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Veteran Malayalam film director Lenin Rajendran dies at 67
Malayalam film director Lenin Rajendran, who has received five National Awards for his work, passed away in Chennai at the age of 67.
Veteran filmmaker and chairman of the Kerala State Film Development Corporation, Lenin Rajendran, died on Monday at a private hospital in Chennai, said a Kerala minister. He was 67 and was under treatment for liver ailments at Apollo Hospital, Chennai, for the past three weeks.
State Minister for Culture and Cinema, AK Balan, said to IANS, “He directed 16 films. He always tread a different path and that’s what made him different. He was a known Left traveller, that was evident in most of his pictures. His unexpected demise has come as a shock. The Malayalam film industry would miss him.”
Deepa D Nair, Managing Director, Kerala State Film Development Corporation said to The News Minute, “He had liver transplantation two three weeks ago at Apollo Hospital. He had been hospitalised for nearly two months for the surgery.”
Rajendran began his film career as an assistant to director PA Backer and directed his first film, Venal, in 1982 and his last film was Edavappathy, in 2016. He received numerous awards for his films - Swathi Thirunal, Kulam, Daivathinte Vikrithikal and Makaramanju.
He won five Kerala state film awards in his career. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and leader of opposition Ramesh Chennithala condoled the death of Rajendran. The Kerala CM said, “He understood that cinema was not just of entertainment value, but could be use to document history. He was a person who stood steadfast with progressive left groups.”
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