K Shankar's Mythological Film Varuvan Vadivelan Completes 45 Years Of Release

K Shankar directorial Varuvan Vadivelan completed 45 years of release on May 15. Released in 1978, it is remembered as one of the most successful films by the director. This Tamil mythological film revolved around the story of Uma who was a staunch believer in Lord Murugan. She faces violence at the hands of her husband Bhaskar. Despite facing a lot of difficulties in her personal life, Uma keeps her faith in Lord Murugan alive. How her life changes due to this belief forms the core theme of Varuvan Vadivelan.

Actors Jai Ganesh, Jayalaxmi, Manorama and other actors essayed important roles in Varuvan Vadivelan. MS Viswanathan won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for this film under the category of Best Music Director. Followers remember director K Shankar for making a lot of Bhakti-oriented films similar to Varuvan Vadivelan.

Shankar had joined the film industry as an editing assistant and he gradually became a director with his talent and hard work. According to reports, he had saved the negatives of the film Vedala Ulama which was being produced in AVM Studios. He took the negatives to Meiyappa Chettiar, aka, AV Meiyappan. Reportedly, after this incident, Meiyappa Chettiar decided to take K Shankar with him to Chennai when the AVM Studios shifted there. This proved to be a turning point in his career and soon he was promoted to the post of editor.

K Shankar’s popularity increased gradually. He carved a massive fan base both as a director and an editor. He is credited with many successful films like Bhookailasa, Orey Vazhi, Paadha Kaanikkai and others. He directed over 80 films in Sinhalese, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada languages.

One of the filmmaker’s most loved films remains Adimai Penn. It narrates the storyline of how Raja Sengodan (SA Ashokan ) kills Vengaiyan (MG Ramachandran)’s father and enslaves all his people. Vengaiyan doesn’t care about his responsibilities, but Jeeva (J Jayalalithaa) helps him evolve into a wise man. K Shankar won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award under the Best Film category. KV Mahadevan received the same award for the Best Music Director category.

K Shankar died of a heart attack on March 6, 2006, at the age of 79 at his residence.