Charuhasan

S. Charuhasan (born 5 January 1931) is an Indian 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 actor Kamal Haasan and father of Indian actress Suhasini.

Charuhasan
Born (1931-01-05) 5 January 1931
Paramakudi, Madras Presidency, British India
Occupation(s)Actor, filmmaker, writer
Years active1979–present
Spouse
Komalam
​
(m. 1953)​
Children3, including Suhasini
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-three 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 since childhood. 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, Charuhasan 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 since 1953 and has three daughters Nandhini, Suhasini, and Subhasini. Suhasini is an actress and married to film director Mani Ratnam.

Awards

Selected filmography
Kannada
Malayalam
Tamil
Telugu
Director
  • Pudhiya Sangamam (1982)
  • IPC 215 (2003)

Books
  • His book, Thinking on my Feet : Charuhasan Autobiography published by LiFi Publications, 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, archived from the original on 7 March 2005, retrieved 20 July 2014
  5. S.R. Ashok Kumar, "An advocate by profession, an actor by accident", The Hindu, 26 April 2007
  6. "Charu Hasan gets best actor award". The Indian Express. 2 May 1987. p. 6.
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