Bharathiraja’s En iniya Thamizh makkale: an unforgettable celluloid legacy of a son of the soil

File image of film director Bharathiraj | Photo credit: The Hindu

“En iniya Thamizh makkale (My dear Tamil people)”, a preparatory line marinated in love and warmth, has now become part of the mists of time. Legendary director Bharathiraja uttered these words as a preamble just before starting his celluloid offerings.

It was his classic handwriting that indicated another film rooted in the Tamil Nadu landscape and pulsating with its rural heart. When Bharathiraja passed away on Wednesday (June 10, 2026), Tamil cinema lost one of its greatest auteurs. At the age of 84 and heartbroken after the loss of his son Manoj last year, the director who had launched scores of actors and directors was in his twilight years.

Also Read: Tributes pour in as Bharathiraja dies | Live updates

The Rajinikanth-Kamal Haasan duo may have their roots in the K. Balachander school, but it was Bharathiraja who offered them a path he didn’t lead through his star-studded 16 Vayadhinile, also starring the stunning Sridevi. Steeped in equal measure in the innocence and misogyny typical of the village, the 1977 hit became the stuff of legend, breaking Tamil cinema out of the stifling confines of the studios and making outdoor shooting the preferred norm.

The dreaded don to dear grandpa: the many faces of actor Bharathiraj

Paddy fields, sugarcane farms and palm trees might have been his favorite backdrop, but the versatile genius could also have made a film about a serial killer, Sigappu Rojakkal, with Kamal in a villainous turn. Bharathiraja delved into social issues with gusto, held up a mirror, never flinched and his scope was wide.

There was women’s emancipation in Pudhumai Penn, a tender romance between an older man and a younger woman in Mudhal Mariyadhai with thespian Sivaji Ganesan and Radha giving bravura performances and a scathing revelation of female feticide in Karuthamma. Caste Peril focused on Vedham Pudhitha and similarly Bharathiraja could run a commercial revenge saga through the daily Oru Kaidhiyin, also remade in Hindi as Aakhree Raasta.

He launched a slew of heroines from Radikaa to Revathi and had this fetish of renaming his heroines with names starting with R. Actor Karthik made his debut under Bharathiraja in Alaigal Oivathillai. Good music has been an integral part of this ace director’s cinematic adventures, and even today Nizhalgal’s screenplay and songs are talked about. Be it Ilaiyaraaja or AR Rahman, Bharathiraja could penetrate their soul and get their best creative output.

He also inspired his assistant directors to forge their own path, and K. Bhagyaraj, R. Parthiban and Pandiarajan evolved from the Bharathiraja school of thought. Out of respect, Bhagyaraj always referred to Bharathiraj as the ‘enga director’ and it was a bond that lasted for decades.

As age and illness caught up, Bharathiraja found a second lease on life in acting. Be it a wily politician in Mani Ratnam’s Ayudha Ezhuthu or an old stuntman in Mohana Lal’s Malayalam blockbuster Thudarum, the former director infused these characters with gravitas and believability.

Aware of his craft and very confident in his domain, Bharathiraja encouraged young talent. Always full of praise, he would say in his unique English, “What a man, such a film, look at that top, at that framing, I said to myself ‘dei Bharathiraja nee out’.” When he appreciated Mari Selvaraj’s Pariyerum Perumal, it metaphorically signaled the passing of the baton from one rural film maestro to another who was looking hard at the Tamil hinterland.

Like the title of one of his hits, Mann Vasanai, Bharathiraj’s films evoked the scent of the soil. While the Tamil film industry was in mourning, his films stand the test of time, reminding us of a man hailing from the leeward side of the Western Ghats, moving to Madras, while his loving gaze remained fixed on the villages he left behind.

Published – 10 Jun 2026 09:10 IST