My favorite Tamil Directors
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Vetrimaaran is an Indian film director, screenwriter and film producer, who works in the Tamil film industry. Vetrimaaran made his directorial debut with the Polladhavan. His second feature film Aadukalam won six National Film Awards. He produces films under his production company, Grass Root Film Company. His movie Visaranai (2016) was selected as India's official entry to the Academy Awards.His film Asuran (2019) was named as the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil.- Director
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- Actor
Ram was born on 11 October 1974 in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. He is a director and writer, known for Peranbu (2018), Thanga Meengal (2013) and Taramani (2017).- Writer
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The man who revolutionized Tamil-language cinema, Mani Ratnam is the biggest director in south India and one of the most respected directors in all of India. Each of his films contain its own unique style, with beautifully photographed songs and unique back-lighting. However, his films contain substance as well as style--Ratnam has dealt with a wide variety of topics, from the classic Indian love story to political thrillers.
He was born in Madras in 1956. Filmmaking was in his blood; he was the son of film producer 'Venus Gopalratnam' and his brother was G. Venkateswaran, a film distributor turned producer. Ironically, however, he studied at Madras University and received a management degree at the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies in Mumbai, and had initially started out as a management consultant. His first film, Pallavi Anu Pallavi (1983), starring Anil Kapoor, didn't make many waves, although it won the State Award from Karnataka that year, but even though he made two films in Tamil and one in Malayalam, nothing worked for him until he broke through with Mouna Ragam (1986). Starring Revathi, the film told the tale of a woman who, although forced into an arranged marriage, chooses to maintain a platonic relationship with her husband. The film was noted for its sophisticated approach and execution of an extremely sensitive topic.
His next film, Nayakan (1987), was also arguably his greatest. A take-off on Francis Ford Coppola' legendary The Godfather (1972), it established Ratnam as the leading director of Tamil-language Cinema and won its leading actor Kamal Haasan the National Award for Best Actor. The film draws on 30 years of Tamil Nadu's celebrity images and directly played to the anti-Hindi feelings of Tamil Nadu when the protagonist, beaten up, tells the Hindi policeman in Bombay, "If I ever hit you, you will die!"
Then came the best of his early work - Agni Natchathiram (1988), Geethanjali (1989), and Anjali (1990). The first was a tale of conflict between two step-brothers. Shot with glossy camera work, the film resembled a cross between an advertisement and a music video, and set a trend for a whole new visual style in Tamil-language Cinema. The next, Geethanjali (1989), shot in Ooty to create a soft and poetic mood, was a touching love story between two terminally ill people with less than six months left. The third, Anjali (1990), about a disabled child brought back to her family with two normal children had been chosen by India to be sent to the Oscars for Best Foreign-language Film, but it did not receive a nomination. The next year saw his first, and only collaboration so far, with the Tamil superstar Rajni Kant in the film Thalapathi (1991). It also starred Mamooty, along side a host of other actor. This star studded film was a gritty tale of an orphan who grows up to become a notorious gang member in Chennai. The story was inspired by the great epic of Mahabharata.
It was Roja (1992) that made Ratnam a household name all over India. A patriotic love story set against the backdrop of Kashmiri terrorism, the film was dubbed in Hindi and became a huge national success. It enforced Ratnam as a director of style and substance, as well as proving a highly auspicious debut for the now-acclaimed music director A.R. Rahman, whom Ratnam had discovered. It helped that India's at-the-time election commissioner T. N. Seshan took the rare step of officially endorsing the film. Thiruda Thiruda (1993), a remake of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) was a misfire, but Ratnam bounced back with Bombay (1995), a politically charged romance between a Hindu man and a Muslim woman during the 1993 riots in Mumbai. The film underwent some controversy due to its slightly anti-Muslim viewpoint, but it contributed widely to the success of the film.
Continuing his political obsession, Ratnam made Iruvar (1997), based on the MGR-Karunanidhi affair, and Dil Se.. (1998), which starred superstars Manisha Koirala and Shah Rukh Khan. The latter was Ratnam's first Hindi-language film. Based on the northeast Indian problem, it told the story of a radio executive and a revolutionary. It had an excellent cast, beautifully crafted scenes, and most of all one of A.R. Rahman's greatest tunes--but did not go down too well with the audience, who hailed it as a strange and confusing film that headed nowhere. However, today it is held as ahead of its time, being that it was shot pre-9/11, and is now hailed as a contemporary classic.
He returned to familiar ground with Alai Payuthey (2000), which tackled the story of a couple in love that goes through the trials and tribulations of marriage. His subsequent film, Kannathil Muthamittal (2002), which told the tale of an adopted girl meeting her terrorist mother, saw Ratnam back in form as one of the greatest storytellers in Indian Cinema. His next film, Yuva (2004), saw Ratnam return to Hindi-language cinema after six years, but in spite of some fine flourishes, the film largely failed to work. However, don't take him too lightly: he is sure to return with something new next time....- Writer
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Mysskin is an Indian film director and screenwriter. He made his directorial debut in 2006 with Chithiram Pesuthadi. His other directorials Anjathe and Nandalala received high critical acclaim. He has also proved his acting skills by starring as a mentally challenged person in Nandalala.
Mysskin made his directorial debut with the low budget film Chithiram Pesuthadi which went to become one of the biggest hits of the year. A simple love story, it became a hit owing to the unique style the film was written in
His latest film, Yuddham Sei, a dark thriller was a huge hit at the box office as well. His visual style and directing prowess was appreciated and talked about by everybody. He has now started pre-production works on his magnum opus - Mugamoodi to be produced by UTV Motion Pictures. The film will star Jeeva as a superhero.- Cinematographer
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Balu Mahendra was born on 20 May 1939 in Sri Lanka. He was a cinematographer and director, known for Moondram Pirai (1982), Kokila (1977) and Veedu (1988). He was married to Ahileshwari. He died on 13 February 2014 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.- Writer
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J. Mahendran was born on 25 July 1939 in Ilaiyangudi, Madras Presidency, British India. He was a writer and actor, known for Mullum Malarum (1978), Nenjathai Killathe (1980) and Uthiri Pookkal (1979). He died on 2 April 2019 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.- Writer
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Bala was born on 11 July 1966 in Theni, Tamil Nadu, India. He is a writer and director, known for Sethu (1999), Paradesi (2013) and Naan Kadavul (2009). He is married to Muthumalar.- Writer
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Karthik Subbaraj is an Indian film director. He started his career working as a software engineer in Bangalore working for Infosys. During this period he got interested in film making. He learnt the basics of film making, during a one-day workshop run by Sanjay Nambiar. He made a short film "Kaatchipizhai" in Madurai, which was selected for "Naalaya Iyakunar"- Writer
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Thiagarajan Kumararaja was born and bred in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. He enrolled for a Visual Communications course at the Loyola College, Chennai, but dropped out shortly after to make films. Kumararaja cited that it was composer Ilaiyaraaja's music that animated him to come to films and to study Visual Communications in the first place. However, he discontinued his studies in 1998 and started to work as a freelance copywriter and photographer for a while. He went on to shoot advertisement films and also directed a five-part documentary on South Indian Temples, Sthala Puranam for Vijay TV. In 2005, he participated at the one-minute film competition 60 Seconds to Fame by Ability Foundation, aiming for the prize money. His short film Becky was awarded the first prize at the AbilityFest2005. Kumararaja then collaborated with Pushkar-Gayathri, writing the dialogue of their directorial debut Oram Po (2007). He would later write all songs for their second project Va (2010) as well. Through Pushkar-Gayathri, Kumararaja met S. P. B. Charan, who agreed to produce his first feature film Aaranya Kaandam.
Kumararaja began writing his maiden film in December 2006. Although he had wanted to make a "racy film" - he wrote the climax part first, before going on to add multiple story lines - he said that the film had eventually turned out to be a "leisurely paced film, taking its own time to unfold". Kumararaja met Charan in January 2007 and narrated him the script for two hours. Filming was supposed to commence by late 2007, but Charan opted to produce another film first. Aaranya Kaandam was launched in December 2008, with Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff, who was being introducing to Tamil films, Ravi Krishna and Sampath Raj in the lead roles. Kumararaja took more than one and a half years to complete the film, which was entirely shot in and around Chennai. Upon completion, the film ran into trouble when the regional censor board in Chennai refused to clear it, demanding 52 cuts due to profanity and excessive violence. Kumararaja expressed that he made the film for a matured audience and not for children, while adding that he expected difficulties in the censorship. Since he wanted to present the film uncompromisingly to the audiences, he and Charan approached the Central Tribunal at Delhi, that cleared the film. Dubbed as the first neo-noir film in Tamil cinema, Aaranya Kaandam opened to strong critical acclaim, winning the Grand Jury Award for Best Film at the 2010 South Asian International Film Festival, and two prizes at the 59th National Film Awards, including the Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director for Kumararaja.- Director
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Vasanthabalan is an Indian Tamil film director and screenwriter.He has made critically acclaimed films including Veyil (2006), Angadi Theru (2010) and Kaaviya Thalaivan (2014).Vasanthabalan began his film career as an editing assistant and later became an assistant director to S.Shankar in the latter's directorial debut, Gentleman (1993). He continued to work under Shankar in three more films-Kaadhalan (1994), Indian (1996) and Jeans (1998)-and first attempted to make a film titled Aathi with Rajasekar in the lead role, but the project was stalled. He later made his break as an independent director with the box-office failure Album (2002).
His second film, produced by Shankar's S Pictures, Veyil (2006) was both critically acclaimed and commercially successful. It was shown as the Indian representative at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.His next release, Angadi Theru (2010), showcased a romantic tale set in the famous Ranganathan Street in the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The film won critical acclaim and was a commercial success as well. It was shortlisted for India's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 2012, he released Aravaan, a period film based on the novel Kaaval Kottam that reflects the life of people of South Tamil Nadu in the 18th century. Following that, he made the period drama Kaaviya Thalaivan (2014), which won critical acclaim.- Producer
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Pa. Ranjith is an exciting prospect in the new age of Tamil film directors. His debut film was a cult romantic comedy film Attakathi, which had positive reviews and his next film was Madras (2014), which showcased the life of North Madras people and their daily life. It was a blockbuster. The neat story-telling with no nonsense in logic and screenplay makes his movies more exciting. His next film was Kabali, which starred the famous Tamil actor Superstar Rajinikanth. The film received mostly positive reviews and went on to become a massive blockbuster. All of Pa. Ranjith's films have one element in common: They express the lives and culture of Dalit people and the oppression they face in contemporary society. Since he himself is from the Dalit community, his fans are claiming that his films have opened up a new facet of Tamil cinema. His next film, Kaala (2018), also stars Superstar Rajinikanth as the protagonist.- Director
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Mari Selvaraj was born on 7 March 1984 in Tamil Nadu, India. He is a director and writer, known for Pariyerum Perumal (2018), Karnan (2021) and Maamannan (2023). He is married to Divya Mari Selvaraj.- Director
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- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Arun Prabhu Purushothaman was born on 14 June 1989 in Chennai,Tamilnadu,India. He is a director and writer, known for Aruvi (2016), Vaazhl (2021) and Untitled Arun Prabhu Film.