Indian director Bharathiraja, hospitalised after breathlessness, is stable

Veteran Indian director Bharathiraja, 81, who was hospitalised on December 27 in the south Indian metropolis of Chennai after complaining of breathlessness, is stable, according to media reports.

A bulletin released by the MGM Healthcare on January 4 states that Bharatiraja is "receiving appropriate medical care in the intensive care unit", according to The Times of India.

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"His clinical condition is stable, and he continues to be under close monitoring by our team of medical experts. With appropriate supports, his vital parameters remain within normal limits," it said. "He is responding satisfactorily to the ongoing treatment."

Bharathiraja's son, the actor-filmmaker Manoj Bharathiraja, died in March last year owing to a cardiac arrest. The news website Mathrubhumi quoted Bharathiraja's brother, Jayaraj Periyamayathevar, as saying that the filmmaker was not keeping well since then. He had moved to Malaysia after his son's demise, according to Jayaraj, but even the change of place didn't help him. He had returned to Chennai recently after spending several months with his daughter in Malaysia.

A trendsetter filmmaker

Popularly referred to as Iyakkunar Imayam, or the "mountain among directors", Bharathiraja is considered one of Tamil cinema's pioneering filmmakers. At a time when Tamil—and most of Indian—cinema confined itself to shooting within studios, he brought about a refreshing change by ensuring that films were shot entirely in live locations.

Importantly, his films shunned melodrama and stuck to realistic portrayals of rural life and the divides in society, in particular. Case in point: Vedham Pudhithu (1987), which offers an unflinching and critical take on the many malaises of Indian society.

In a career spanning more than four decades that began in the early 1980s, he directed critically acclaimed films such as 16 Vayathinile (Solva Saavan in Hindi), Kizhakke Pogum Rayil, Sighappu Rojakkal (remade as Red Rose in Hindi), Muthal Mariyathai, Oru Kaithiyin Diary, Karuththamma and Kizhakku Cheemaiyile.

The film 16 Vayathinile is often considered a landmark in Tamil cinema, as it brought together three of Indian cinema's biggest stars: Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth and Sridevi.

Bharathiraja is also credited with introducing talents who would go on to establish themselves as stars in their own right. He gave actress Revathi her first big break in Mann Vasanai (1983). He also introduced Karthik and Radha to Tamil cinema in Alaigal Oivathillai (1981). Other actors who stepped into films through him were Napoleon, Janagaraj and Pandiyan.

The acclaimed directors K Bhagyaraj, Manivannan and R Parthiban assisted under him before charting their own careers.