S. Theodore Baskaran

Sundararaj Theodore Baskaran (born 1940) is a film historian and wildlife conservationist from Tamil Nadu, India.

Early life and education Theodore Baskaran was born in Dharapuram, (in present-day Tiruppur district, Tamil Nadu) in 1940. He completed his Intermediate at St.John's College, Palayamkottai and obtained a BA (Hons) Degree in History from Madras Christian College in 1960.

Career Baskaran worked as Researcher in Tamil Nadu State Archives for two years. He joined the Indian Postal Service in 1964 as Divisional Superintendent at Trichy. He served as the "Special Officer For War Efforts" in Shillong during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. He took study leave in 1974 to research Tamil film history on a fellowship from Council of Historical Research.

Baskaran published his first article on film in 1972 about Chidananda Dasgupta's documentary The Dance of Shiva. Encouraged by his friend Charles A. Ryerson, he decided to do research about Tamil Cinema. In 1976 he joined the Calcutta Film Society. The same year, he presented his first research article titled Film Censorship as an Instrument of Political Control in British India in the Indian History Congress at Aligarh. This and other articles formed the core of his first book The Message Bearers published in 1981. His second book The Eye of the Serpent (1996) won the Golden Lotus (Best Book on Cinema) Award in 1997. He has also written several books and articles on film history in Tamil. He was a Senior Associate in National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore. He has lectured on cinema in many universities including Princeton University, The Australian National University and the University of Chicago. He is a member of the library's Board of Trustees. He has also acted in a supporting role in the 2010 Tamil film Aval Peyar Thamizharasi.

Baskaran is a keen bird watcher and a naturalist. He is a former honorary wild life warden and the South India Representative of the International Primate Protection League. He is a trustee of WWF-India. His collection of essays on nature and wild life conservation has been published as The Dance of the Sarus (Oxford University Press) in 1999. He edited a book of articles on nature titled "The Sprint of The Black Buck"; Penguin (2009)

Personal life He is married to Thilaka Baskaran and lives in Bengaluru, Karnataka.