T. Damodaran - Career

Career

Popularly known as Damodaran Master, T. Damodaran began his career in cinema as script writer in early 70s. A physical education teacher in a school at Kozhikode by profession, Damodaran became active in theater by late sixties and got into the company of several theater and cinema artists of the era including Thikkodiyan, Kuthiravattom Pappu, Hariharan and Kunjandi. He was part of Slapstick Theatre, in which Kuthiravattom Pappu was a leading actor. He wrote and acted in several comedies and satires. His dramas were mainly packed with social issues and this was noticed by Hariharan, who forced Damodaran to enter into cinema making. Though, made his debut in 1973, Damodaran became active in cinema by late 70s, after joining with Sasi with whom, he later made around fifty films. It was the huge success of Angaadi in 1980, that formed a turning point in the career of Damodaran. Directed by I. V. Sasi, Angadi has Jayan and Seema in leading roles and broke several collection records. This was followed by Meen, Kanthavalayam, Karimbana, all super hits.

In the 80s, the scripts of Damodaran created sensation and furor at theaters. The scripts were mainly socio-dramas, which often criticized the establishments and were packed with heavy punch dialogues. Mostly directed by Sasi, these films were well received by general public. Thadakam, Thushaaram, Ee Nadu, Innalenkil Naale, Iniyenkilum, Vartha, Angadikappurathu, Avanazhi, all were huge hits at box office. Apart from I. V. Sasi, T. Damodaran, also wrote scripts for directors like Priyadarshan, Anil and Bharathan. Mani Ratnam's first and only film in Malayalam Unaru was based on the script by Damodaran in 1985. In the year 1988, Sasi directed a periodic drama based on the script by T. Damodaran, 1921, which was then the most expensive film in Malayalam. T. Damodaran has called this film as his dream project. Appearing Mammootty in leading, 1921 revolved around the Moppillai mutiny in Malabar in 1921 against British. This film was a huge hit at box office.

Though, in 90s, Damodaran reduced the number of films, several hits were born from his pen. Inspector Balram, Abhimanyu, Advaitham, Kala Pani were some among them. His last release was Yes Your Honour, directed by V. M. Vinu, starring Sreenivasan, Padmapriya, Innocent, and Saikumar, which was a hit.