Rajiv Vijay Raghavan

Rajiv Vijay Raghavan
Born	(1958-05-29) 29 May 1958 Kottayam
Alma mater	Film and Television Institute of India
Occupation	Film director, screenwriter, producer
Years active	1981  – present
Spouse(s)	Dr.Miek (Marie-Jan Hubertine)
Children	Miny and Naomi
Parent(s)	Mrs.Remani, Mr. K.Ramarajan Nair

Rajiv Vijay Raghavan (born 29 May 1958) is an Indian director, script writer, and producer. Margam (film), his debut future film received national and international recognition. He had also made a number of documentaries. He is an alumnus of Film & TV Institute of India, Pune, and assisted G. Aravindan .

Life

Rajiv Vijay Raghavan was born on 29 May 1958 in Kottayam, Kerala, South-western India as the son of Mrs. Remani and Mr. K. Ramarajan Nair. He was active in politics and literature in his college days at Kottayam and was a council member of the University Students Union of Kerala University during 1977–78. After graduating in Commerce from the University of Kerala he joined the Film & TV Institute of India, Pune, during 1979–81. Rajiv took a job in Canara Bank on 1981 and worked there for 10 years. In the meantime, he closely acquainted with G. Aravindan, the renowned Indian Filmmaker and Cartoonist and assisted him in 6 feature films during 1981–1991. Rajiv's debut documentary film, Sister Alphonsa of Bharananganam, 1986 which portrays the life of Saint Alphonsa (Sister Alphonsa then) had won the National Film Award for the best biographical documentary. After resigning from Canara Bank he worked as Producer in Centre for Development of Imaging Technology, Kerala (C-DIT) during 1991-98 and made documentaries such as Kesari(1992), Ruin of the Commons(1993), Nirmithi(1994) and Seeds of Malabar (1996). On 2003, under the banner of Image commune, a collective founded for the sake of promoting independent films, Rajiv made his milestone film, Margam (film) (The Path). Rajiv married to Dr.Miek (Marie-Jan Hubertine) Cornips from 1989. He has two daughters: Miny and Naomi. He resides in Geleen, Maastricht, Netherlands and in Trivandrum, Kerala, India.

Filmography

He had assisted director G. Aravindan in 6 feature films during 1981–91. He directed 9 documentaries and short films including Sister Alphonsa of Bharananganam (1987) , People Matter-Women’s rights in India (1988), Kesari (1992), Ruin of the Commons (1993), Nirmithi (1994), Seeds of Malabar (1996) and Building the Bridge - a story of Gender equity, 2000. He has also directed the feature Film: Margam (film)

Sister Alphonsa of Bharananganam – a Historical Document

Sister Alphonsa of Bharananganam is about a nun from Kerala who would've been declared the first Catholic Saint from India in 2009. While this film conceived by him at his younger age during 1985–86, Saint Alphonsa was only a blessed nun as per the norms of Catholic Church though she was famous among the Christian community across Kerala. The print of the film was recovered a few days before the declaration ceremony in Rome and was screened during the holy event.

Margam

Margam (film), His debut feature film is an adaptation of Pithrutharppanam by M. Sukumaran. The film bagged 7 major Kerala State Film Awards of the Government of Kerala and one National Film Award oin the year 2003. Margam (film) participated in 16 international film festivals and won 6 international awards in different categories including best film and scripting. The Script co-written by Rajiv Vijay Raghavan, Anvar Ali and Dr. S P Ramesh, Cinematography by Venu and the roles performed by Nedumudi Venu and Meera Krishna were also appreciated.

External links

• Rajiv Vijay Raghavan on IMDb