<!-- NewPP limit reportParsed by mw‐api‐ext.eqiad.main‐5cb9485489‐nxg52Cached time: 20240330202702Cache expiry: 2592000Reduced expiry: falseComplications: [is‐preview]CPU time usage: 0.055 secondsReal time usage: 0.070 secondsPreprocessor visited node count: 96/1000000Post‐expand include size: 4698/2097152 bytesTemplate argument size: 1099/2097152 bytesHighest expansion depth: 10/100Expensive parser function count: 1/500Unstrip recursion depth: 0/20Unstrip post‐expand size: 1653/5000000 bytesLua time usage: 0.030/10.000 secondsLua memory usage: 696010/52428800 bytesNumber of Wikibase entities loaded: 0/400--><!--Transclusion expansion time report (%,ms,calls,template)100.00% 62.655 1 -total100.00% 62.655 1 Template:Redirect_category_shell 96.25% 60.307 1 Template:Mbox 14.89% 9.327 1 Template:R_from_move 8.32% 5.210 1 Template:Redirect_template 3.46% 2.170 1 Template:R_from_move/except 2.91% 1.824 1 Template:Talk_other-->

Film career

Bharathiraja started his film career as an assistant to Kannada filmmaker Puttanna Kanagal. Later, he assisted P. Pullaiah, M. Krishnan Nair, Avinasi Mani and A. Jagannathan. His first film 16 Vayathinile, for which he wrote the script, broke the then existing convention to create a new genre of village cinema. The film is now regarded as a milestone in the history of Tamil Cinema. About the film, Bharathiraja said: "This movie was meant to be a black & white art film produced with the help of National Film Development Corporation", but turned out to be a commercially successful colour film and a starting point for several important careers. His next film Kizhake Pogum Rail produced similar results and eventually brought in criticisms that Bharathiraja was capable of catering only to village audiences. This led him to make Sigappu Rojakkal, about a psychopathic woman-hater that was totally westernized in terms of both conception and production.Bharathiraja confirmed his versatility and refusal to be tied down to one particular genre with an experimental film Nizhalgal (1980), and the action thriller Tik Tik Tik (1981). But undoubtedly, rural themes proved to be his strong suit as his biggest hits in the 1980s; Alaigal Oivathillai (1981), Mann Vasanai (1983) and Muthal Mariyathai (1985) were strong love stories in a village backdrop. Muthal Mariyathai starred Sivaji Ganesan in the lead, playing a middle-aged village head. Radha is a poor young woman who moves into his village for a living. The love that bonds these two humans separated not just by age but also by caste and class, is told by Bharathiraja with poetic touches.Vedham Pudhithu dealt with the caste issue in a stronger manner. The film's narrative was seamless and starred Sathyaraj as Balu Thevar. It contains some of Bharathiraja's trademark touches as well as several ground-breaking scenes. However, it does follow the anti-Brahmin trend common in Tamil films – in this respect it departed from his earlier success Alaigal Oiyvadhillai, where the caste and religion factor was given a more balanced treatment. Bharathiraja has successfully managed to modernise his film-making techniques for the 1990s. The commercial success of Kizhakku Cheemaiyile and the awards that Karuththamma garnered stand as testimony to his ability to thrill the younger generation as well. Bharathiraja was on the same stage in 1996 to receive another National Award for Anthimanthaarai.
In late 1996, Bharathiraja was signed on to direct two films, with the Sarathkumar-starrer Vaakkapatta Bhoomi announced in October. The following month, he began work on a film titled Siragugal Murivadhillai, with Napolean, Heera Rajgopal and Prakash Raj in the leading roles. Both films were later shelved.His 2001 film Kadal Pookal won him that year's National Film Award for Best Screenplay. The well-known Tamil film director Bhagyaraj was one of his assistant directors. In 2008, Bharathiraja made his television debut with series Thekkathi Ponnu which aired on Kalaignar TV. He went on to direct two other series Appanum Aathaalum and Muthal Mariyathai for the same channel.During early 2016, Bharathiraja was embroiled in a legal tussle with director Bala on making a film titled Kutra Parambarai, though neither filmmaker eventually made their respective films. He later moved on to plan a film starring director Vasanth's son, Ritwik Varun, and Vikram's nephew, but did not begin shooting for the venture. In 2018, Bharathirajaa is working on a film titled November 8, Iravu 8 Mani starring Vidharth, which narrates events following the decision to demonetise certain banknotes in India.

Personal life

Bharathiraja was born as Chinnasamy to parents Periyamayathevar and Karuthammal. He is married to ChandraLeela and has two children Manoj Bharathiraja and Janani.
Manoj is an actor who was introduced in Tajmahal and he is married to actress Nandana. Janani is married to Malaysian Rajkumar Thambiraja. Bharathiraja's brother-in-law Manojkumar has directed films such as Mannukkul Vairam, Vandicholai Chinraasu, Vaanavil and Guru Paarvai. His brother Jayaraj made his acting debut with Kaththukkutti. His relative Stalin is a television actor who acted in serials such as Saravanan Meenatchi and 7C.