Rajesh Touchriver

Biography:

Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer Rajesh Touchriver (born M. S. Rajesh) is well-known for his work in Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu, and English language films. For his efforts, he was awarded several national and international accolades.

He was the director of the 2002 film In the Name of Buddha, which was subsequently shown at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival in the Spotlight on India section.

The social problem film Naa Bangaaru Talli, which he wrote the screenplay and directed in 2013, took home four state Nandi awards, including Second Best Feature Film, and five international accolades.

It also received the National Film Award for Best Telugu Feature Film.
Rajesh Touchriver, the youngest son of Siva Sankaran Nair and Rukmini Amma, was born in Arakulam, Idukki district, Kerala, India. He had some preliminary Kalaripayattu training.

In 1992, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Design and Direction from Trissur, Kerala’s School of Drama and Fine Arts. In 1995, he was employed as a designer by the National School of Drama, New Delhi. He had directed over thirty plays in Telugu, English, and Malayalam by the year 1998.

After receiving the 2001 Charles Wallace Trust Award, Rajesh attended Wimbledon College of Art in London to complete his master’s program in visual language/scenography and direction.

In the Name of Buddha, Rajesh’s feature debut, debuted at the Oslo International Film Festival in 2002 and garnered positive reviews.  The film, which explores the ethnic war that was then occurring in Sri Lanka, has a controversial issue.

In addition to being presented at international film festivals in 2003, the movie took home the Best Foreign Film prize at the Beverly Hills, Newport Beach, and Wine Country international film festivals in the same year. In the interval, Rajesh directed two Telugu movies: Alex, the Blue Fox, and 10 the Strangers.