Noted film scholar, filmmaker and teacher Venkatesh Chakravarthy died in the city on Tuesday. He was 70. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.
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With a career spanning three decades in film and television industry, he was regarded as an authority on film history and criticism.
Having begun his teaching career at the MGR Film Institute, Mr. Venkatesh went on to work with institutions across the country, including developing the Visual Communication curriculum at Loyola College in Chennai. At the Ramanaidu Film School, he was instrumental in designing the curriculum and was appointed the institution’s first ever dean in 2008. After holding other academic positions, including that of the regional director at the L.V. Prasad Film and TV Academy, he took over as the Dean of Academics at Ramanaidu Film School where he taught direction, production management and design.
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He had worked extensively in television, having directed several shows. Actor and translator Pritham K. Chakravarthy, his wife, spoke about how Mr. Venkatesh had worked on the programme Chithiram Pesudhadi in 1993 for Doordarshan which was the first of its kind. “While most programmes were limited to reviews, this show pushed boundaries and focussed on a critical analysis of Tamil films. He was always interested in delving deep into popular cinema and the show had an analysis of 17 landmark Tamil films,” she recalled.
She said he was extremely passionate about teaching and had taught courses at several institutions across the country and abroad, apart from the positions he held at film schools.
Mr. Venkatesh had directed the documentary Chennai: The Split City, and had served as a script consultant and consultant for some films.
An avid writer, Mr. Venkatesh has had his work published in journals and magazines. A collection of his writings on Tamil cinema was published as a book, Suvadugal: An Anthology of Film Criticism (Volume 1), of his writings on Tamil cinema.