Lenin Rajendran

Indian filmmaker and politician (1951–2019)

Lenin Rajendran
ലെനിൻ രാജേന്ദ്രൻ

Born| 1951

Trivandrum, Kerala, India

Died| 14 January 2019 (aged 67)

Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Nationality| Indian
Other names| Rajendran
Occupations|

* Film director
* Screenwriter

Years active| 1981 – 2019
Children| 2

Lenin Rajendran (Malayalam: ലെനിൻ രാജേന്ദ്രൻ) was an Indian film director and screenwriter who worked in Malayalam cinema.[1] He served as the Chairman of Kerala State Film Development Corporation from 2016 to January 2019.[2]

## Career

[edit]

Beginning his film-making career as an assistant to director P. A. Backer, Rajendran made his directorial debut with Venal (1982). From his first film to his latest one, Edavappathy (2016), Rajendran has been consistent with the quality of his films, not surrendering to market forces even while using the form and stars of popular cinema.[3]

An active member of the Communist party, Rajendran at times integrated his political orientation into his screen work: his 1985 film Meenamasithile Sooryan was about the anti-feudal upheaval of the 1940s in Kerala from a Communist viewpoint.[4]

Swathi Thirunal (1987), a period film was a biographical work of a 19th-century king of Travancore, better known as a musical composer. While Daivathinte Vikrithikal (1992) was the cinematic adaptation of M. Mukundan's novel of the same name, Kulam (1997) was a loose adaptation of C. V. Raman Pillai's historical novel Marthandavarma, Mazha (2001) was adapted from Madhavikutty's Nashtapetta Neelambhari. One of his other films, Anyar (2003) deals with the hot topic of communal polarisation in Kerala.[5]

His other films are Prem Nazirine Kanmanilla (1983), Puravrutham (1988), and Vachanam (1989).

## Death

[edit]

Lenin Rajendran died on 14 January 2019 in Apollo Hospital Chennai after a liver transplant, at the age of 67.[6] At the time of his death, he was continuing as the Chairman of the Kerala Film Development Corporation. His dead body was taken back to his native place, and was cremated with full state honours. He is survived by his wife Dr. Ramani, son Gouthaman and daughter Parvathi.

## Awards

[edit]

Lenin Rajendran (right), being felicitated at IFFI (2010)

Kerala State Film Awards

* 1987 - Kerala State Film Award (Special Jury Award): Swathi Thirunal (film)
* 1992 - Kerala State Film Award for Best Film: Daivathinte Vikrithikal
* 1996 - Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value : Kulam
* 2006 - Kerala State Film Award for Best Director : Rathri Mazha
* 2010 - Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Film:Makaramanju

International Film Festival of Kerala

* 2010 - FIPRESCI Prize for Best Malayalam Film - Makaramanju

Kerala State Television Awards

* 1999 - Second Best Teleserial: Balyakalasmaranakal
* 2011 - Best Documentary (Biography): Kaviyoor Revamma

Kerala Film Critics Award

* 2003 - Special Jury Award : Anyar
* 2006 - Second Best Film  : Rathri Mazha
* 2010 - Second Best Film : Makaramanju
* 2015 - Best Screenplay : Edavappathy

## Filmography

[edit]

Director Lenin Rajendran with the cast of the film at Indian Panaorama, during presentation on 24.11.2007 at Panji Goa Year  | Title  | Cast

|
|

1981 | Venal | Sukumaran, Jalaja
1982 | Chillu | Venu Nagavalli, Shanthi Krishna
1983 | Prem Nazirine Kanmanilla | Prem Nazir, Sreenivasan, Maniyanpilla Raju, Vijay Menon
1985 | Meenamasathile Sooryan | Bharath Gopi, Venu Nagavalli, Vijay Menon, Murali, Ravi, Shobana
1985 | Mazhakkala Megham |
1987 | Swathi Thirunal | Anant Nag, Ranjini
1988 | Puravrutham | Om Puri
1989 | Vachanam | Suresh Gopi, Jayaram, Sithara, Sreevidya, Thilakan, Mamukkoya
1992 | Daivathinte Vikrithikal | Raghuvaran, Srividya, Thilakan, Vineeth, Sudheesh, Siddique
1997 | Kulam | Suresh Gopi, Bhanupriya, Vijayaraghavan
2000 | Mazha | Biju Menon, Lal, Samyuktha Varma, Jagathy Sreekumar, Thilakan, Urmila Unni
2003 | Anyar | Jyothirmayi, Biju Menon, Lal, Siddique
2007 | Rathri Mazha | Vineeth, Meera Jasmine, Manoj K. Jayan, Biju Menon, Lalu Alex, Cochin Haneefa
2010 | Makaramanju | Santosh Sivan, Karthika Nair, Nithya Menon, Lakshmi Sarma
2016 | Edavappathy | Utthara Unni, Manisha Koirala, Siddhartha
2017 | Crossroad Segment - Pinpe Nadappaval | Anjana Chandran, Joy Mathew, Sagar

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Lenin Rajendran: Movies, Photos, Videos, News, Biography & Birthday | eTimes". The Times of India.
2. ^ "Veteran Malayalam film director Lenin Rajendran passes away". 15 January 2019.
3. ^ "Cinemaofmalayalam.net".
4. ^ Praveen, S. r. (14 January 2019). "Lenin Rajendran dead - The Hindu". The Hindu.
5. ^ Jayakumar, G. (27 January 2006). "The politics of a relationship". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 16 April 2014.
6. ^ "Home".

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lenin Rajendran.

* Lenin Rajendran at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Kerala State Film Award for Best Director

1969–1980|

* A. Vincent (1969)
* K. S. Sethumadhavan (1970-1972)
* M. T. Vasudevan Nair (1973)
* G. Aravindan (1974)
* P. A. Backer (1975)
* T. Rajeevnath (1976)
* Adoor Gopalakrishnan (1977)
* G. Aravindan (1978-1979)
* K. S. Sethumadhavan (1980)

1981–2000|

* G. Aravindan (1981)
* Bharathan (1982)
* Fazil (1983)
* Adoor Gopalakrishnan (1984)
* G. Aravindan (1985-1986)
* Adoor Gopalakrishnan (1987)
* K. P. Kumaran (1988)
* I. V. Sasi (1989)
* G. Aravindan (1990)
* Kamal (1991)
* Hariharan (1992)
* Adoor Gopalakrishnan (1993)
* Shaji N. Karun (1994)
* Adoor Gopalakrishnan (1995)
* Jayaraj (1996)
* T. V. Chandran (1997)
* Shyamaprasad (1998)
* Shaji N. Karun (1999)
* M. T. Vasudevan Nair (2000)

2001–2020|

* T. V. Chandran (2001)
* Sibi Malayil (2003)
* Shyamaprasad (2004)
* Blessy (2005)
* Lenin Rajendran (2006)
* M. G. Sasi (2007)
* Adoor Gopalakrishnan (2008)
* Hariharan (2009)
* Shyamaprasad (2010)
* Blessy (2011)
* Lal Jose (2012)
* Shyamaprasad (2013)
* Sanal Kumar Sasidharan (2014)
* Martin Prakkat (2015)
* Vidhu Vincent (2016)
* Lijo Jose Pellissery (2017)
* Shyamaprasad (2018)
* Lijo Jose Pellissery (2019)
* Sidhartha Siva (2020)

2021–present|

* Dileesh Pothan (2021)
* Mahesh Narayanan (2022)

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* United States

* v
* t
* e

Films of Lenin Rajendran

Director|

* Venal (1981)
* Chillu (1982)
* Prem Nazirine Kanmanilla (1983)
* Meenamasathile Sooryan (1985)
* Mazhakkala Megham (1985)
* Swathi Thirunal (1987)
* Puravrutham (1988)
* Vachanam (1989)
* Daivathinte Vikrithikal (1992)
* Kulam (1997)
* Mazha (2000)
* Anyar (2003)
* Rathri Mazha (2007)
* Makaramanju (2010)
* Edavappathy (2016)
* Crossroad (2017)

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*[t]: Discuss this template
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