Dedication was his hallmark
SRA
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Mythology to mystery, director K. Shankar was adept at handling varied subjects.
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WIDE RANGE: K. Shankar (right) with Prabhu.
Director K. Shankar, who passed away recently had the rare privilege of directing the idols of three languages — Tamil (MGR-Sivaji), Telugu (N.T.Rama Rao and Nageswara Rao) and Kannada (he introduced Rajkumar).
Shankar started his career as an assistant to editor Surya who worked in AVM studio. When he turned director he made Surya the chief of editing department. Impressed with his enthusiasm and energy, Av. Meiyappan encouraged the big stars of his time to act under Shankar's direction.
Kunisseri Shankar was born in 1926 in Kerala. Keen to enter cinema, he went to Karaikkudi where he joined the editing department of AVM studio. The first film he directed was "Doctor" in Sinhalese. A noteworthy film, he directed was "Bhookailas," titled "Bhaktha Ravana" in Tamil and "Bhakti Mahima" in Hindi. The original and the dubbed versions were huge hits.
Handled them all
Shankar directed some of the best films of both MGR and Sivaji Ganesan — "Adimai Pen," "Pallandu Vazhga" and "Kudiyiruntha Koil" of the former and "Alaiyamani" and "Andavan Kattalai" of the latter. He directed the singers, T.M.Soundararajan and A.L. Raghavan for "Kallum Kaniyagum." Action hero Vijayakanth found himself play Lord Siva in ``Meenakshi Thiruvilaiyadal." Mythology, social, thriller — Shankar handled them all.
Some of the popular editors and directors who worked as his assistants are Sp. Muthuraman, Vittal and Narayanan.
Shankar was at the helm of some successful Hindi films too. He directed Prithviraj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna and he introduced Randhir Kapoor to films. The list includes "Sachchaai", "Rajkumar", "Jhoola", Shehzada", "Rickshawala", "Pyaasi Nadi" and "Chote Sarkar."
AVM.Saravanan recalls how the unit could depend on Shankar for everything. ``There was nothing that he would not do to make a film better. And he was absolutely dedicated. It was 1946-47. There was a fire in our studio in Karaikkudi. Shankar then was assistant to the editor. When he saw the fire spreading he rushed inside and retrieved all the negatives of `Vedala Ulagam,' my father had directed. He threw the cans in a car that was parked and had it towed to safety. But for Shankar's presence of mind and courage we would have lost the film."
Whenever Meiyyapan thought a scene could have been done better he always summoned Shankar to do the job. ``We hence called him PWD, patch work director, and he didn't mind," remembers Saravanan. ``My father especially liked the way Shankar filmed songs," he adds.
What Saravanan wants to highlight is the feeling of contentment, a rare quality that Shankar seemed to possess. He never laid stress on payment, nor the amount.
Shankar's last feature film was "Vettri Vinayagar," released some years ago and his last work on the small screen was "Ramayanam" telecast on Sun Television.
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