years.

In fact, the jagged personality of Bharathiraja reflected the very terrain he was born in. The foothills of the Western Ghats are rough, tough and rugged-looking. But beneath the exterior lay a soil that is fertile and soft, helping any seed to germinate and grow banyan-like.