B. Lenin

B. Lenin is an editor, writer and director who has worked in Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi films. He is the son of A. Bhimsingh, a Tamil film maker. Lenin entered the film industry as an assistant editor and went on to work in numerous projects before becoming an independent editor. He made his debut as a full-fledged editor through J. Mahendran's Uthiripookkal in 1979. After a few films, Lenin started working with his long-time assistant V. T. Vijayan and the duo has so far worked in over hundred films in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi films apart from an English film, Eli My Friend. As of 2013, Lenin has won five National Film Awards including the awards for Best Direction and Best Editing. He was the chairman of the Film Federation of India of India in 2011.

Lenin was born in a family consisting of eight children. His father A. Bhimsingh was a well known director in Tamil and Hindi films. Lenin has a younger brother named B. Kannan who is a cinematographer. Lenin started his career as an associate director of his father and assisted editing in many of his films. He also had experience as a lab technician and sound engineering department as well. After several films as working as an assistant Lenin made his debut as an independent editor in 1979 through Uthiripookkal, a Tamil film directed by J. Mahendran. Although he started as an independent editor he associated himself with his assistant V. T. Vijayan and the duo went on to work together in a number of films during the 80s and 90s including Nayakan, Geethanjali, Anjali and Kadhalan, which won them the National Film Award for Best Editing.

He made his directional debut in 1983 through Ethanai Konam Ethanai Paarvai (1983) and went on to direct four feature films and four non-feature films. His short film Knock-out (1992) was critically acclaimed as it went on to win the Islamia critics Award for Best Short Film at the Cairo International Film Festival. It also won the National Film Award for Best First Non-Feature Film of a Director for Lenin. The jury noted, "The director has given us a powerful insight into the labyrinth of the human mind faced with a disaster situation". Three years later, he directed his second short film tilted Kutravali which won the Best Editing at the 43rd National Film Awards. In 2002, Lenin made Ooruku Nooruper. The film fetched him the Best Direction award apart from winning the Best Regional Film (Tamil). The film dealt with capital punishment and was received with critical response. He has also directed a few TV serials including Solladi Sivasakthi. Lenin has held important positions such as the jury member of 57th National Film Awards (2010) and the chairman of Oscar selection committee (of FFI) in 2011.

As editor

As director

As actor

As assistant editor

National Film Awards

• 1992 – Knock-Out – Best First Non-Feature Film of a Director (Also producer)
• 1994 – Kaadhalan – Best Editing (shared with V. T. Vijayan)
• 1995 – Kutravali and Oodaha – Best Non-Feature Film Editing (shared with V. T. Vijayan)
• 2001 – Ooruku Nooruper – National Film Award for Best Direction
• 2001 – Ooruku Nooruper – National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards

• 1988 – Best Editor
• 1994 – Best Editor – Kaadhalan

Kerala State Film Awards

• 1990 – Best Editor
• 1993 – Best Editor – Sopanam

Vijay Awards

• 2006 – Vijay Awards Special Jury Award for Editing