Sundar Rao Nadkarni was an Indian film actor, editor, cinematographer and director. He was the director of the record-creating Tamil film Haridas

Haridas (1944 film)

Haridas is a 1944 Tamil language film directed by Sundar Rao Nadkarni and starring M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar. It holds the record of being the first film to run continuously for 110 weeks at a single theatre.-Production:...

.

Early life

Sundar Rao Nadkarni was born in a Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin family of Mangalore

Mangalore

Mangalore is the chief port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located about west of the state capital, Bangalore. Mangalore lies between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghat mountain ranges, and is the administrative headquarters of the Dakshina Kannada district in south western...

. He started his career in Bangalore

Bangalore

Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...

 as an actor in silent films produced by Surya Films. Later, he moved to Bombay where he took to film direction and editing. Nadkarni caught the eye of film producer Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar

Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar

Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar , also known as A. V. Meiyappan or AVM was an Indian film producer, director and philanthropist who established the AVM Productions in Vadapalani, Chennai. He is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of Tamil cinema, and one of three movie moguls of the South Indian film...

, after the success of Sabhapathy

Sabapathy (1941 film)

Sabapathy is a 1941 Tamil film directed and produced by A. V. Meiyappan and A. T. Krishnaswamy. It was a comedy film starring T. R. Ramachandran, Kali N. Ratnam and K. Sarangapani.-Production:...

, was looking to make another comedy film.

In 1942, Nadkarni directed the Tamil film En Manaivi

En Manaivi

En Manaivi was a 1942 Tamil language film produced by Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar and directed by Sundar Rao Nadkarni.- Pre-production :Encouraged by the success of his comedy movie Sabapathy, Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar wanted to make another film of the same genre...

 which was a hit. Following this success, Nadkarni also made other successful Tamil films. But his greatest hit was the 1944 film Haridas which created a record of sorts by becoming the first Tamil film to run for 110 weeks at a single theatre.

As Director

Year	Title	Role(s)	Language	Notes
1928	Maya Na Rang	Director	Silent
1930	Randhir	Director	Silent
	Kaliko No Kop	Director	Silent
	Dhoomketu	Director	Silent
1931	Zindagi Nu Jugar	Director	Silent
	Teer-e-Qatil	Director
	Qurbani	Director
	Ishq O Anjam	Director
	Baaz Bahadur	Director
	Asir-i-Hirs	Director
1939	Shantha Sakkubai Shantha Sakkubai Shantha Sakkubai was a 1939 Tamil film starring K. Aswathamma, Bannibai, K. Sarangapani, Kothamangalam Seenu, Kothamangalam Subbu, P. G. Venkatesan, S. S. Rajamani, K. Aranganayaki, T. S. Krishnaveni, M. A. Ganapathi Bhat and Sundar Rao Nadkarni...	Director, editor, actor, singer	Tamil Tamil language Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
1940	Bhookailas Bhookailas (1940 film) Bhookailas is a 1940 Telugu film produced by A. V. Meiyappan and directed by Sundar Rao Nadkarni. The film is starring M. V. Subbaiah Naidu, R. Nagendra Rao. It was the first hit film for the establishment of AVM Productions....	Director	Telugu
1942	En Manaivi En Manaivi En Manaivi was a 1942 Tamil language film produced by Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar and directed by Sundar Rao Nadkarni.- Pre-production :Encouraged by the success of his comedy movie Sabapathy, Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar wanted to make another film of the same genre...	Director	Tamil Tamil language Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
1944	Haridas Haridas (1944 film) Haridas is a 1944 Tamil language film directed by Sundar Rao Nadkarni and starring M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar. It holds the record of being the first film to run continuously for 110 weeks at a single theatre.-Production:...	Director	Tamil Tamil language Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
1946	Valmiki Valmiki (1946 film) Valmiki was a 1946 Tamil-language film starring Honnappa Bhagavathar, U. R. Jeevarathnam, N. C. Vasanthakokilam, T. R. Rajakumari and T. S. Balaiah. It was directed by Sundar Rao Nadkarni.- Pre-production :...	Director	Tamil Tamil language Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...