Komal Swaminathan
Quick Facts
Biography
Komal Swaminathan (born on 27 January 1935 at Karaikudi, died 1995) was a congressional activist in his early years, a Tamil theater personality, film director and journalist.
Early life
Swaminathan joined the school of S. V. Sahasranamam and learned the art of playwriting and stage techniques. In 1971, he formed Stage Friends.
Career
He was a dramatist on the Tamil stage, his Thanneer Thanneer in 1980 brought him to the limelight. He scripted, directed and staged this play with his drama troupe "Stage Friends", this play was staged more than 250 times. This play, Thanneer Thanneer (Water Water) highlighted the acute water shortage in rural areas due to bureaucracy and the apathetic attitude of politicians and bureaucrats, andwas later filmed under the same name by K. Balachander in 1981, which won National Award and international acclaim.
Komal Swaminathan has staged nearly 33 plays. He also directed the film Oru Indhiya Kanavu (An Indian Dream) and received the National Film Award for Best Regional film in 1984.
He was the editor of Subhamangala -a Literary, Socio-Cultural Tamil monthly magazine.He was the recipient of Kalaimaamani and a number of other awards. Komal Swaminathan died in 1995. He had a daughter, Lalitha Dharini.
