- Born Rudolph Rajendra Tikaram Ramdyal to parents Bejai Lakshmi and Deodat Tikaram Ramdyal.
He performed as an actor in youth in plays and short films which he wrote and directed. In high school he got A grades in sciences, as well as in dramatic arts and film production, for the short plays and films he wrote and directed. He received two standing ovations from his English and FIlm class after screening his first film Key to the Passage of Time (1983), a short action sci-fi. His film professor Neil Anderson, who studied at UCLA, thought his first film was the best he had ever seen from a student, and was sure he was headed for a career in Hollywood film.
He studied Psychology, Economics, and Film Production at the University of Toronto and then York University. Although he began in the film program he preferred the practicality of a degree in Psychology and Economics. He acquired a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and graduated on the Deans Honour Roll.
After two decades working on Hollywood films he has multiple operational certifications in film production, government regulations, safety, supervision, and specialized Hollywood industrial equipment use.
He is an emeritus member of the University of Toronto's Heart House Film Board, and L.I.F.T. (the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers).
He Wrote, Directed, and Edited several short films including Key to the Passage of Time (1983), The Prefect Terminator (1986), Paradise Unfolded (1992), The Accomplice (1993), Musk for Men (1986). He also edited comedy documentaries and skits for the crew Halloween competition on their time off from the hit NBC Universal TV show Suits (2011-2019).
As a teenager he practiced chemistry in his mother's garage which he used to manufacture smoke effects that made his eyes water when he tried to operate the camera. He also made squibs simulating bullet impacts, exploding cigarette effects simulating tiny rockets inside, for his short film Key to the Passage of Time (1983).
He won a few science contests as a youngster and entered on various subjects, including electricity, magnets, motors, rocket propulsion, volcanoes, and nuclear energy. One contest which he won involved a cash prize and a write-up in a small local paper featuring him explaining his models and theories on energy savings through housing design and applied science
He has written several Writers Guild Registered feature length screenplays and TV pilots. His first unregistered feature screenplay was stolen and made into a low budget TV film without him.
Fresh out of University, he worked briefly as a psychiatric field worker. The parents of one of his clients recounted their childhood experiences to him of World War 2 concentration camps and Christian orphanages on land donated by a Maharaja. They gave him exclusive rights to their story and use of their name on which one of his screenplays is based.
He is a voting member of the Academy in Canada.
He is also credited as Roger Tikeram and Rudolph Rajendra.
He has also engaged in securities and derivative investing. He was an early retail investor of Apple Computer after Steve Jobs returned to the company, and participated in voting Al Gore onto the Board of Directors, hoping it would help the small growing company to be more environmentally responsible in its manufacturing processes. He was also a retail investor of Tesla and participated in voting for Elon Musk's record $50 Billion dollar compensation package, which was later reversed by the court due to lack of independence of the board, and inadequate shareholder information. He transitioned away from working as a crew member on Hollywood films, which he considered to be valuable training, in order to focus more on investments.
While studying film in University he desired a one-of-a-kind name for easy recognition, and changed his last name to Durhanto. Dur - meaning 'difficult' in Sanskrit, Han - meaning 'to conquer or overcome', and TO - because he grew up in Toronto. Until recently he was the only person with that name. His conservative Kshatriya grandmother was greatly offended by his name change. To prevent further insult to his grandmother he prefers Rudolph Rajendra or simply Raj, which film crews know him by.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Rudolph Rajendra - He has always had a passion for making movies. His natural inborn qualities of writing and directing caused him to venture into learning about the technical side of film production spending about 20 years participating in the craft of big budget Hollywood filmmaking as a crew member. He is very dedicated to making the best films possible. (John Franklin Bebondas)- IMDb Mini Biography By: John Franklin Bebondas
- While filming Exit Wounds (2001) staring Steven Seagal he was the only crew member to regularly join the Chinese fight choreography team for daily traditional Chinese prayers and then accompanied the stunt performers in warm up stretching.
- While filming the Indy racing movie "Champs" starring the talented legendary Actor and Screenwriter Sylvester Stallone the Crew jokingly referred to the project as "Chimps". The project title was later changed to Driven (2001).
- Rudolph observes the rules of a traditional religious Hindu Jain diet. The desciplic antecedent of the dairy kosher diet, it includes avoidance of allergic lectins. When the dietary rules were first described, he thought it was too superstitious, but applied it to reverse an allergic skin reaction.
- Rudolph Rajendra's Aunt insists she knew he was destined for a future in film before he even decided. She knew when she took him to Disney's back lot as a child and he helped the adult tour guide explain how Hollywood films were made.
- At about the age of seven, on a minus twenty degree winter day in Canada, Rudolph debated with his classmate James "Jimmy" Carrey about whether it was possible for someone's tongue to become stuck to a metal pole. Rudolph insisted that a warm tongue would not freeze. Determined to win the argument, his classmate Jimmy put his tongue on a pole claiming to be stuck until another classmate Glen pulled him free. Decades later the scene would appear in the Hollywood movie Dumb and Dumber (1994) starring actors Jeff Daniels and Jim Carrey.
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