Sri Lankan Tamil film director Kesavarajan Navaratnam has passed away. He first directed the tamil film titled ‘Thayagame Thaagam’ in the 1980s. His film ‘Kadalora Kattu’ can still be viewed on Youtube. Kesavarajan was known as having worked for ‘Nidarshanam’, the television channel of the LTTE.
However in interviews Kesavarajan always maintained that he rejected the idea of fighting with guns while admitting that he did work with the Tigers. “I made my first films for them in 1986 and 1987. After that the Tigers helped out” he was once quoted as saying. Following the war Kesavarajan said while he still felt the pain of the Tamil people, he was now making films for the whole country.
As a filmmaker Kesavarajan was of the opinion that Kollywood films was not in anyway Sri Lankan Tamil cinema. “We must make our own stories,” he said. Despite his links to the lTTE following the war Kesavarajan opted to remain in Sri Lanka. When asked why in an interview he said he remained as he felt he too has some responsibility for the war. “Mothers in the south, who lose their children, cry exactly the same way as mothers in the north who lost their children, do. I felt I should stay here and try to help” he said.
Kesavarajan was just 60 at the time of his death.
