T. Rajendar
Encyclopedia
Vijaya Thesingu Rajendar is a Tamil
film actor and director
as well as a film score composer, screenwriter
, singer, comedian
, dancer and playback singer
. He is also a politician in Tamil Nadu
, India
.
Rajendar starred in several films in the late-1980s in lead roles, which were mostly his own productions; his most recent being Veerasamy
, which was also directed by him. He is currently the host on the Sun TV
television shows Arattai Arangam and Comedy Clown as well as Pogo Live! on Pogo. A former member of the DMK
, he launched his own dravidian party, the Thayaga Marumalarchi Kazhagam in 1991. In 2004, he rebranded his party under the name All India Latchiya Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
. He has stated that during the 2011 assembly elections, he would consider competing alone but later it was reported that his party did not file any nominations.
Vijaya T. Rajendar is married to former actress Usha and they have three children. He has two sons: Simbhu, Kuralarasan and one daughter: Elakkya. His wife Usha Rajendar served as the Producer for his films like Kadhal Azhivathillai
.
industry making successful films which included him as an actor, playback singer, kuthu-dancer and scriptwriter. He gained popularity through his one-of-a-kind queer
style of acting, speaking and dressing. Vijaya T. Rajendar is well known for mixing a lot of genres into one film and using rhythmic Tamil dialogues throughout his movies. In addition, he has a reputation of making exessive use of sign language
as well as meaningless (and sometimes obscene) gestures using his tongue and lips. Vijaya T. Rajendar, like Robert Rodriguez
generally plays a lot of roles when making his own films. He normally serves as, but not limited to director, actor
, dancer, songwriter
, screenwriter
, costume designer
, cinematographer
, choreographer and playback singer
.
After some years, Vijaya T. Rajendar's films started to decline in popularity because his films became too predictable, tending to follow the same storyline and oratory style of repetitous dialogues with little if any meaning. For example his films always contain a sentimental
scene involving the hero's younger sister in distress, coupled with the same rhyming rhetoric and gestures. Despite this, he strongly contends that he has a dedicated fan base around the world.
Vijaya T. Rajendar recently started his own web TV channel called 'Kural TV' (Voice TV). Originally he wanted to start a 24 hour TV channel but could not due to problems arising while securing a license. The channel, apart from broadcasting his movies and speeches, tends to echo sentiments towards the plight of Tamils (especially women) in Sri Lanka and habitat destruction of wild bears.
Vijaya T. Rajendar also distribute
s films under his home banner 'Kural TV Creations'. His latest film distribution, as of mid-2011 is his son's film Vaanam
which will be distributed in the Chennai
and Madurai
region.
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,...
film actor and director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
as well as a film score composer, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, singer, comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, dancer and playback singer
Playback singer
A playback singer is a singer whose singing is prerecorded for use in movies. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras, while the actual singer does not appear on screen.-South Asia:...
. He is also a politician in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, 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...
.
Rajendar starred in several films in the late-1980s in lead roles, which were mostly his own productions; his most recent being Veerasamy
Veerasamy
Veerasamy is a low-budget Tamil film released in 2007. It failed to make a big impact at the Kollywood box office. The film was fully made by veteran actor and producer T. Rajendar . Mumtaj and Meghana Naidu starred in the movie along side him....
, which was also directed by him. He is currently the host on the Sun TV
Sun TV (India)
Sun TV is a regional Indian cable television station. It is the flagship channel of the Chennai-based Sun Network. It was founded and currently owned by Kalanidhi Maran. It was the first fully privately owned television channel in India when it emerged in 1992...
television shows Arattai Arangam and Comedy Clown as well as Pogo Live! on Pogo. A former member of the DMK
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. It is a Dravidian party founded by C. N. Annadurai as a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam headed by Periyar...
, he launched his own dravidian party, the Thayaga Marumalarchi Kazhagam in 1991. In 2004, he rebranded his party under the name All India Latchiya Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
All India Latchiya Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
All India Latchiya Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam , a political party in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu launched by Tamil film maker T. Rajendar in April 2004. The party was formed as a result of T. Rajendar's expulsion from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.This party haven't take part in the 2011 polls....
. He has stated that during the 2011 assembly elections, he would consider competing alone but later it was reported that his party did not file any nominations.
Personal life
Rajendar was born to Desingu Udaiyar in the village of Athur near Mayavaram (now known as Mayiladuthurai) on May 9, 1955.Vijaya T. Rajendar is married to former actress Usha and they have three children. He has two sons: Simbhu, Kuralarasan and one daughter: Elakkya. His wife Usha Rajendar served as the Producer for his films like Kadhal Azhivathillai
Kadhal Azhivathillai
Kadhal Azhivathillai is the debut film for Silambarasan as an actor. This film was directed and acted by Vijaya T. Rajendar. This film's stars are Silambarasan and Charmi.-Plot:...
.
Film career
Vijaya T. Rajendar started off in the KollywoodKollywood
Kollywood is a word referring two different movie industries in India and Nepal, derived from the word Hollywood and their local movie centers.* Tamil cinema, the Tamil language film industry based on Kodambakkam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu,...
industry making successful films which included him as an actor, playback singer, kuthu-dancer and scriptwriter. He gained popularity through his one-of-a-kind queer
Queer
Queer is an umbrella term for sexual minorities that are not heterosexual, heteronormative, or gender-binary. In the context of Western identity politics the term also acts as a label setting queer-identifying people apart from discourse, ideologies, and lifestyles that typify mainstream LGBT ...
style of acting, speaking and dressing. Vijaya T. Rajendar is well known for mixing a lot of genres into one film and using rhythmic Tamil dialogues throughout his movies. In addition, he has a reputation of making exessive use of sign language
Sign language
A sign language is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses visually transmitted sign patterns to convey meaning—simultaneously combining hand shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to fluidly express a speaker's...
as well as meaningless (and sometimes obscene) gestures using his tongue and lips. Vijaya T. Rajendar, like Robert Rodriguez
Robert Rodriguez
Robert Anthony Rodríguez is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, editor and musician. He shoots and produces many of his films in his native Texas and Mexico. He has directed such films as Desperado, From Dusk till Dawn, The Faculty, Spy Kids, Sin City, Planet...
generally plays a lot of roles when making his own films. He normally serves as, but not limited to director, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, dancer, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, costume designer
Costume Designer
A costume designer or costume mistress/master is a person whose responsibility is to design costumes for a film or stage production. He or she is considered an important part of the "production team", working alongside the director, scenic and lighting designers as well as the sound designer. The...
, cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
, choreographer and playback singer
Playback singer
A playback singer is a singer whose singing is prerecorded for use in movies. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras, while the actual singer does not appear on screen.-South Asia:...
.
After some years, Vijaya T. Rajendar's films started to decline in popularity because his films became too predictable, tending to follow the same storyline and oratory style of repetitous dialogues with little if any meaning. For example his films always contain a sentimental
Sentimentalism
Sentimentalism is used in different ways:* Sentimentalism , a theory in moral epistemology concerning how one knows moral truths; also known as moral sense theory* Sentimentalism , a form of literary discourse...
scene involving the hero's younger sister in distress, coupled with the same rhyming rhetoric and gestures. Despite this, he strongly contends that he has a dedicated fan base around the world.
Vijaya T. Rajendar recently started his own web TV channel called 'Kural TV' (Voice TV). Originally he wanted to start a 24 hour TV channel but could not due to problems arising while securing a license. The channel, apart from broadcasting his movies and speeches, tends to echo sentiments towards the plight of Tamils (especially women) in Sri Lanka and habitat destruction of wild bears.
Vijaya T. Rajendar also distribute
Film distributor
A film distributor is a company or individual responsible for releasing films to the public either theatrically or for home viewing...
s films under his home banner 'Kural TV Creations'. His latest film distribution, as of mid-2011 is his son's film Vaanam
Vaanam
Vaanam is an Indian Tamil drama film written and directed by Krish. A remake of his 2010 Telugu film Vedam, the film features an ensemble cast of Silambarasan, Bharath, Anushka Shetty, Prakash Raj and Saranya...
which will be distributed in the Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
and Madurai
Madurai
Madurai is the third largest city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It served as the capital city of the Pandyan Kingdom. It is the administrative headquarters of Madurai District and is famous for its temples built by Pandyan and...
region.
As actor
- Oru Thalai Kaadhal
- VeerasamyVeerasamyVeerasamy is a low-budget Tamil film released in 2007. It failed to make a big impact at the Kollywood box office. The film was fully made by veteran actor and producer T. Rajendar . Mumtaj and Meghana Naidu starred in the movie along side him....
- VallavanVallavanVallavan is a 2006Tamil film written and directed by T. R. Silambarasan, starring himself in the title role along with Nayantara, Reema Sen and Sandhya whilst Santhanam, Premji Amaren, Sathyan and S. Ve. Shekhar play supporting roles. The dialogues are written by noted writer Balakumaran, whilst...
- Kadhal AzhivathillaiKadhal AzhivathillaiKadhal Azhivathillai is the debut film for Silambarasan as an actor. This film was directed and acted by Vijaya T. Rajendar. This film's stars are Silambarasan and Charmi.-Plot:...
- Sonnal Thaan Kaadhala
- En Thangai KalyaniEn Thangai KalyaniEn Thangai Kalyani is a Tamil film released in 1988 directed and produced by T. Rajendar. Rajender himself appeared in the title role with Sudha, whilst the film featured an extensive cast, which also featured Rajendar's real life children, along with a bevy of supporting actors. The film released...
- Uyir Ulla Varai Usha
- Rail Payanangalil
- Mythili Ennai Kaathali
- Raagam Thedum Pallavi
- Thiruvalla
- Rayil Payanangalil
- Shanthi En Shanthi
- Pettredutha Pillai
- Oru Thalai RagamOru Thalai RagamOru Thalai Raagam is a 1980 Tamil-language Indian feature film produced and directed by E.M.Ibrahim, starring Shankar, Roopa, Chandrasekhar, Usha Rajendar and Ravindran. Eventhough the title card shows E.M.Ibrahim as the director, the film has been actually ghost directed by Vijaya T...
- Monisha En MonalisaMonisha En MonalisaMonisha En Monalisa is a Tamil film released in 1999 directed and produced by T. Rajendar. His son, Silambarasan starred in a cameo role in the film, whilst debutants, Ramanakanth and Mumtaj played the lead roles...
- Sabash Babu
- Oru Thayin Sabatham
- Uravai Kaatthakili
- Enga Veetu Velan
- Thangaikor Geetham
As director
| S.No. | Movie | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oru Thalai Kaadhal | 2011 |
| 2 | Veerasamy Veerasamy Veerasamy is a low-budget Tamil film released in 2007. It failed to make a big impact at the Kollywood box office. The film was fully made by veteran actor and producer T. Rajendar . Mumtaj and Meghana Naidu starred in the movie along side him.... |
2007 |
| 3 | Kadhal Azhivathillai Kadhal Azhivathillai Kadhal Azhivathillai is the debut film for Silambarasan as an actor. This film was directed and acted by Vijaya T. Rajendar. This film's stars are Silambarasan and Charmi.-Plot:... |
2002 |
| 4 | Monisha En Monalisa Monisha En Monalisa Monisha En Monalisa is a Tamil film released in 1999 directed and produced by T. Rajendar. His son, Silambarasan starred in a cameo role in the film, whilst debutants, Ramanakanth and Mumtaj played the lead roles... |
1999 |
| 5 | Thai Thangai Paasam | 1995 |
| 6 | Oru Vasandha Geetham | 1994 |
| 7 | Enga Veettu Velan | 1992 |
| 8 | Santhi En Santhi | 1991 |
| 9 | Samsara Sangeetham | 1989 |
| 10 | En Thangai Kalyani En Thangai Kalyani En Thangai Kalyani is a Tamil film released in 1988 directed and produced by T. Rajendar. Rajender himself appeared in the title role with Sudha, whilst the film featured an extensive cast, which also featured Rajendar's real life children, along with a bevy of supporting actors. The film released... |
1988 |
| 11 | Oru Thayin Sabhatham | 1987 |
| 12 | Mydili Ennai Kadali | 1986 |
| 13 | Uravai Kattha Kili | 1984 |
| 14 | Uyirullavarai Usha | 1983 |
| 15 | Thangaikkor Geetham | 1983 |
| 16 | Raagam Thedum Pallavi | 1982 |
| 17 | Nenjil Oru Raagam | 1982 |
| 18 | Rail Payanangal | 1981 |
| 19 | Vasantha Azhaipugal | 1980 |
| 20 | Oru Thalai Raagam | 1980 |
As music director
| S.No. | Movie | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Veerasamy Veerasamy Veerasamy is a low-budget Tamil film released in 2007. It failed to make a big impact at the Kollywood box office. The film was fully made by veteran actor and producer T. Rajendar . Mumtaj and Meghana Naidu starred in the movie along side him.... |
2007 |
| 2 | Kadhal Azhivathillai Kadhal Azhivathillai Kadhal Azhivathillai is the debut film for Silambarasan as an actor. This film was directed and acted by Vijaya T. Rajendar. This film's stars are Silambarasan and Charmi.-Plot:... |
2002 |
| 3 | Monisha En Monalisa Monisha En Monalisa Monisha En Monalisa is a Tamil film released in 1999 directed and produced by T. Rajendar. His son, Silambarasan starred in a cameo role in the film, whilst debutants, Ramanakanth and Mumtaj played the lead roles... |
1999 |
| 4 | En Aasai Thangachi | 1996 |
| 5 | Thai Thangai Paasam | 1995 |
| 6 | Oru Vasandha Geetham | 1994 |
| 7 | Sabash Babu | 1993 |
| 8 | Petradutha Pillai | 1993 |
| 9 | Enga Veettu Velan | 1992 |
| 10 | Santhi En Santhi | 1991 |
| 11 | Samsara Sangeetham | 1989 |
| 12 | En Thangai Kalyani En Thangai Kalyani En Thangai Kalyani is a Tamil film released in 1988 directed and produced by T. Rajendar. Rajender himself appeared in the title role with Sudha, whilst the film featured an extensive cast, which also featured Rajendar's real life children, along with a bevy of supporting actors. The film released... |
1988 |
| 13 | Cooliekaran | 1987 |
| 14 | Ivargal Varungala Thoongal | 1987 |
| 15 | Muthukkal Moondru | 1987 |
| 16 | Poopoova Poothirukku | 1987 |
| 17 | Oru Thayin Sabhatham | 1987 |
| 18 | Pookal Vidum Thoodhu | 1987 |
| 19 | Ayisu Nooru | 1987 |
| 20 | Mydili Ennai Kadali | 1986 |
| 21 | Pookkalai Parikkathe | 1986 |
| 22 | Uravai Kattha Kili | 1984 |
| 23 | Uyirullavarai Usha | 1983 |
| 24 | Thangaikkor Geetham | 1983 |
| 25 | Sattam Sirikiradhu | 1982 |
| 26 | Raagam Thedum Pallavi | 1982 |
| 27 | Nenjil Oru Raagam | 1982 |
| 28 | Kilinjalgal | 1981 |
| 29 | Rail Payanangal | 1981 |
| 30 | Oruthalai Raagam | 1980 |
| 31 | Vasantha Azhaipugal | 1980 |
External links
- V. Thesingu Rajendar at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Interview with TR