Lenin Rajendran

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Lenin Rajendran
Born1951
Trivandrum, Kerala, India
Died (aged 67)
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
NationalityIndian
Other namesRajendran
Occupations
Years active1981–2019
Children2

Lenin Rajendran (1951 – 14 January 2019) 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

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Beginning his film-making career as an assistant to director P. A. Backer,[3] Rajendran made his directorial debut with Venal (1982).[4] Although Rajendran mainly worked in independent and serious cinema, his films retained elements of mainstream film production.[5] His works, the last of which was the film Edavappathy (2016),[6] are distinguished by the absence of traditional happy endings.[5]

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. As a CPI(M) nominee, he contested against Shri K. R. Narayanan in Ottapalam in both the 1989 and 1991 Lok Sabha elections.[7]

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.[8]

His other films are Prem Nazirine Kanmanilla (1983),[9] Puravrutham (1988), and Vachanam (1989).[5]

Не was the chairman of Kerala State Film Development Corporation.[10]

Death

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Lenin Rajendran died on 14 January 2019 in Apollo Hospital Chennai after a liver transplant, at the age of 67.[11] His dead body was taken back to his native place, and was cremated with full state honours.[12] He is survived by his wife Dr. Ramani, son Gouthaman and daughter Parvathi.

Awards

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

Kerala State Film Awards

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

Filmography

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Director Lenin Rajendran with the cast of the film at Indian Panorama, 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

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  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. ^ "Director Lenin Rajendran passes away". The Times of India. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  4. ^ "Malayalam director Lenin Rajendran passes away". The Indian Express. 14 January 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  5. ^ a b c Praveen, S. R. (1 February 2019). "Lenin Rajendran: chronicler of the oppressed". The Hindu. Retrieved 15 October 2025.
  6. ^ "Cinemaofmalayalam.net".
  7. ^ Praveen, S. r. (14 January 2019). "Lenin Rajendran dead - The Hindu". The Hindu.
  8. ^ Jayakumar, G. (27 January 2006). "The politics of a relationship". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 16 April 2014.
  9. ^ Abhijith (24 November 2016). "Malayalam Actors Who Appeared As Themselves In Films!". Filmibeat. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  10. ^ "Veteran Malayalam film director Lenin Rajendran dead at 67". India New England News. 14 January 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2025.
  11. ^ "Home".
  12. ^ "Lenin Rajendran cremated". The Hindu. 16 January 2019. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  13. ^ a b c d "Award-winning Malayalam filmmaker Lenin Rajendran passes away". The News Minute. 14 January 2019. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  14. ^ "Critics awards announced". The Hindu. 28 May 2016. Archived from the original on 21 January 2025. Retrieved 21 January 2025.
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