Arvind Iyer
Encyclopedia
Arvind Iyer (Tamil
: அரவிந்த் கிருஷ்ணமூர்த்தி அய்யர்) is an Independent filmmaker and writer of India
n origin.His family comes from the Tamil
Brahmin
Palghat Iyer
community in Southern India and he is the grand nephew of Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, former judge of the Supreme court of India
.
and Tamil literature
. He rose to notability as one of India's most well known print and graphic designers in the late 1990s.His clients comprised award-winning Indian filmmakers,technicians and musicians like Santosh Sivan
, Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Vidhu Vinod Chopra
and Binod Pradhan
.
It was his association with Indian cinematographer Santosh Sivan
, the maker of The Terrorist
and Asoka, who introduced him to the beauty of independent and alternative cinema.
Iyer also acted in the Hindi
film Asoka directed by Santosh Sivan
.
that is distributed across Europe
and Scandinavia
on Sweden's VoD channel Glimz. The film was produced by noted Tibetan
Opera singer Namgyal Lhamo
who also played the lead character of Karma. It first screened at the Aarhus
festival of Independent Cinema and Art in Denmark
. Netherlands
based film writer and critic Rada Šešić described the film as a cinematically minimalistic piece and a powerful, intimate confession on displacement and love.
In 2008, Iyer directed 'Paradise Lost' aka 'Chang Yare', the controversial music video from Namgyal Lhamo's album 'Highland Supernova' which was produced by Mumbai-based Frenchman and music publisher Achille Forler's record label Silk Road. 'Paradise Lost' was released on the eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The video made its festival debut by screening in competition at the Asian Hotshots Berlin
film festival
in January 2009 and continues its festival run with screenings at The Tibet Film Festival in London in 2010
'Paradise Lost' was voted the Best Music Video at the 2009 Tibet
an music awards
Arvind Iyer's debut feature film titled 'Drapchi' in the Tibetan language
is scheduled for a 2011 release. The film stars Namgyal Lhamo
,Lobsang Yonten, Gen Tenzin-la and Chris Constantinou
and has been written by Pooja Ladha Surti, the writer of Indian films, Ek Hasina Thi
and Johnny Gaddaar
.
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
: அரவிந்த் கிருஷ்ணமூர்த்தி அய்யர்) is an Independent filmmaker and writer of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n origin.His family comes from the Tamil
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
Palghat Iyer
Iyer
Iyer is the title given to the caste of Hindu Brahmin communities of Tamil origin. Most Iyers are followers of the Advaita philosophy propounded by Adi Shankara...
community in Southern India and he is the grand nephew of Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, former judge of the Supreme court of India
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India...
.
Early life
Iyer is a former student of applied Oriental Opera, Asian graphic art, SanskritSanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
and Tamil literature
Tamil literature
Tamil literature refers to the literature in the Tamil language. Tamil literature has a rich and long literary tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution...
. He rose to notability as one of India's most well known print and graphic designers in the late 1990s.His clients comprised award-winning Indian filmmakers,technicians and musicians like Santosh Sivan
Santosh Sivan
Santosh Sivan is an Indian cinematographer, film director, and producer who has worked in Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, and Hindi cinema....
, Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Vidhu Vinod Chopra is an Indian director and producer. Chopra is the head of his own company, Vinod Chopra Productions, and is particularly known for producing the Munna Bhai films and 3 Idiots.-Early life:Born in a Punjabi family of Kashmir,...
and Binod Pradhan
Binod Pradhan
Binod Pradhan is an acclaimed Indian cinematographer whose creative visuals and cutting-edge imagery have left their mark on Indian cinema. Some his award-winning works include 1942 A Love Story, Devdas, Rang De Basanti, Mission Kashmir, Munna Bhai M.B.B.S...
.
It was his association with Indian cinematographer Santosh Sivan
Santosh Sivan
Santosh Sivan is an Indian cinematographer, film director, and producer who has worked in Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, and Hindi cinema....
, the maker of The Terrorist
The Terrorist
The Terrorist is a Tamil Indian film directed by Santosh Sivan. The film portrays a period in the life of a 19-year-old woman, Malli , sent to assassinate a leader in South Asia through a suicide bombing. It stars Dharkar, K. Krishna and Sonu Sisupal. The film is in Tamil. Released in 1998, the...
and Asoka, who introduced him to the beauty of independent and alternative cinema.
Iyer also acted in the Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
film Asoka directed by Santosh Sivan
Santosh Sivan
Santosh Sivan is an Indian cinematographer, film director, and producer who has worked in Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, and Hindi cinema....
.
Career
Arvind Iyer's first directorial venture 'Karma' (2008), a psychological drama, is a short film in the Dutch languageDutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
that is distributed across Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
on Sweden's VoD channel Glimz. The film was produced by noted Tibetan
Tibetan people
The Tibetan people are an ethnic group that is native to Tibet, which is mostly in the People's Republic of China. They number 5.4 million and are the 10th largest ethnic group in the country. Significant Tibetan minorities also live in India, Nepal, and Bhutan...
Opera singer Namgyal Lhamo
Namgyal Lhamo
Namgyal Lhamo is an acclaimed exponent of Tibetan traditional singing and Tibetan Opera, Lhamo; She is based in Utrecht, The Netherlands.Starting at a the age of 8, Namgyal Lhamo, recognized by many as a child prodigy; trained for fourteen years under great masters of Tibetan Opera and Classical...
who also played the lead character of Karma. It first screened at the Aarhus
Aarhus
Aarhus or Århus is the second-largest city in Denmark. The principal port of Denmark, Aarhus is on the east side of the peninsula of Jutland in the geographical center of Denmark...
festival of Independent Cinema and Art in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
based film writer and critic Rada Šešić described the film as a cinematically minimalistic piece and a powerful, intimate confession on displacement and love.
In 2008, Iyer directed 'Paradise Lost' aka 'Chang Yare', the controversial music video from Namgyal Lhamo's album 'Highland Supernova' which was produced by Mumbai-based Frenchman and music publisher Achille Forler's record label Silk Road. 'Paradise Lost' was released on the eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The video made its festival debut by screening in competition at the Asian Hotshots Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
film festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
in January 2009 and continues its festival run with screenings at The Tibet Film Festival in London in 2010
'Paradise Lost' was voted the Best Music Video at the 2009 Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
an music awards
Arvind Iyer's debut feature film titled 'Drapchi' in the Tibetan language
Tibetan language
The Tibetan languages are a cluster of mutually-unintelligible Tibeto-Burman languages spoken primarily by Tibetan peoples who live across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering the Indian subcontinent, including the Tibetan Plateau and the northern Indian subcontinent in Baltistan, Ladakh,...
is scheduled for a 2011 release. The film stars Namgyal Lhamo
Namgyal Lhamo
Namgyal Lhamo is an acclaimed exponent of Tibetan traditional singing and Tibetan Opera, Lhamo; She is based in Utrecht, The Netherlands.Starting at a the age of 8, Namgyal Lhamo, recognized by many as a child prodigy; trained for fourteen years under great masters of Tibetan Opera and Classical...
,Lobsang Yonten, Gen Tenzin-la and Chris Constantinou
Chris Constantinou
Chris Constantinou is an English musician. Famous for being the bass guitarist and backing vocalist for Adam Ant. He is now the lead singer and bassist of the band, The Wolfmen.- Childhood and early bands :...
and has been written by Pooja Ladha Surti, the writer of Indian films, Ek Hasina Thi
Ek Hasina Thi
Ek Hasina Thi is a 2004 Indian psychological thriller film noir by Sriram Raghavan, produced by Ram Gopal Varma, and starring Urmila Matondkar and Saif Ali Khan in the lead roles. The screenplay was by Sriram Raghavan and Pooja Ladha Surti...
and Johnny Gaddaar
Johnny Gaddaar
Johnny Gaddaar , is a 2007 Indian crime thriller noir film written and directed by Sriram Raghavan; produced under the banner Adlabs...
.