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Director Vijay, who directed a few of the greatest hits of Dr. Rajkumar, handed away on Friday
Veteran film-maker B. Vijaya Reddy, higher referred to as Vijay in the Kannada movie trade, handed away in Chennai on Friday. The 84-year-old is most remembered for his collaboration with Dr. Rajkumar to ship a few of his super-hit movies.
He is survived by spouse, two sons, and two daughters. “He was ill for some time now and hospitalised. He suffered a cardiac arrest on Friday evening and passed away,” mentioned his son B. Nagi Reddy.
Hailing from Tadepalligudem, West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, he went to the then Madras searching for to develop into an actor, however later labored as a technician and ultimately turned film-maker. He debuted in Kannada with Rangamahal Rahasya, a thriller in 1970, which grew to become a runaway hit.
His massive break got here when M.P. Shankar chosen him to direct Gandhada Gudi in 1973, for which Shankar had written the story himself. The phenomenal success of the movie kicked off a protracted affiliation with Dr. Rajkumar, with whom he went on to make 9 movies. He was additionally all set to direct Bhakta Ambareesha with Dr. Rajkumar in 2000, however the movie received shelved on account of well being problems with the late actor. Puneeth Rajkumar tweeted condolences on Saturday, remembering his days when he acted as younger Prahlada in Bhakta Prahlada.
Vijay additionally directed a number of different main males of Kannada cinema — Anant Nag in Naa Ninna Bidalare, Shankar Nag in Auto Raja, which made the late actor-director a mass hero, and Vishnuvardhan in Deva, amongst others.
Vijay was not solely considered one of the most prolific, but additionally considered one of the most profitable film-makers of Kannada of the Seventies and Eighties. “Whatever he made was a massive hit and he came to be known as a man with the Midas touch. But it was his extreme hard work that made him successful,” mentioned producer {K}.C.N. Chandrashekhar. He produced the Dr. Rajkumar-starrer Huliya Haalina Mevu that Vijay directed. “He traversed several genres of cinema — mythological, historical, social, adventure and thrillers — with great ease. Most of his films were not only massive hits of his times, but have also aged well. His screenplays were tight and had the right amount of emotion. I remember being blown away by his debut film Rangamahal Rahasya, a fine thriller,” noticed Puttaswamy, a Kannada movie critic and historian.
“The narratives of Kannada cinema history often only celebrate Puttanna Kanagal, Siddalingaiah and those who worked in parallel cinema, but tend to neglect the contribution of film-makers like Vijay who sustained the industry with their hits. Most of the films Vijay made are identified with the stars, not giving enough credit to him,” Mr. Puttaswamy mentioned.
Production firm
Vijay floated a manufacturing home — Vijaya Shekhar Productions — with one other director V. Somashekhar and went on to provide a number of movies. Vijay additionally directed 17 Hindi and 6 Telugu movies, the place he labored with the reigning stars of the time similar to Dharmendra, Shatrughan Sinha, Anil Kapoor, and Mithun Chakraborty.
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