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Malayalam Film and Television Chamber of Commerce

Malayalam Film and Television Chamber of Commerce

Prof. (Dr.) C.G. Rajendra Babu

Prof. (Dr.) C.G. Rajendra Babu is the son of famous actor, playwright and owner of the Kayamkulam People’s Theatres C.G. Gopinath.  C.G. Gopinath was a member of the Kerala People’s Arts Club (K.P.A.C.) since its beginning and later he became the Secretary.  Right from early youth Rajendra Babu has been closely watching and interacting with bigwigs and stalwarts in literature, music, theatre and the other arts. He has grown up with the drama troupe Kayamkulam People’s Theatres founded by his father.

After his father’s death young Rajendra Babu took charge of Kayamkulam People’s Theatres and his drama troupe performed plays successfully across India.

Years have passed and the theatre arena was facing tough competition due to the entry of new drama troupes, increased influence of cinema and later television in the late seventies and early eighties. Rajendra Babu was seriously worried about the future of his drama troupe and his own future.
Along with managing the drama troupe, he continued his studies. During this period the inevitable happened.   Kayamkulam Peoples’ Theatres had to be closed down. But the passion for theatre found another outlet.  He chose Malayalam theatre as his subject for research and got his Ph.D. from the University of Madras. 

After obtaining his doctorate, he joined as a lecturer in the University of Madras in their Malayalam Department. He scaled heights in his profession as a Professor and became Head of the Malayalam Department in the University of Madras.

During Prof. (Dr.) Rajendra Babu’s tenure in the University of Madras as the Head of the Malayalam Department, a very principal post, he carried forward the legacy of his predecessors in the post. One of the prominent predecessors held this post was the late Prof. (Dr.) S.K. Nair, who was illustrious writer and winner of the Kerala Sahitya Academy Award.

One of his major achievements as the Head of the Malayalam Department in the University of Madras was the making of the Seven Language multi-lingual Dictionary of Indian Languages. The project was funded by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and was a joint venture by the seven language departments of Oriental Research Institute, one of the premier wings of the University of Madras. The project was aimed to create a five-volume dictionary of Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu and Malayalam.  The dictionary was envisaged at making languages from South India more accessible to people in other parts of the country and to promote cross-cultural relations.

Though there are a number of monolingual and multi-lingual dictionaries, a dictionary involving Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Sanskrit, Hindi and Urdu languages is the first of its kind.  Prof. (Dr.) C.G. Rajendra Babu was the Chief Editor of the seven-language dictionary and also the editor of the Malayalam segment.

In Cinema

Prof. (Dr.) C.G. Rajendra Babu has made a niche for himself   in the Malayalam film industry through his remarkable scripts.

1. Sphadikam – The 1995 movie starring Mohanlal, Urvasi, Thilakan, Nedumudi Venu and Chippy was produced by Goodknight Mohan and directed by Bhadran. Rajendra Babu wrote the dialogues. The movie got several awards including Kerala State Best Actor Award for Mohanlal, Best Film Award for R. Mohan and Bhadran and Filmfare South Best Director Award for Bhadran and Best Actor Award for Mohanlal.
2. Yuvathurki – The 1996 movie starring Suresh Gopi and Vijayashanthi produced by Amitabh Bachan and Seven Arts G.P. Vijayakumar was directed by Bhadran. Rajaendra Babu wrote the dialogues for this movie.
3. Guru – The 1997 movie starring Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi, Nedumudi Venu, Madhupal, Charuhasan, Kaveri, Sithara, Sreelakshmi, Sreenivasan, Murali, N.F. Varghese, Shankar, Nassar, Captain Raju and Kochu Preman was produced by Janasammathi Creations and directed by Rajiv Anchal. Raendra Babu wrote the script and dialogues for the original story of Rajiv Anchal. Guru was selected as India’s official entry to the Oscars for the Best Foreign Language Film category.  Guru is the first Malayalam film submitted by India for the Oscars.
4. Masmaram – The 1997 movie starring Suresh Gopi, Arpana Rao, Srividya and T.R. Omana was produced and directed by Thampi Kannanthanam. The story, script and dialogues were written by Rajendra Babu.
5. Shradha – The 2000 movie starring Mohanlal and Shobhana was produced by Anand Kumar and directed by I.V. Sasi. The story, script and dialogues for this movie were jointly written by T. Damodaran and Rajendra Babu. 
6. Ennittum – The 2006 movie starring Dinu Dennis and Kaniha was produced by Suresh B. Nair and directed by Renjilal Damodaran.  The story, script and dialogues were written by Rajendra Babu.
7. Pattinte Palazhi – The 2010 movie starring Meera Jasmine, Manoj K. Jayan, Revathy, Jagathi Sreekumar and Nedumudi Venu was produced by A.K. Pillai and directed by Rajiv Anchal. The script and dialogues were written by Rajendra Babu.

The Malayala Chalachithra Parishad is the mother association for Malayalam film actors and technicians founded in 1966. For the last 15 years Prof. (Dr.) Rajendra Babu has been holding the post of the General Secretary of the Malayala Chalachithra Parishad, Chennai.

Prof. (Dr.) Rajendra Babu is also associated with various educational institutions and government academic bodies, holding different posts as advisor, committee member and teaching faculty. He is the committee member of the Asan Memorial College of Arts and Science – Institute of Management, Chennai. 

Other positions held and continuing

1. Served as Director of Oriental Research Institute governed by the University of Madras.
2. Functioned as chairman of South Indian languages.
3. Served as Syndicate Member of the University of Madras for several years.
4. Served as Director of Malayalam Lexicon for a brief period.
5. Since many years holding the post of Senior Advisor for Malayalam language for UGC and UPSC and still continuing.

Jury Membership

1. Kerala State Film Awards
2. Kerala State Professional Drama Awards.
3. Indian entry jury of Oscar Awards
4. CTA Film Award
5. Asan Memorial Poetry Award
6. Film Censor Board member for several years (Tamil Nadu and Kerala).

Awards

1. Rashtriya Gaurav national award. The ‘Rashtriya Gaurav Award’ is bestowed on a few extraordinary Indian citizens who have specialised in various fields such as education, politics and social work, fine arts, industry and science and technology, in lieu of the yeoman services rendered with excellence in their respective fields. The illustrious past recipients of Award include: Beatified Mother Teresa, former Vice President B D Jatti, Governor Justice M Fatima Beevi, Gen. G V Krishna Rao, former Air-Chief Marshal N C Suri, former Chief Election Commissioner GVG Krishnamurthy, Union Minister Veerapa Moily, former Director of CBI Joginder Singh, Finance Minister of Gujarat Vajubhai Vala, renowned cardiologist Dr. Naresh Trehan, playback singer S P Balasbramaniam, educationist Dr. Abid Hussain, sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan , cricketer Sunil Gavaskar among many others.
2. Best Citizen of India national award
3. Best Professor Award
4. Mythili Ratna Puraskar presented by World Mythili Conference for promoting Multi-lingual Culture.

Books

1. Prof. (Dr.) Rajendra Babu has edited a Malayalam book titled Nadakavum Cinemayum Bahuswaravayanakal published by Lipi Books.  It was the first such book in Malayalam dealing with all channels and forms of visual arts and theatre.  It is a collection of essays by veterans like T.M. Abraham, K. Sreekumar C.J. George, Mahesh Mangalat, L. Thomaskutty, V. Rajeev, Dharmaraj Adat, K.J.Ajaykumar, Sreejith Ramanan, Abhilash Pilla, K. Shanmukhadas, V.K. Josepsh, Shaji Jacob, S. Radhakrishnan, V.M. Divakaran, Jose K. Mauel, T. Jithesh and Jyothilal G.
2. Hridayathile Kurisukal (criticism)
3. Thayverukalum Puthu Nambukalum (Editor)
4. Adhunika Malayala Vyakaranam (Editor)
5. Periyar: The Social Scientist (translation from Tamil)
6. Poems of Atal Bihari Vajpayee (Translation of poems from Hindi)

The Malayalam Film and TV Chamber of Commerce is really privileged to have such a distinguished teacher, academician, script writer, orator and organizer as Prof. (Dr.) C.G. Rajendra Babu as the Chairman of the Advisory Board.