Arcot Chengalvaraya Thirulokachandar (11 June 1930 – 15 June 2016) was an Indian film director and screenwriter who worked mainly in Tamil films from the 1950s to 1988. He also directed a few films in Hindi and Telugu. His 1969 Tamil film Deiva Magan was the first South Indian film to be submitted by India in contest for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Career
During the making of the film Kumari in 1952, A.C. Tirulokchandar was working as a junior assistant on the sets and during the shooting of this film became a close friend of M. G. Ramachandran. Producer A. V. Meiyappan noticed his talent and gave A.C. Tirulokchandar his break as the director in 1962 film Veerathirumagan.
With the success of his debut film, he got one more film to direct under AVM Productions which was bilingual made simultaneously as Main Bhi Ladki Hoon in Hindi and as Nannum Oru Penn (1963) in Tamil. The latter won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil at 11th National Film Awards and also won Filmfare Award for Best film. With this, he became a permanent fixture as director with AVM. He became like the fifth son of Mr. A. V. Meiyappan and became close friend of A.V.M.Saravanan.
Tirulokchandar directed the fiftieth film produced by AVM banner – Anbe Vaa, a romantic comedy film, in 1966 with M.G. Ramachandran and Saroja Devi in the lead. He directed the films produced by K. Balaji – Thangai (1967), En Thambi (1968), Thirudan (1969) and Engiruntho Vanthaal (1970) which were Tamil remakes of blockbuster films in other languages. He was not only adept at directing social dramas like Babu (1971) with Sivaji Ganesan in the lead, Ramu (1966) with Gemini Ganesan as the hero but also romantic dramas such as Iru Malargal (1967) and Anbalippu (1969) as well as the romantic comedies Anbe Vaa (1966) and Anbe Aaruyire (1975).
He was given the task of directing the first bilingual suspense thriller film from AVM banner in 1967 which was Ave Kallu in Telugu and Adhey Kangal in Tamil. He directed the pair Sivaji Ganesan and Jayalalithaa in five films – Deiva Magan (1969), Dharmam Engey (1972), Engirundho Vandhaal (1970), Enga Mama (1970) and Avanthan Manidhan (1975). He directed Rajesh Khanna in Babu in 1985 which became a hit. His other acclaimed Tamil films include Thirudan, Aval, Dheerga Sumangali, Vasandatil Oru Naal, Bhadrakali, Anbe Aaruyire and Bharata Vilas. He was known to co-ordinate the colour schemes of the actors' outfits with the sets designed for the film.
Personal life Tirulokchandar had a daughter and two sons, the younger of whom died of cancer in 2016.
Death Tirulokchandar died on 15 June 2016 at the age of 86. The reason for death was declared as "age-related issues".
Filmography
Year Film Language Notes1952 Kumari Tamil Assistant Direction1960 Vijayapuri Veeran Tamil Story & Dialogue Writer1962 Paarthaal Pasi Theerum Tamil Story & Dialogue Writer1962 Veerathirumagan Tamil 1963 Naanum Oru Penn Tamil 1964 Main Bhi Ladki Hoon Hindi 1965 Naadi Aada Janme Telugu 1965 Kakkum Karangal Tamil 1966 Anbe Vaa Tamil Inspired by American film Come September1966 Ramu Tamil 1967ThangaiTamil1967 Athey Kangal Tamil 1967 Iru Malargal Tamil 1967 Ave Kallu Telugu 1968 Ramu Telugu Remake of Tamil film of same name1968 En Thambi Tamil 1969 Thirudan Tamil Remake of Adrushtavanthulu1969 Deiva Magan Tamil 1969 Anbalippu Tamil Story and screenplay credits as well1970 Engirundho Vandhaal Tamil Simultaneously made as Khilona1970 Enga Mama Tamil Remake of Brahmachari1971 Pavitra Hrudayalu Telugu 1971 Babu Tamil Remake of Odayil Ninnu; screenplay credits as well1972 Itho Entha Deivam Tamil 1972 Aval Tamil 1972 Dharmam Engey Tamil 1973 Radha Tamil 25th Film1973 Sontham Tamil 1973 Bharatha Vilas Tamil 1974 Dheerga Sumangali Tamil 1975 Dr. Siva Tamil 1975 Anbe Aaruyirae Tamil 1975 Avanthan Manithan Tamil Remake of Kasturi Nivasa1976 Nee Indri Naanillai Tamil 1976 Bhadrakali Tamil 1977 Penn Jenmam Tamil 1977 Bhadrakali Telugu 1978 Pilot Premnath Tamil 1978 Vanakkatukuriya Kathaliye Tamil 1980 Vishwaroopam Tamil 1980Kadhal Kiligal TamilRemake of Ghar1981 Lorry Driver Rajakannu Tamil 1982 Teri Kasam Hindi 1982 Baawri Hindi 1982 Vasandhathil Or Naal Tamil Remake of Mausam1985 Babu Hindi 1985 Do Dilon Ki Dastaan Hindi 1987 Kudumbam Oru Koyil Tamil 1987 Anbulla Appa Tamil 1988ShukriyaaHindi
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