CHENNAI: Legendary filmmaker Singeetham Srinivasa Rao, known for pushing the boundaries of craft and content in his films, passed away in Chennai on Saturday. He was 95.
Singeetham, who started assisting veteran filmmaker K V Reddy in the 50s, made his directorial debut with Neethi Nijayithi in 1972 and continued making movies till 2026 with Sing Geetham, earning him recognition as the world’s oldest active filmmaker.
The veteran, who directed films in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam, was famous for his collaborations with Kamal Haasan and Dr Rajkumar. He won the National Award for Best Feature Film for his debut Tamil film, Dikkatra Parvathi (1974). He added another National Award for Best Popular Film for his Kannada film Pushpaka Vimana (1987).
Through his over 70-year-old career, Singeetham explored multiple genres, including science fiction, fantasy, comedy, social dramas, biographies, satire, and musicals. The winner of multiple Nandi Awards and Karnataka State Film Awards, Singeetham’s biggest achievement was his attitude of never shying away from experimentation, and ensuring they mostly set the cash registers ringing, as well.
Singeetham’s legacy will always be intertwined with his collaborations with Kamal Haasan, which began with the 1979 Telugu film, Sommokadidhi Sokokadidhi. He went on to direct Kamal Haasan in his landmark 100th film, Raaja Paarvai, and became the go-to filmmaker for most of the actor’s experiments, including Apoorva Sagodharargal, Michael Madana Kamarajan, Pushpaka Vimana.
With Telugu superstar Nandamuri Balakrishna, Singeetham made iconic films like Aditya 369, Bhairava Dweepam, and Sri Krishnarjuna Vijayam, which went on to become landmark films of the sci-fi and mythological genres of Indian cinema.
With Kannada legend Dr Rajkumar, Singeetham explored a tragicomedy in Haalu Jenu, a comedy in Bhagyada Lakshmi Baaramma, and a crime drama in Devatha Manushya. He also launched Dr Rajkumar’s sons, Shivarajkumar and Raghavendra Rajkumar, in Anand and Chiranjeevi Sudhakar.
Whether it was Mayuri, based on the life of actor-dancer Sudha Chandran, or Little John, shot simultaneously in English, Hindi, and Tamil with a pan-Indian ensemble, Singeetham never stopped trying to see what he could do with the medium.
