S. Theodore Baskaran

Last updated

Theodore Baskaran
Baskaran.JPG
Native name
சுந்தரராஜ் தியடோர் பாஸ்கரன்
Born1940 (age 83–84)
Dharapuram,
Coimbatore District (composite),
Madras Presidency,
British India
(now part of Tiruppur District, Tamil Nadu, India)
Occupation Film historian, Author, Civil Servant
Nationality Tamil
Citizenship Indian
Alma mater Madras Christian College
Period1976–present
SubjectCinema,Wildlife
Notable worksThe Message Bearers
The Eye of the Serpent
Notable awards Golden Lotus (Best Book on Cinema) Award for The Eye of the Serpent
SpouseThilaka Baskaran

Sundararaj Theodore Baskaran (born 1940) is a film historian and wildlife conservationist from Tamil Nadu, India.

Contents

Early life and education

Theodore Baskaran was born in Dharapuram, (in present-day Tiruppur district, Tamil Nadu) in 1940. He completed his Intermediate at St.John's College, Palayamkottai and obtained a BA (Hons) Degree in History from Madras Christian College in 1960. [1]

Career

Baskaran worked as Researcher in Tamil Nadu State Archives for two years. He joined the Indian Postal Service in 1964 as Divisional Superintendent at Trichy. He served as the "Special Officer For War Efforts" in Shillong during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. He took study leave in 1974 to research Tamil film history on a fellowship from Council of Historical Research. [1] He eventually retired as the Chief Postmaster General of Tamil Nadu. [2]

Baskaran published his first article on film in 1972 about Chidananda Dasgupta's documentary The Dance of Shiva. Encouraged by his friend Charles A. Ryerson, he decided to do research about Tamil Cinema. [1] He joined a Film Appreciation course in 1974. He became a member of the Advisory Board of National Film Archives, Pune. [3] In 1976 he joined the Calcutta Film Society. The same year, he presented his first research article titled Film Censorship as an Instrument of Political Control in British India in the Indian History Congress at the Aligarh. This and other articles formed the core of his first book The Message Bearers published in 1981. His second book The Eye of the Serpent (1996) won the Golden Lotus (Best Book on Cinema) Award in 1997. He has also written several books and articles on film history in Tamil. He was a Senior Associate in National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore. He has lectured on cinema in many universities including Princeton University, The Australian National University and the University of Chicago. [3] In 2000, he won the Ki Va Ja prize awarded by the Kamban Kazhagam. He was a Hughes Visiting Scholar in the University of Michigan in 2001 and taught a course on Film Studies. He was a jury member at the 2003 National Film Awards. [3] During 1998–2001, he was the Director of the Roja Muthiah Research Library. [4] He is a member of the library's Board of Trustees. [5] He has also acted in a supporting role in the 2010 Tamil film Aval Peyar Thamizharasi . [6]

Baskaran is a keen bird watcher and a naturalist. He is a former honorary wild life warden and the South India Representative of the International Primate Protection League. [2] He is a trustee of WWF-India. His collection of essays on nature and wild life conservation has been published as The Dance of the Sarus (Oxford University Press) in 1999. He edited a book of articles on nature titled "The Sprint of The Black Buck" ; Penguin (2009)

Personal life

He is married to Thilaka Baskaran and lives in Bangalore. [1]

Bibliography

Books in English

Books in Tamil

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Interview with Theodore Baskaran". Kalachuvadu Magazine. May 2007.
  2. 1 2 "Verse and versatility". The Hindu . 20 December 2003. Archived from the original on 31 January 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 Muthukumaraswamy, p. 314-5
  4. ↑ "An archive for Tamil studies". Frontline Magazine . 19 August 2000. Archived from the original on 25 November 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ↑ Roja Muthiah Research Library Annual Report (2008-09)
  6. ↑ Bhaskaran, Gautaman (11 March 2010). "Review: Aval Peyar Tamilarasi". Hindustan Times . Retrieved 10 May 2017.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamil cinema</span> Indian Tamil-language film industry

Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, a widely spoken in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a neighbourhood in Chennai, and Hollywood. The first Tamil silent film, Keechaka Vadham, was directed by R. Nataraja Mudaliar in 1918. The first Tamil talking feature film, Kalidas, a multilingual directed by H. M. Reddy was released on 31 October 1931, less than seven months after India's first talking motion picture Alam Ara.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Y. V. Rao</span> Indian director, producer, actor (1903–1979)

Yaragudipati Varada Rao was an Indian director, producer, actor, screenwriter, and editor known for his works primarily in Telugu, Kannada, and Tamil films. Rao plunged into theatre and did a few stage plays before moving to Kolhapur and Bombay to act in silent films. Rao started his career as a lead actor in many silent films such as Gajendra Moksham (1923), Garuda Garvabhangam (1929), and Rose of Rajasthan (1931). Regarded as one of the greatest filmmaking pioneers of the Cinema of South India, he made motion-pictures across Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Konkani, and Hindi languages, apart from silent films.

<i>Parasakthi</i> (film) 1952 film by Krishnan–Panju

Parasakthi is a 1952 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by Krishnan–Panju and written by M. Karunanidhi. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, S. V. Sahasranamam, S. S. Rajendran, Sriranjani Jr., and Pandari Bai. It is the cinematic acting debut of Ganesan and Rajendran. Based on Pavalar Balasundaram's play of the same name, Parasakthi narrates the misfortunes that befall the members of a Tamil family during World War II.

<i>Iru Sahodarargal</i> 1936 film by Ellis R. Dungan

Iru Sahodarargal is a 1936 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by Ellis R. Dungan. This was the second film for M. G. Ramachandran and Dungan. This film cemented the reputation of Dungan as the most successful Tamil film director of that period. It is one of the earliest Tamil films to be set in a contemporary social setting. No print of the film is known to survive, making it a lost film.

<i>Aval Peyar Thamizharasi</i> 2010 Indian film

Aval Peyar Thamizharasi is a 2010 Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Meera Kathiravan and produced by Moser Baer. The film stars Jai, Nandhagi, Dhiyana, S. Theodore Baskaran and Ganja Karuppu in lead roles. The music was composed by Vijay Antony with cinematography by P. G. Muthiah and editing by Raja Mohammad. The film was released on 5 March 2010 and failed commercially.

<i>Chintamani</i> (1937 film) 1937 Indian film

Chintamani is a 1937 Indian Tamil-language film directed by Y. V. Rao starring M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, Serugulathur Sama and Aswathamma. It was the first Tamil film to run for a year in a single theatre.

<i>Ambikapathy</i> (1937 film) 1937 Indian Tamil film

Ambikapathy is a 1937 Indian Tamil musical period film directed by American film director Ellis R. Dungan. It starred M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, M. R. Santhanalakshmi, Serugulathur Sama, T. S. Balaiya, N. S. Krishnan, T. A. Madhuram and P. G. Venkatesan. Ambikapathy is regarded as one of the greatest hits of pre-independence Tamil cinema. Ambikapathy, along with Chintamani were the greatest hits of 1937 and made critics regard Bhagavathar as the "first superstar of Tamil cinema". This was the first Tamil film to name a music director in its credits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P. K. Raja Sandow</span>

Raja Sandow was an Indian actor, film director and producer. He began his career as an actor in silent films and later became a prominent actor and director in Tamil and Hindi films of the 1930s. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of early Indian cinema.>

The Roja Muthiah Research Library (RMRL), in Chennai, India, was founded in 1994, and opened to researchers in 1996; it provides research materials for Tamil studies in a variety of fields of the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. The Library is based on the collection of Roja Muthiah, who accumulated one of the world's finest private libraries of Tamil publications.

<i>Kalidas</i> (film) 1931 film by H. M. Reddy

Kalidas is a 1931 Indian biographical film directed by H. M. Reddy and produced by Ardeshir Irani. It is notable for being the first sound film in the Tamil and Telugu languages, and the first sound film to be made in a language from South India. It was based on the life of the Sanskrit poet Kalidasa; it featured P. G. Venkatesan in the title role and T. P. Rajalakshmi as the female lead, with L. V. Prasad, Thevaram Rajambal, T. Susheela Devi, J. Sushila, and M. S. Santhanalakshmi in supporting roles.

A.R. Venkatachalapathy is an Indian historian, author and translator who writes and publishes in Tamil and English. Currently he is a professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS). He is noted for collecting and publishing the works of Tamil writer Pudhumaipithan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">G. Dhananjayan</span> Indian film producer

G. Dhananjayan (GD) is an Indian film producer, distributor, columnist, author of four books on Indian films and founder-director BOFTA Film Institute. He has produced films in the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi languages, including Sankat City (2009), Kanden Kadhalai (2009), Mugamoodi (2012), Anjaan (2014) and Irudhi Suttru (2016), Kaatrin_Mozhi (2018), Kabadadaari (2021), Kodiyil Oruvan (2021) and many other films. He has won two National Film Awards.

<i>Balayogini</i> 1937 Indian film

Balayogini is a 1937 Indian film made in Tamil and Telugu languages. It was directed by K. Subramanyam. It is one of the earliest Tamil films to be set in a contemporary social setting and to advocate reformist social policies. This film is considered to be first children's talkie film of South India.

<i>Bhakta Nandanar</i> 1935 film by Maniklal Dandan

Bhakta Nandanar is a 1935 Tamil-language film directed by Manik Lal Tandon. It marked the cinematic debut of the Carnatic singer and stage artist K. B. Sundarambal. She was paid a then unprecedented ₹100,000 as salary for this film. This was also the first film for Ellis R. Dungan. No print of the film is known to survive, making it a lost film.

<i>Sathi Leelavathi</i> (1936 film) 1936 film by Ellis R. Dungan

Sathi Leelavathi is a 1936 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by Ellis R. Dungan and written by Madras Kandaswamy Mudaliar. It is based on S. S. Vasan's novel of the same name, which had been serialised in 1934. M. K. Radha stars as Krishnamurthy, a man from Madras, who is lured into drinking alcohol by an acquaintance. Believing he murdered his friend in a drunken stupor, Krishnamurthy flees to Ceylon while his wife and daughter, played by M. R. Gnanambal and M. K. Mani respectively, are reduced to poverty. T. S. Balaiah, M. G. Ramachandran, M. V. Mani and P. Nammalvar appear in supporting roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C. S. Lakshmi</span>

C. S. Lakshmi is an Indian feminist writer and independent researcher in women's studies from India. She writes under the pseudonym Ambai.

Keechaka Vadham is an Indian silent film produced, directed, filmed and edited by R. Nataraja Mudaliar. The first film to have been made in South India, it was shot in five weeks at Nataraja Mudaliar's production house, India Film Company. As the members of the cast were Tamils, Keechaka Vadham is considered to be the first Tamil film. No print of it is known to have survived, making it a lost film.

<i>Engal Thangam</i> 1970 Indian film

Engal Thangam is a 1970 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Krishnan–Panju. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa. It was released on 9 October 1970 and became a success, besides winning three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P. G. Muthiah</span> Indian director

P. G. Muthiah is an Indian director, cinematographer and film producer, who has been working in the Tamil film industry.

Dhakam ( transl. Thirst) is an Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by Babu Nanthankode in his debut. He co-wrote the story with T. Vaiyadurai, who handled the cinematography. The film stars R. Muthuraman and Nanditha Bose. Filmed in 1972, it did not see a theatrical release, but has been screened at many film festivals.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.