34 yrs without closing studio for a day! Who was Sudheer Chitranjali, film veteran who died at 70?

Thiruvananthapuram: P Sudheer, former Film Officer at Chitranjali Studio and a veteran figure in Malayalam cinema's technical history, has passed away at the age of 70 following a battle with cancer. Known widely as “Sudheer Chitranjali” - a name he carried with pride throughout his life – he served the state-run studio for 34 years from its inception in 1980 until his retirement in 2014, working closely with generations of leading Indian filmmakers. His funeral was held at 8.30 am at Thaikkaud Shanthikavadam with the Sanchayana ceremony set for September 10 at 8.00 am.

A native of Pakode near Kuzhithurai in Kanyakumari district, Sudheer completed his studies in film processing at the prestigious Adyar Film Institute in Chennai. He began his career at AVM Labs and the Film Centre in Chennai before returning to Kerala to work at Trivandrum's historic Merryland Studio. Later, he served as Chief at the Chitralekha Studio under the leadership of acclaimed auteur Adoor Gopalakrishnan. Moving to Chitranjali Studio as a lab technician, he rose through the ranks to become Lab Chief, Color Consultant and eventually retired as Chief Lab Technician while holding the charge of Film Officer.

Throughout his 34-year tenure at Chitranjali, Sudheer ensured that the laboratory never shut its doors for a single day, processing over 400 feature films and documentaries. He bridged the technical evolution of Malayalam cinema, transitioning smoothly from black-and-white stock to color grading, and remaining active until digital technology gradually phased out analog film processing. His color grading expertise was trusted by celebrated directors such as Adoor Gopalakrishnan, G Aravindan and T V Chandran. He also worked as an assistant director on T V Chandran's film ‘Mangamma’.

Under Sudheer's technical guidance, Chitranjali earned national and state accolades. The documentary Mohiniyattam, directed by Sivan and shot by Santosh Sivan, won the President's National Award. In addition, the studio secured Kerala State Film Awards for Best Film Lab for work on feature films including ‘Dany’, ‘Oridam’, ‘Sufi Paranja Katha’ and ‘Bioscope’.

Sudheer was also instrumental in establishing “Bhadra”, a cinema museum housed within Chitranjali Studio that preserves film strips ranging from 8mm to 35mm formats, vintage machinery, historical photographs and archival film prints produced at the studio, a collection witnessed by visitors such as legendary Bengali director Satyajit Ray.

He passed away leaving unfulfilled his long-cherished dream of seeing a comprehensive modernisation of the Chitranjali complex.

He is survived by his wife, Sajitha, his daughter, Sruthi Sudheer, and his son-in-law, cinematographer Raji Prasad.