A. C. Tirulokchandar Biography 
A.C. Tirulokchandar was a filmmaker and screenwriter of Tamil cinema, during the classic era of filmmaking. He was active in the industry since 1960s to late 1980s. This acclaimed director directed the movie, Deiva Magan in 1969 which was India’s official entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It was the first south Indian movie to receive this feat. He joined as a junior assistant in the early 1950s, and marked his independent career with 1962 film, Veerathirumagan produced by AVM Productions. He has remarked many classic Bollywood hits to Tamil, and also directed a few Telugu and Hindi films. His Bollywood remake ‘Babu’ with Rajesh Khanna in lead role remained successful.
His full name is A. Chengalvaraya Mudaliar Thirulokachander. He was born on 11 June 1930 in Arcot village, Vellore district, Tamil Nadu. He joined film industry during late 1940s/early 1950s as a junior assistant on film sets. During the making of the film Manthiri Kumari in 1950, he became a close friend of M. G. Ramachandran. He struggled for more than one decade in the industry in search of a break. His talent was first noticed was film producer A.V. Meiyappan who gave him the offer to direct the film, Veerathirumagan. The film got released in 1962 marking his directorial debut.
He then directed one Hindi-Tamil bilingual, Main Bhi Ladki Hoon /Nannum Oru Penn. Its Tamil version won National award for best film in Tamil and the director rose to fame. Very soon he turned a successful film director of Tamil cinema. Though he had brief stint with Hindi and Telugu movies, he predominantly worked in Tamil. He directed many hit movies for AVM banner which include Anbe Vaa starring MGR. He tried with romantic and drama genres of filmmaking and succeeded in both. Babu, Ramu, Deiva Magan, Dharmam Engey, Engirundho Vandhaal, Enga Mama, Avanthan Manidhan etc are some of his major hits. He passed away in 2016 at the age of 86 due to age-related issues.
Published: N/A
Updated: June 20, 2018
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