K. Rajagopal

Directing

K. Rajagopal

Born 1965-09-21 · Singapore

K. Rajagopal has won the Singapore International Film Festival’s Special Jury Prize for 3 consecutive years with his short films: I CAN’T SLEEP TONIGHT (1995), THE GLARE (1996) and ABSENCE (1997). In 2010, he wrote and directed TIMELESS, a short film commissioned by the National Museum of Singapore which won Best Cinematography and Best Editing at the 2011 Singapore Short Film Awards. In 2015, his short film THE FLAME was part of the SG50 commissioned omnibus feature film 7 LETTERS, which had its Asian premiere at the Busan International Film Festival. His debut feature film, A YELLOW BIRD, premiered at the 55th Critics' Week, Cannes Film Festival in 2016 and won Best Film at the ASEAN Film Awards 2017. In 2019, the Singapore Silver Arts Festival commissioned him to write and direct the short film A DREAM I DID NOT DREAM.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

No artwork available
NR

Up in the sky with breathtaking views of the city, a ride on the Singapore Flyer takes a dramatic turn when two couples are forced to confront how they feel about each other.

Singapore Flying

2019

No artwork available
NR

Up in the sky with breathtaking views of the city, a ride on the Singapore Flyer takes a dramatic turn when two couples are forced to confront how they feel about each other.

Singapore Flying

2019

A Yellow Bird poster
5.5

It is an unwelcome homecoming for Siva, a Singaporean-Indian ex-convict, haunted by a tragedy in his past. Released after eight years behind bars and dejected by his mother’s coldness, he leaves home in search of his ex-wife and daughter. His old friend denies any knowledge of their whereabouts and instead leads him back into crime. Finding him sheltering in ‘void decks’ (the open public access corridors found beneath government-built residential housing in Singapore), the police force him to meet with a social worker; a woman also dealing with her own fears.

A Yellow Bird

2016

A Yellow Bird poster
5.5

It is an unwelcome homecoming for Siva, a Singaporean-Indian ex-convict, haunted by a tragedy in his past. Released after eight years behind bars and dejected by his mother’s coldness, he leaves home in search of his ex-wife and daughter. His old friend denies any knowledge of their whereabouts and instead leads him back into crime. Finding him sheltering in ‘void decks’ (the open public access corridors found beneath government-built residential housing in Singapore), the police force him to meet with a social worker; a woman also dealing with her own fears.

A Yellow Bird

2016

Lucky7 poster
NR

Seven young directors from Singapore produce a cinematic cadavre exquis.

Lucky7

2008

Sanjay poster
NR

Sanjay and his wife, Divya, have recently moved to Singapore from India. In the face of an impending cutback by his company management, Sanjay struggles to juggle work and adjust to life in Singapore. How will they fare in such a trying scenario?

Sanjay

2017

Sanjay poster
NR

Sanjay and his wife, Divya, have recently moved to Singapore from India. In the face of an impending cutback by his company management, Sanjay struggles to juggle work and adjust to life in Singapore. How will they fare in such a trying scenario?

Sanjay

2017

No artwork available
NR

After a family patriarch's passing, mother and son set off on different paths to cope with the loss. While the mother finds solace in religion and prayers, the son expresses himself through art. Unbeknownst to them, they are set on a collision course with one another, with life-altering consequences.

Absence

1997

The Flame poster
NR

In 1965, an Indian family, whose men have been loyal servants of the British Royal Air Force, are faced with a life-changing offer of British citizenship as a reward for their years of service. The anglophone father is determined to follow his colonial masters back to England, while his newly-wed son yearns to build a new life in Singapore with his pregnant wife. Their conflict studies the notion of state and identity in a time of post-independence uncertainty.

The Flame

2015

The Flame poster
NR

In 1965, an Indian family, whose men have been loyal servants of the British Royal Air Force, are faced with a life-changing offer of British citizenship as a reward for their years of service. The anglophone father is determined to follow his colonial masters back to England, while his newly-wed son yearns to build a new life in Singapore with his pregnant wife. Their conflict studies the notion of state and identity in a time of post-independence uncertainty.

The Flame

2015

No artwork available
NR

Rosie Wong, a blind woman, shares a retrospective account about the three lives which shaped her life. Taking inspiration from ‘The Giving Tree’, her life is significantly changed by a kind stranger, Pak Cik Tubi Moh Salleh, who helped her get to work everyday for 5 years. Pak Cik Tubi continued this good deed for the next few years, tirelessly helping Madam Rosie.

T(h)ree Lives

2020

No artwork available
NR

Rosie Wong, a blind woman, shares a retrospective account about the three lives which shaped her life. Taking inspiration from ‘The Giving Tree’, her life is significantly changed by a kind stranger, Pak Cik Tubi Moh Salleh, who helped her get to work everyday for 5 years. Pak Cik Tubi continued this good deed for the next few years, tirelessly helping Madam Rosie.

T(h)ree Lives

2020

No artwork available
NR

‘In Safe Hands’ follows the journey of two Ministry of Manpower (MOM) officers who worked closely together with other agencies and NGOs, to care for the wellbeing of resident migrant workers at the dormitories, allowing them to return to work safely.

In Safe Hands

2020

No artwork available
NR

‘In Safe Hands’ follows the journey of two Ministry of Manpower (MOM) officers who worked closely together with other agencies and NGOs, to care for the wellbeing of resident migrant workers at the dormitories, allowing them to return to work safely.

In Safe Hands

2020

7 Letters poster
6.5

An emotive anthology by seven of Singapore's most illustrious filmmakers, celebrating SG50 through the lives and stories of Singaporeans. Directed by Eric Khoo, Jack Neo, K. Rajagopal, Royston Tan, Tan Pin Pin, Boo Junfeng, Kelvin Tong.

7 Letters

2015

7 Letters poster
6.5

An emotive anthology by seven of Singapore's most illustrious filmmakers, celebrating SG50 through the lives and stories of Singaporeans. Directed by Eric Khoo, Jack Neo, K. Rajagopal, Royston Tan, Tan Pin Pin, Boo Junfeng, Kelvin Tong.

7 Letters

2015

No artwork available
NR

Drive My Car chronicles the story of Lay Hoon - a resilient single mother and self-employed individual as she endeavors to rebuild her life after serving time in prison. Working as a taxi driver to support her family, Lay Hoon confronts adversity when her taxi vocational license approaches its expiration, posing challenges to her newfound life.

Drive My Car

Song of the Waves poster
NR

This is a love story adapted from JM Sali’s tale of an Indian man who meets and falls in love with a Chinese woman in Singapore by chance, but she discovers that he is actually married back home in India. Told from the perspective of the writer—who is played by more than one actor, and who also plays the character—the film blurs the lines between roles, reality, time and space. The words and text of the writer also interplay with the sound of silence and the actions of the actors and characters.

Song of the Waves

2017

No artwork available
NR

A father obliges a young boy and takes him to watch movies at New World, Singapore’s iconic entertainment venue of the 1960s and 1970s. The boy is enthralled, growing up on a gamut of film genres. He loves both the comedies and tragedies. He laughs and cries with the characters, experiencing their joys and sorrows, and even falling in love with some of them. The line between reality and flimsy film is marred even, when unwittingly he allows a merging of his life with what goes on in the film world. Oblivious to the real world at times, he is forced to face harsh reality with the unexpected death of his father. Distraught, his escape into his make-believe world also ends suddenly when he stops watching films at the New World.

The New World

2008

No artwork available
NR

A father obliges a young boy and takes him to watch movies at New World, Singapore’s iconic entertainment venue of the 1960s and 1970s. The boy is enthralled, growing up on a gamut of film genres. He loves both the comedies and tragedies. He laughs and cries with the characters, experiencing their joys and sorrows, and even falling in love with some of them. The line between reality and flimsy film is marred even, when unwittingly he allows a merging of his life with what goes on in the film world. Oblivious to the real world at times, he is forced to face harsh reality with the unexpected death of his father. Distraught, his escape into his make-believe world also ends suddenly when he stops watching films at the New World.

The New World

2008

A Dream I Did Not Dream poster
NR

The dance of life is one we dance alone but with many silent and invisible partners. Meena celebrates the lives she lived and the people she loves in a film about the rejuvenating power of time.

A Dream I Did Not Dream

2019

A Dream I Did Not Dream poster
NR

The dance of life is one we dance alone but with many silent and invisible partners. Meena celebrates the lives she lived and the people she loves in a film about the rejuvenating power of time.

A Dream I Did Not Dream

2019

Lizard on the Wall poster
NR

Inspired by the first English-language novel "Inheritance" of acclaimed Singaporean novelist Balli Kaur Jaswal about Singapore's Punjabi-Sikh diaspora, the film surrounds the story of a Punjabi family and the characters' struggles against traditions and belonging. The project involves the local Punjabi community, who has often been left out of the larger Singaporean narrative even when they are such an important part of our cultural landscape.

Lizard on the Wall

2017

Lizard on the Wall poster
NR

Inspired by the first English-language novel "Inheritance" of acclaimed Singaporean novelist Balli Kaur Jaswal about Singapore's Punjabi-Sikh diaspora, the film surrounds the story of a Punjabi family and the characters' struggles against traditions and belonging. The project involves the local Punjabi community, who has often been left out of the larger Singaporean narrative even when they are such an important part of our cultural landscape.

Lizard on the Wall

2017