Director Antony Mitra Das, who made films in Tamil, Malayalam and Sinhalese and served in the Army during the Second World War, died on Monday evening. He was 103 years old.
The centenarian, who was born in Madurai, hailed from a family of doctors, many of whom were with the Army.
His passion for films led him towards film making and he directed his first film Dayalan in 1941 starring P.U. Chinnappa and T.R. Mahalingam.
He later went on to make movies including Pizhaikkum Vazhi starring T.S. Durairaj in 1948, Avakashi starring Prem Nazir in Malayalam and the hugely successful Malayalam version of Harischandra, in 1955.
“He was also very conscious about his responsibilities to the country and the society which is why, he served the Army from 1942 till the end of the war,” said Fatima Usha, his daughter.
“He was posted in Jabalpur and then Dhaka, Chittagong and Singapore for around four years. He came back and continued directing movies,” she added.
‘Comedy as his theme’
“When he started off in films, most directors were making social dramas and he was very keen on directing films with comedy as the dominant theme. Even now, he was working on a Tamil film script and wanted to make a movie in two months,” she added.
In 1960, he directed Sivagami which starred M.K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar in a small role and it was the last film which the legendary actor played a part in before he died.
Director Vikraman, President of the Tamil Nadu Film Directors Association, said that a few years back, the film fraternity had organised a felicitation event for Mr. Antony.
“Despite not having directed movies for a while, he was updated with all the new and upcoming films across industries which surprised and pleased many of us. Several directors looked up to him and his work,” he said.
