Introduction
Lenin Rajendran (Malayalam: ലെനിൻ രാജേന്ദ്രൻ) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who has worked in Malayalam cinema.
Career
Beginning his film-making career as an assistant to director P. A. Backer, Rajendran made his directorial debut with Venal (1982). From his first film to his latest one, Edavappathy (2016), Rajendran has been consistent with the quality of his films, not surrendering to market forces even while using the form and stars of popular cinema.
An active member of the Communist party, Rajendran at times integrates his political orientation into his screen work: his 1985 film Meenamasithile Sooryan was about the anti-feudal upheaval of the 1940s in Kerala from a Communist viewpoint.
Swathi Thirunal (1987), a period film was a biographical work of a 19th-century king of Travancore, better known as a musical composer. While Daivathinte Vikrithikal (1992) was the cinematic adaptation of M. Mukundan's novel of the same name, Kulam (1997) was a loose adaptation of C. V. Raman Pillai's historical novel Marthandavarma, Mazha (2001) was adapted from Madhavikutty's Nashtapetta Neelambhari. One of his other films, Anyar (2003) deals with the hot topic of communal polarisation in Kerala.
His other films are Prem Nazirine Kanmanilla (1983), Puravrutham (1988), and Vachanam (1989).
Awards
Kerala state film awards
- 1987 - Kerala State Film Award (Special Jury Award): Swathi Thirunal
- 1992 - Kerala State Film Award for Best Film: Daivathinte Vikrithikal
- 1996 - Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value : Kulam
- 2006 - Kerala State Film Award for Best Director : Rathri Mazha
- 2010 - Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Film:Makaramanju
International Film Festival of Kerala
- 2010 - FIPRESCI Prize for Best Malayalam Film - Makaramanju
- Kerala State Television Awards
- 1999 - Second Best Teleserial: Balyakalasmaranakal
- 2011 - Best Documentary (Biography): Kaviyoor Revamma
- Kerala Film Critics Award
- 2010 - Second Best Film : Makaramanju
- 2015 - Best Screenplay - Edavapathy
Filmography
| Year | Title | Cast |
| 1981 | Venal (The Summer) | Sukumaran, Jalaja |
| 1982 | Chillu (The Fragments) | Venu Nagavalli, Shanthi Krishna |
| 1983 | Prem Nazirine Kanmanilla | Prem Nazir |
| 1985 | Meenamasathile Sooryan (Mid-Summer Sun) | Bharath Gopi, Venu Nagavalli, Vijay Menon, Murali, Ravi, Shobana |
| 1985 | Mazhakkala Megham | |
| 1987 | Swathi Thirunal | Anant Nag, Ranjini |
| 1988 | Puravrutham (The Past) | Om Puri |
| 1989 | Vachanam (The Word) | Suresh Gopi, Jayaram, Sithara, Sreevidya, Thilakan, Mamukkoya |
| 1992 | Daivathinte Vikrithikal (The Ways of God) | Raghuvaran, Srividya, Thilakan, Vineeth, Sudheesh, Siddique |
| 1997 | Kulam | Suresh Gopi, Bhanupriya, Vijayaraghavan |
| 2000 | Mazha (The Rain) | Biju Menon, Lal, Samyuktha Varma, Jagathi Sreekumar, Thilakan, Urmila Unni |
| 2003 | Anyar (The Outsiders) | Jyothirmayi, Biju Menon, Lal, Siddique |
| 2007 | Rathri Mazha (Night Rain) | Vineeth, Meera Jasmine, Manoj K. Jayan, Biju Menon, Lalu Alex, Cochin Haneefa |
| 2010 | Makaramanju (The Mist of Capricorn) | Santosh Sivan, Karthika Nair, Nithya Menon, Lakshmi Sarma |
| 2016 | Edavappathy (The Monsoon) | Manisha Koirala, Siddhartha |