Showing all artists born in 1953

A. M. Fazil is an Indian filmmaker, producer, and screenwriter of Malayalam cinema.His father wanted his son to be a doctor, but in school and college, extra curricular activities engulfed him. He wrote plays, enacted them with his friends (Nedumudi Venu was his college mate while in St. Berchmans College, Changanacherry) and this group was perhaps the first mimicry team that entertained crowds. "I used to mimic stars like Sathyan, Sivaji Ganesan and Govindankutty. I learnt later that Mammootty, Siddique and Lal had seen our programmes in Kochi." He completed his post-graduation in economics with a high second class.

Since the early 1980s he has directed some 30 movies. The director started his sojourn in Malayalam filmdom with Manjil Virinja Pookkal, which was also the first movie of actor Mohanlal. Fazil has a knack for spotting talent, he has introduced some of the biggest names in films in south India. Mohanlal in Manjil Virinja Pookkal, Nadhiya in Nokketha Doorathu Kannum Nattu, Baby Shalini in Ente Mamattikkuttiyammakku, and Kunchacko Boban, all had their first acting stints under the baton of Fazil. Nagma was introduced to the south in Fazils Killer (Telugu) while Khushboo started her southbound journey with his Varusham 16.

With numerous Malayalam films, as well as several in Tamil and Telugu under his belt, Fazil has managed to win the most number of State awards for the best film with popular appeal and aesthetic value. 

His son Fahad Fazil is working as an actor.

Manjula Vijayakumar (9 September 1953 – 23 July 2013) was a South Indian actress. She acted in more than 100 films in South Indian languages like Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.

She and actor Vijayakumar married shortly after they fell in love on the sets of Unnidam Mayanguhiren. The couple have three daughters, Vanitha, Preetha and Sridevi Vijaykumar. Arun Vijay, Anitha, and Kavitha are her husband's children from a previous marriage.

She first appeared in the film Shanthi Nilayam (1969) in a supporting role (as the teenaged girl of Gemini Ganesan's character). Her first lead role was in Rickshawkaran (1971). She acted in lead roles in many films till the late seventies. Since the late 80s, she has appeared in supporting roles. Manjula has performed alongside Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan, M. G. Ramachandran, Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Shobhan Babu, Kamal Hassan, Vishnuvardhan and Rajinikanth. She died on 23 July 2013 in SRMC at Chennai after falling down from bed and admitted in hospital, her death was caused by a blood clot in the stomach.

Srividya 24 July1953 –19 October 2006 was a leading Indian film actress of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s in the Tamil film Industry, in addition to being a good singer. In the latter part of her career, she concentrated on Malayalam films. Her brilliant portrayals as a mother in many films were highly acclaimed. Srividya's personal life was full of tragedies. She fought against all odds with dedication in her work until she died of breast cancer.

Srividya was born on 24 July 1953 at Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India to Tamil film comedian Krishnamurthy and Carnatic classical singer M. L. Vasanthakumari. She had a brother, Sankararaman. Her mother tongue is Tamil. Her father had to stop acting in the year when she was born because of a disease which affected his facial muscles. Her family fell into financial crisis. Her mother worked long hours to meet the family's financial needs. Srividya once reportedly said that her mother didn't even have time to breastfeed her. Srividya debuted in acting at a very early age. When her parent's marriage faced problems due to financial difficulties, Srividya's youth was blighted. She got a marriage proposal from a scientist based in the U.S.but the marriage did not materialize due to financial problems faced by her family.

Srividya launched her career as a child artist in the 1966 Tamil film Thiruvarutchelvar 1966 alongside legendary actor Sivaji Ganesan. Later she entered Malayalam films with a dance scene in Kumara Sambhavam 1969, directed by P.Subramanyan and in Telugu film Tata Manavadu 1972 directed by Dasari Narayana Rao. However, her first major role was that of a college student falling in love with her professor in the 1971 Tamil film Nootrukku Nooru, directed by K. Balachander. Her first film as heroine was Delhi to Madras 1972 in which she was paired opposite Jaishankar. In mid-1970s, she became busy in the Tamil film industry. She acted in films such as Velli Vizha, Sollathaan Ninaikkiren and Apoorva Raagangal, all directed by K. Balachander.

She was Rajinikanth's first heroine in Apoorva Raagangal 1975. She played a heroine in the film Chattambikkavala opposite Sathyan. She gained public attention in Chenda, directed by A. Vincent. Actress Lakshmi was her very close friend. Srividya was a good singer as well. She first sang for films in the Tamil film Amaran and then for Malayalam film Ayalathe Sundari. She later sang in several films, such as Oru Painkilikkadha and Nakshathra tharattu. She was an expert classical vocalist as well. She used to sing in functions such as the Soorya Festival.

Srividya acted in Apoorva Raagangal opposite Kamal Haasan which virtually changed her life. In the film she acted as lover of Kamal Haasan. She fell in love with Kamal Haasan during the making of the film. They had the support of their families, but they broke up. Later she fell in love with George Thomas, an assistant director in her Malayalam film Teekkanal. She married him on 9 January 1978 despite opposition from her family. As George wished, she was baptised before the marriage. She wanted to stay as a housewife, but had to return to acting, when George forced her to, citing financial issues. She soon realised that she made a wrong decision in marrying him. Her life became miserable and the marriage ended in divorce. It was followed by a prolonged legal battle to settle financial issues between the two. The case went up to the Supreme Court of India, where she won the final decision.  After the divorce, she left Chennai and settled in Thiruvananthapuram.

In 2003, she underwent a biopsy test following physical problems and was tested positive for breast cancer. She underwent treatment for three years. In October 2006, she underwent emotherapy, but cancer had already spread throughout her body. She died on 19 October 2006 at 7:55 pm.

Vairamuthu (born 13 July 1953) is an award-winning Tamil poet and lyricist. Vairamuthu was born to Ramaswamythevar and Angammal of Mettur in a middle class family. When he was four, the village gave way to Vaigai Dam and the family moved to Vadugapatti village, community in Theni near Periyakulam.
Debuting in the film Nizhalgal (1980) with the lyrics for the song "Ponmalai Pozhudhu", he has now about 5800 songs to his credit as of January 2009.His partnership with the composers Ilaiyaraaja, and later A. R. Rahman, have resulted in critical praise, awards, and box office hits.He was awarded the National Film Award six times for Best Lyricist, the most by any Indian lyricist. He is a recipient of Kalaimamani, while also winning awards from the Government of Tamil Nadu for his contribution to Tamil literature.
The ambience of the village is said to have inspired him to write poems.According to him, Tamil and Rationalist movements of the sixties stimulated his poetic zeal. The speeches of Periyar & Anna, the writings of Karunanidhi and the works of eminent poets like Bharathi, Bharathidasan and Kannadasan and the life in the countryside shaped the young poet's thinking. At the age of fourteen, he was inspired by Thiruvalluvar's Thirukkural to write a venba compilation of poetry, strictly adhering to the yappu grammar rules of Tamil poetry.

Junior Balaiah is an Indian stage and film actor, who has appeared in Tamil language films. The son of actor T. S. Balaiah, Junior Balaiah has primarily featured in supporting roles throughout his career, which has stretched over forty years.

Junior Balaiah is the third son of actor T. S. Balaiah, who died three days into Junior Balaiah's first film as an actor. T. S. Balaiah was to act in a movie directed by M. R. Radha called Suttaan Sutten, where Radha’s son was to be played by Junior Balaiah and Balaiah’s son was to be played by M. R. R. Vasu, but his death ended the production. Junior Balaiah consequently acted in several films but failed to recreate the success of his father. He subsequently became bankrupt and later began to practice Christianity, setting up a healing centre called Healing Stripes Ministry.

In the 2010s, Balaiah made rare appearances in films and won acclaim for his portrayal of a headmaster in Saattai (2012), while he also appeared in four films in 2015 including Thani Oruvan and Puli. In 2014, Junior Balaiah revealed his intentions of becoming a film producer to launch his son's acting career.

Manobala is a Tamil director and comedian actor who prominently plays supporting roles.

Manobala has directed 40 films, 16 television serials and 3 tele-films during his career as a director. As an actor, he had appeared in more than 175 films as of July 2009. Those in the Tamil film industry and outside are well aware of the initial bonding between Kamal Haasan and Manobala, and are also aware that the duo stopped talking to one another after an issue that took place at the Directors Union.

Nizhalgal Ravi (born: Ravichandran Shyamanna)is an Indian actor who has performed in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. He mostly uses Tamil as his major mother tongue language. He started his career in 1980 with the film Nizhalgal.  He has completed acting in 500 films.

Nizhalgal Ravi, an actor in South Indian film industry, started his career under the baton of veteran director Bharathiraja in the Tamil film Nizhalgal which fetched him his sobriquet Nizhalgal. He played the role of an aspiring hero who falls in love, a performance which took him to the pinnacle of glory, but has not been blessed with a good break as a top hero. He has had many character roles including films Vedam Puthithu, Nayakan, Chinna Thambi Periya Thambi, Annamalai, Marupadiyam, Aasai, and more. He portrayed his roles with as a kind hearted father, a ruthless villain, or a ditcher.

He dubbed for Amitabh Bachchan for the program Kaun Banega Crorepati in Tamil. He acted in more than 25 movies in Malayalam during the 80s. He was born as Ravichandran to Shyamanna and D. Rajammal in an orthodox family. He did his B.A. in Economics in P.S.G. Arts, Coimbatore. He acted in director K. Balachander's telefilm Rayil Sneham, which became a hit in the late 80s and early 90s. He also acted in Nayagan, which became one of the best Tamil movie of all time.

His performance in the TV serial "Jannal" was one in which he played the character of a normal middle age business man who has more negative pages in his personal life. The last climax episode of this serial is a master piece of his performance, as well as director Mr.K.Balachander's distinct directorial feat.

In Tamil speaking community, the program "KBC" got huge reception, due to the dubbing voice performed by Nizhalgal Ravi.  The voice exactly matched Mr. Amithab Bachan's stiff and rigid voice. When asked about how he could deliver such a suitable voice in the program, in an interview for a Tamil weekly, he replied, "I was delighted when i got a call for dubbing opportunity for Amitabhji.. but when i saw the original program... i thought of how to match his voice familiarity...then i found out that, during early morning when i wake up, my voice used to be little bit above normal vocal.. so i decided to do the dubbing by early morning 5.00 am in the studio...for which i wake up at 4.00 and get ready and go.. and this is how it has happened".

Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin (born 1 March 1953) better known as M. K. Stalin, is an Indian politician from Tamil Nadu and Working President of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party. He was Mayor of Chennai from 1996 to 2002 and Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 2009 to 2011.

Stalin is the third son of famous Tamil Nadu politician Karunanidhi, and was born to his second wife, Dayalu Ammal. Stalin completed his graduation in history from The New College, Chennai in University of Madras.  Stalin became the Minister for Rural Development and Local Administration in the Government of Tamil Nadu after the 2006 Assembly elections. On 29 May 2009, Stalin was nominated as Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu by Governor Surjit Singh Barnala.

On 3 January 2013, Karunanidhi named Stalin as his heir apparent, thus ending a long time confusion about who would take over the party reins after Karunanidhi's death.  Stalin was designated as the Working President of the DMK on 4 January 2017.

Political career

M. K. Stalin was born in Madras, now Chennai, on 1 March 1953. He was named after Joseph Stalin, who died later that week. His political career began when, as a 14 year old, he campaigned in the 1967 elections. In 1973, Stalin was elected to the General committee of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).

He came to limelight when he was jailed under Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) for protesting against the Emergency.  Stalin has been elected four times to the Tamil Nadu Assembly since 1989 from the Thousand Lights constituency in Chennai. Stalin became the city's first directly elected Mayor in 1996.

Stalin was reelected Mayor in 2001, however, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa enacted the Tamil Nadu Municipal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2002, a law that prevents a person from holding two elected posts in the government. This law was applied retrospectively to Stalin's case (he was elected MLA) in a move widely seen as aimed at removing as Chennai's Mayor.  However the Madras High Court struck down the law stating that legislative bodies were not "prevented" from making laws affecting the "substantive rights" of persons retrospectively. However, the court held under Madras (now Chennai) City Municipal Corporation Act, 1919, a person cannot be Mayor for two consecutive terms though unlike Stalin earlier mayors were not directly elected. Stalin did not appeal in the Supreme Court.

Stalin has been arrested several times on various public issues since he was first arrested in 1975 under MISA, which is close to terrorism and goondas act. severe physical punishment has been imposed on him previously. Karunanidhi midnight arrest in which Karunanidhi, Stalin, Maran, and others were arrested and charged in the flyover scam. This was widely considered to be an act of political vendetta, as the FIR or police complaint was lodged on Friday night and the arrests were carried out only a few hours later on Saturday morning.  While the arrests took place in 2001, the chargesheet was only filed in court four years later, in 2005.

Stalin openly accused Sasikala of Jayalalithaa's death. He said that if Jayalalithaa’s death is probed, she’d be in jail for life.

Dynasty controversy

However, DMK sources and political supporters deny this and say Stalin has come up on his own merit. They say that Stalin has faced a lot of hardship since 1975 when he was jailed under MISA. He was beaten up in jail so brutally during the Emergency that a fellow DMK Party prisoner named Chitti Babu died trying to save him.

Stalin was an MLA in 1989 and 1996 when his father Karunanidhi was the Chief Minister but he was not inducted into the Cabinet. He contested and became Chennai's 44th mayor but the first directly elected Mayor in 1996. It was only in his fourth term as MLA that he was made a Minister in the Karunanidhi cabinet and his rise is slow and steady. They further point out that Karunanidhi has even expelled his other sons M.K. Muthu and M.K. Azhagiri when they were guilty of wrongdoing.

Filmography

Actor

Ore Ratham (1988) As Debut Film
Makkal Aanayittal (1988)
Kurinji malar- TV Series DD1
Suriya - TV Series

Producer

Nabikkai natchthram (1978)

Gnana Rajasekaran is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and playwright.  His directional debut was ‘Mogamul’ in 1994 which won the Indra Gandhi Award for Best First Film. He has also created Bharathi (2000) and Periyar (2007). Rajasekaran has won four National awards, three Tamil Nadu state awards, and his movies have been screened at international film festivals, including the IFFI.

Gnana Rajasekaran was born in Pallikonda, Tamil Nadu, India, to Gnanaprakasam and Sharadambal, both teachers. He graduated with a BSc in Physics from Sacred Heart College, Tiruppatur; he gained a master's degree in physics from the Presidency College, Chennai. After he graduated, he worked as a technical officer with the Intelligence Bureau in Mumbai for four years, where many of his plays were staged. In 1983, he was appointed to the Indian Administrative Service, and was allotted the Kerala Cadre. Rajasekaran married Sakunthala Chidambaram in 1985, and they have two daughters, Sindhu Rajasekaran and Nandita.

Before his career as a film-maker, Rajasekaran published an allegorical novel titled “Yanai Kuthiria Ottagram”, which was judged the best novel of the year by the Tirupur Tamil Sangam. He has written and directed several plays including a collection of three plays titled “Vayiru” (published in 1980) and the 1996 Hindi version of the Play “Vayiru” won an all India award for the best script.

Rajasekaran’s debut film, ‘Mogamul’ (1995), is based on the novel written by T.Janakiraman. The film won the ‘Indra Gandhi National award for First Best Film’, and the Special Jury award for best Tamil film, given by the Government of Tamil Nadu. He then went on to direct the Nassar-starrer Mugam (1999), with the film fetching poor reviews and faring badly at the box office. ‘Bharathi’ (2000), is a biography of the poet Subramaniya Bharathi. The film starred the Marathi actor Shayaji Shinde and Devayani. The film won four national awards and six state awards. ‘Periyar’ (2007) the biography of E.V.Ramaswamy, focused on the history of the Dravidian movement, collating various incidents of the period. The film starred Satyaraj and Kushboo, and won a national award and was screened in various international film festivals.

Rajasekaran has also directed various short films such as ‘Oru Kan, Oru Parvai’ (1999, Tamil), ‘Vivaram Onum Ariyam’ (Malayalam), ‘Puthia Keralam’ (Malayalam), ‘Kanavu Nijamagum’ (Tamil, 2007), etc.

Rajasekaran is the dean of SRM Sivaji Ganesan Film Institute, Chennai. He also serves as a Director on the Board of BGR Energy Systems Ltd.

K. Bhagyaraj is a Tamil film director, actor, writer and producer. He has directed and produced several Tamil films, along with a few Telugu and Hindi films.He is well known for his mastery in screenplay. He won a Filmfare Best Actor Award for Mundhanai Mudichu, a film he wrote, directed and starred in.

Bhagyaraj was born in Vellankoil near Gobichettipalayam in Erode district in Tamil Nadu. His father was Krishnaswamy and his mother was Amaravathiamma. Initially he was married to actress Praveena (his co-star in the film Bhama Rukmani). She died in August 1983 due to illness (an aggravated case of jaundice). Later he married Poornima Jayaram. She was his co-star in Darling Darling Darling (1983). The couple have a daughter Saranya Bhagyaraj who debuted in the film Parijatham and a son Shanthnu Bhagyaraj who made his debut in Sakkarakatti which released in 2008. His assistant directors were Parthiban and Pandiarajan; both went on to become director and actors.

Beginning his career as an assistant to directors G. Ramakrishnan and Bharathiraja, Bhagyaraj became recognized for his scriptwriting talent. Among his early work was the script for Bharathiraja's films, Kizhake Pogum Rail (1978) and Tik Tik Tik (1981). He made his directorial debut with Suvarillatha Chiththirangal in 1979. He quickly established his own concern and started producing a string of distinctive films made mainly in the Tamil language. Bhagyaraj often stars in lead roles of the films he scripts and directs, effectively carving out a niche for himself in the actor-auteur vein. His style of film making is notable for its relatively elaborate, witty, and double-entered-laced script and socially themed framework. His on-screen personae are typically characterized by their ironic sense of humor and intelligent bravado.

He has made forays into Bollywood, directing the likes of Amitabh Bachchan and Anil Kapoor. He wrote books like Vaanga Cinemavai Pattri Pesalam, Neenga Nenaicha Saadikkalaam, Ungal Bhagyarajin Kezhvi Bhadhil (Five Parts).