K. S. Gopalakrishnan Biography 
K. S. Gopalakrishnan was a film director, producer, screenwriter and lyricist from south Indian film industry. He predominantly worked in Tamil cinema in the 1960s and 1970s, and has also done a few movies in Malayalam and Hindi languages. Noted character artist of Tamil cinema and television - K. S. G. Venkatesh is his son. Gopalakrishnan was also known as a Devotional Orator on Thiruppugazh. He is known for giving first break to new talents like K. R. Vijaya, Jayachitra, Prameela, Vijaya Nirmala etc on south Indian screen and has also promoted many struggling artists who later earned fame and recognition from the industry. He mostly directed melodramas apart from a few mythological films.
K. S. Gopalakrishnan was born in 1929 in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu. He was the eighth son to his parents. He lost both his parents and most of his family members in an epidemic when he was only five years old. Thus he and his younger brother K.S. Sabarinathan joined as junior artists in a drama company at a very young age. The drama company was run by Nawab Rajamanickam Pillai, a great patron of arts. He was associated with Nawab’s troupefor long 19 years before he moved to Sri Devi Nataka Sabha.
He reached Chennai to pursue a career in cinema and started off as a lyricist. Later, he became an assistant to film director and turned a screenwriter as well, before he marked his debut as a film director. He also owned a banner. Sarada was his first film as a film director and it was a major hit. The movie released in the year 1962 earned National award for third best film in Tamil. He is a recipient of three National awards, and also Kalaimamani by state government in 1975.
Karpagam, Kai Koduttha Dheivam, Chitthi, Kankanda Deivam etc are among his major films of 1960s. Karpagam earned National award for Second Best Feature Film in Tamil and Kai Koduttha Dheivam also earned President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film. He was active in the film industry till early 1990s. In the 1980s he concentrated on to Malayalam cinema. He passed away on 14 November 2015 in Chennai.
Published: N/A
Updated: June 26, 2016
.jpeg "Lakshmi Menon (actress)")
