Vijay

15 Jul, 1936 | Tadepalligudem, West Godavari, Andhra Pradesh

Director/Producer

Biography

Vijay was an Indian film director who worked primarily in Kannada cinema with over 50 movies to his credit including 48 in Kannada. His debut directorial venture was Rangamahal Rahasya (1970). Vijay's career's turning point came in 1973 when he directed Gandhada Gudi which went on to be a milestone in Kannada film industry. He also directed Mayura which is considered amongst the classic movies of Kannada cinema. He achieved national recognition after the 1977 movie Sanaadi Appanna which had acclaimed shehnai player Bismillah Khan playing the instrument for the lead actor of the movie. He had the distinction of having directed the 150th movies of both Rajkumar (Gandhada Gudi) as well as Vishnuvardhan (Mojugara Sogasugara). He directed Rajkumar in nine movies ( excluding two cameo appearances) in varied genres including mythological, historical, novel based, folklore and social dramas. He was also instrumental in giving Shankar Nag a mass image through Auto Raja. Prior to that, he had directed Anant Nag in Naa Ninna Bidalaare which had made people take note of Anant's acting prowess. He directed two movies of Shiva Rajkumar - Shiva Mecchida Kannappa and Gandhada Gudi Part 2 - both of which had Rajkumar in cameo appearances. He had also directed movies in other languages namely Hindi,Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam - the prominent being the Hindi remake of Naa Ninna Mareyalare titled Pyar Kiya Hai Pyar Karenge starring Anil Kapoor. In 2000, he was selected to direct Rajkumar's mythological movie Bhakta Ambareesha which was subsequently shelved. He breathed his last on 9th October 2020 at Chennai.  Career Born as Vijay Reddy in Tadepalligudem of West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh. Vijay entered film industry in 1953 as an assistant editor for B.Vittalacharya's Kannada directorial Mane Tumbida Hennu. Though he got immense popularity after his debut movie Rangamahal Rahasya, he didn't find much success with his second movie Modala Rathri. His third directorial venture Cow Boy Kulla, a flick with Dwarakish, gave him a reasonable recognition in the industry.  But Vijay's career took a turning point in 1973 when he directed his fourth movie Gandhada Gudi. Gandhada Gudi was Rajkumar's 150th movie, who was the numero uno actor of Kannada films at that time and Vishnuvardhan's third movie, who had become a very popular actor with the massive success of his debut movie Naagarahaavu. Gandhada Gudi became a milestone in Kannada films. Vijay directed his next five movies for Dr. Rajkumar, namely Sri Srinivasa Kalyana, Mayura, Naa Ninna Mareyalare, Badavara Bandhu, Sanaadi Appanna. From there onwards, it was no looking back for Vijay as he got to work with most of the stalwarts of the time in varied genres including quite a few multi-starrers.He also directed movies in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam. His debut Telugu movie was Srimathi. He had also produced two movies.  Death Vijay died on 9 October 2020 due to multiple organ failure in Chennai Apollo Hospitals.