Actor-director K. Bhagyaraj
This is an age in which multi-faceted Malayalam film directors are also doubling up as actors, be it being the hero or as a member of the supporting cast. Basil Joseph, Dileesh Pothan, Jeo Baby, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Khalid Rahman, and Jude Antony, to name a few, have all stood behind the camera, and also in front of it with aplomb.Decades ago in the Madras of the 1980s, K. Bhagyaraj did the same with panache. He wrote the story, screenplay, dialogues, and directed films in which he played the hero. A versatile bouquet that even T. Rajendar offered to some extent. A disciple of Bharathiraja, Bhagyaraj assisted his mentor in the iconic 16 Vayathinile, the 1977 rural masterpiece that catapulted Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, and Sridevi into the big league.
K. Bhagyaraj and Radhika in the film ‘Dhavani Kanavugal’
| Photo Credit:
The Hindu Archives
