Bharathiraja - An Ace Tamil Film Director
Bharathiraja (born 23 August 1942) is an Indian film director who works mainly in the Tamil film industry . Making his debut in 1977 with 16 Vayathinile , he is known for realistic and sensitive portrayals of rural life in his films. As of 2017, he has won six National Film Awards , four Filmfare Awards South , two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and a Nandi Award . He has also directed films in Telugu and Hindi . The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri award, India's fourth-highest civilian honour, in 2004 for his contribution to the film industry. Film career Bharathiraja started his film career as an assistant to Kannada filmmaker Puttanna Kanagal . [3] Later, he assisted P. Pullaiah , M. Krishnan Nair , [4] Avinasi Mani and A. Jagannathan . His first film 16 Vayathinile , for which he wrote the script, broke the then existing convention to create a new genre of village cinema. The film is now regarded as a milestone in the history of Tamil C