Charuhasan

Charuhasan (born 5 January 1931) is an Indian film and television actor, director and retired lawyer who has acted in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi films. He won the National Film Award for Best Actor[1] and the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor for the Kannada film Tabarana Kathe (1987). Charuhasan is the elder brother of veteran film actor Kamal Haasan.

Charuhasan
Born (1931-01-05) 5 January 1931
Paramakudi, Madras Presidency, British India
OccupationActor, filmmaker, writer
Spouse(s)Komalam
ChildrenNandhini
Suhasini
Subashini
Parent(s)
  • Srinivasan
  • Rajalakshmi
RelativesSee Haasan family

Early life

Charuhasan was born on 5 January 1931 to lawyer and Indian independence activist D. Srinivasan and his wife Rajalakshmi. He was the eldest son of the couple and more than twenty-four years older than his youngest brother Kamal Haasan.[2][3]

Charuhasan had a different schooling to other children his age; due to an accident he was unable to attend school for the first few years of his life and had a private tutor give him a basic education.[4] He was directly admitted to fifth grade at the age of nine. In 1949, Charuhasan joined the Raja Lakhamgouda Law College in Belgaum and qualified as a lawyer in 1951.[1][3][5]

Charuhasan practised law from 1951 to 1981.[3] As lawyer, Charuhasan appeared in many high-profile cases, even representing U. Muthuramalingam Thevar in the Immanuvel Sekaran murder case.[3] During this period, he was influenced by the rationalist philosophy of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy. Periyar even referred to Charuhasan as his sishyan (disciple).[3]

In the film industry

Charuhasan was interested in movies even in his childhood days. During the late 1940s, he used to watch two foreign films a day. When his younger brother Kamal Hasan started acting in movies as a child actor, Charu Hasan was his caretaker.[3] Charuhasan eventually made his debut in 1979 Tamil film uthiripookkal directed by Mahendran which was based on a short story by Pudhumaipithan.[3] Since then, he has acted in more than 120 films often playing supporting or antagonistic roles, his most important movies being Vedham Pudhithu, Tabarana Kathe and Thalapathi. He has also directed two films, IPC 215 and Puthiya Sangammam.

Personal life

Charuhasan is married to Komalam and has three daughters Nandhini, Suhasini, and Subhasini. Suhasini is married to film director Maniratnam .[6]

Geetha Narayanan and Actresses Shruti Haasan, Akshara Haasan and Anu Hasan are his nieces. He has also acted for a short time in Sun TV's serial Chithi and Anandham. Charuhasan is an avid amateur radio operator (callsign – VU2SCU).[7] He lives in Chennai.[8]

Awards

Selected filmography

Kannada

Malayalam

Tamil

Telugu

Director

  • Pudhiya Sangamam (1982)

Books
  • His book, Thinking on my Feet : Charuhasan Autobiography published by LiFi Publications Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi under the imprint Biog has been released during the New Delhi World Book Fair, 2015.

References
  1. Subha J Rao, "Entertainment for a cause", The Hindu, 30 August 2004
  2. Rangarajan, Malathi (23 August 2012). "Candour, Charuhasan style". The Hindu.
  3. Chari, T. K. Srinivasa (July 2012). "The actor in the shadows". Madras Musings. 22 (6).
  4. Prince Frederick (28 February 2005), "Metro Plus Chennai : Late bloomers", The Hindu, retrieved 20 July 2014
  5. S.R. Ashok Kumar, "An advocate by profession, an actor by accident", The Hindu, 26 April 2007
  6. Ashish Rajadhyaksha; Paul Willemen; National Film Archive of India (1994), Encyclopaedia of Indian cinema, British Film Institute, p. 206, ISBN 978-0-85170-455-5
  7. QRZ Ham Radio Callsign Database – VU2SCU
  8. Jordan McAuley (2008), Jordan McAuley (ed.), The Celebrity Black Book 2008: Over 55,000 Accurate Celebrity Addresses (18 ed.), Mega Niche Media, ISBN 978-1-60487-002-2
  9. "Charu Hasan gets best actor award". The Indian Express. 2 May 1987. p. 6.
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