Sundar Rao Nadkarni

Sundar Rao Nadkarni was an Indian film actor, editor, cinematographer, producer and director. He was the director of the first hit film for AVM productions Bhookailas in Telugu in the year 1940, and later the record-creating Tamil film Haridas.

Early life

Sundar Rao Nadkarni was born in Mangalore, Karnataka. He started his career in Bangalore as an actor in silent films produced by Surya Films. Later, he moved to Bombay where he took to film direction and editing. Nadkarni caught the eye of film producer Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar who, after the success of Sabhapathy, was looking to make another comedy film. Thereon, he moved to Coimbatore and finally Madras, where he settled down permanently.

In 1942, Nadkarni directed the Tamil film En Manaivi which was a hit. Following this success, Nadkarni also made other successful Tamil films. But his greatest hit was the 1944 film Haridas which set a record by becoming the first Tamil film to run for 110 weeks at a single theatre. He directed all the top Tamil actors during his active years, notably M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar and T. R. Rajakumari in Haridas (1944), Narsimha Bharathi in Krishna Vijayam (1950), and MGR and Savitri in Mahadevi (1957).

Filmography

As director

Year Title Role(s) Language Notes 1928 Maya Na Rang Director Silent 1930 Randhir Director Silent Kaliko No Kop Director Silent Dhoomketu Director Silent 1931 Zindagi Nu Jugar Director Silent Teer-e-Qatil Director Qurbani Director Ishq O Anjam Director Baaz Bahadur Director Asir-i-Hirs Director 1939 Shantha Sakkubai Director, editor, actor, singer Tamil 1940 Bhookailas Director Telugu 1942 En Manaivi Director Tamil 1944 Haridas Director Tamil 1946 Valmiki Director Tamil 1950 Krishna Vijayam Director Tamil 1953 Azhagi Director Tamil 1955 Koteeswaran Director Tamil 1957 Mahadhevi Director Tamil 1963 Santha Thukaram Director Kannada National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Kannada