Lights, Camera, Action!
He is well known as the man who worked alongside the legendary Tan Sri P.Ramlee in establishing the Malay film industry. However, there is another side to him that many do not know but for years, revolutionary film maker Tan Sri Lakshmanan Krishnan had greatly worked behind the scenes as a philanthropist who contributed to various organisations in the country.
Born in 1922 in Madras (now Chennai), India, he was raised in Penang and attended the Bukit Mertajam High School where he obtained his Senior Cambridge in 1941. The most prestigious awards namely “Gandhi Memorial Trust Award” was honoured to him for his valuable contribution in the public service field.
He was recognised for his many years of public safety service which involved through several organisations including the Rotary Club of Kuala Lumpur (Past President); Discharged Prisoners Aid Society; Malaysian Association for the Blind; Medic Alert Foundation of Malaysia; Netaji Welfare Foundation; Persatuan Kebajikan NASARRE; Chinese Maternity Hospital; and the Tun Hussein Onn National Eye Hospital.
Apart from that, he has brought joy to nearly 1000 underprivileged members of society, including special children during Deepavali celebrations. His public service work lasted for years.
Popularly known as the director who propelled the late P. Ramlee to fame as a hero on the silver screen in the 1950s, both men first met in Singapore. P Ramlee’s remarkable success at Shaw Brothers’ Jalan Ampas studios in Singapore was ostensibly due to the studio’s extraordinary milieu of seasoned film crew, choreographers, and directors recruited by the Shaw Brothers from India, Hong Kong, and Indonesia, among whom was Krishnan.
Krishnan has helmed more than 30 films and collaborated with Malaysian film legends such as Datuk Maria Menado, the late Kasma Booty, and the late Datuk Mustapha Maarof during his long career as a filmmaker and cultural advocate.
Bakti was Krishnan’s first film, and it established P.Ramlee as a romantic hero on the big screen. Yet again he made headlines in 1980 when he unveiled the country’s first 16-track Gaya Music Studio to support the country’s burgeoning music industry.
Krishnan has received numerous awards for his noteworthy contributions to the development of the Malaysian film industry, including the Setia Mahkota Selangor (1976); Dato’ Seri Nilam DiRaja (1978); Kesatri Mangku Negara (1990); Panglima Jasa Negara (2003); Panglima Setia Mahkota (2011); Associated of Accredited Advertising Agent Annual Award (pioneer in the Advertising Industry (1986); and many others.
Krishnan’s contributions to the film industry and public safety service will never be forgotten!
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