 |
Elred Kumar | |
|---|---|
| Born | India |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, producer |
| Years active | 2010–present |
Elred KumarSanthanam is an Indian film director, writer, and producer, best known for his work on Ko, Muppozhudhum Un Karpanaigal, and Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa. [1] His films were made under his production house, RS Infotainment.
Kumar was born in the village of Thangachimadam. He completed a post-graduate degree in engineering at the College of Engineering, Guindy. Elred Kumar was first announced as "a businessman passionate about the film industry" in an article by the Economic Times in 2009, and it was announced that he would collaborate with his business partner R. Jayaraman as a part of RS Infotainment to be the producers of Gautham Vasudev Menon's Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (2010) alongside VTV Ganesh and Escape Artists Motion Pictures' Madan. [2] The romantic coming-of-age story featured Silambarasan and Trisha Krishnan in the lead roles, while A. R. Rahman composed the film's score and soundtrack. Upon release, it achieved positive reviews, with several critics giving "modern classic" status, whilst also becoming a commercially successful venture. [3] [4] His next venture, Ko (2011) directed by K. V. Anand and starring Jiiva, Karthika Nair and Piaa Bajpai, also opened to positive reviews. [5] [6] The Hindu described the film as a "tale with a realistic twist" and praised the film's production values. [7] [8] Elred Kumar was also involved in the co-production of the films Nadunisi Naaygal (2011) and Veppam (2011) alongside Jayaraman, Madan, Venkat and Gautham Menon.
Elred Kumar's scripted his next production Muppozhudhum Un Karpanaigal (2012), starring Adharvaa Murali and Amala Paul, with Ganesh Vinayak signed on as director. The film was to be shot across India and the US at a budget of 200 million. [9] However, in March 2011, the director was ousted and Elred took over responsibilities as director of the project. [10] The film opened to mixed reviews, with Kumar's performance as director being heavily scrutinised. A critic from IBN noted "Sadly, Kumar, while focusing on such things, seems to have lost the grip on the script, which lacks logic or coherence", concluding that "the director has got many things wrong". [11] In comparison, Sify.com noted that Elred "makes a confident debut with a film that maintains its suspense till the end." [12] The film fared averagely at the box office, and Elred contemplated releasing a second version of the film with a different screenplay. He took the film to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, where it was screened twice in the various film screenings in the city during the festival. [13] His first Hindi film production, Ekk Deewana Tha (2012), a remake of his previous venture with Gautham Menon, also released on the same weekend as Muppozhudhum Un Karpanaigal. However the film opened to mixed reviews and took a lukewarm opening at the box office, resulting in financial failure. [14]
He then went on to co-produce Menon's next Neethaane En Ponvasantham (2012), another romantic drama film featuring Jiiva and Samantha. The film opened in December 2012 to good reviews but only fared averagely at the box office. In February 2013, Elred filed a legal case against Gautham Menon and Madan claiming that he had entered into an agreement to do a film starring Silambarasan with music by A. R. Rahman in November 2008, during the making of Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa . He noted that they had agreed again in February 2010 to make the film, but now with Allu Arjun in the lead role. However, Elred claimed that both Gautham and Madan had gone on to do other projects even though they had been paid an advance of 40 million. Madan swiftly denied any involvement citing he had split from the other co-producers after the success of Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa. [15] Gautham Menon responded with an emotionally charged letter, revealing that Elred was harassing him and putting his career in trouble. He noted that Silambarasan was the main choice for Neethaane En Ponvasantham, and the film that Elred had alluded to was that particular venture. He went further in claiming that Elred had been undiplomatic in his conduct following the relative failure of the film, while the producer had also made derogatory remarks regarding the selection of Ilaiyaraaja in the project. [16] Elred replied by changing his argument – claiming that the four crores were used by Menon to buy a house after a proposed London schedule for the film was cancelled. [17] Gautham once again subsequently reacted to the media by clarifying the situation regarding the payment, his house and the choice of cast and crew of the film. [18]
Elred Kumar then produced Yaamirukka Bayamey (2014), a horror comedy directed by newcomer Deekay, with an ensemble cast featuring Kreshna, Karunakaran, Rupa Manjari, Oviya and Anaswara Kumar. The film opened to positive reviews and became a commercial success, prompting remakes in several other languages. The Hindu called the film "a surprisingly well-made 'horror-comedy' that succeeds in continuously exploiting our irrational fear of the unknown even while nudging us to laugh at it...this is a fun summer film and should work regardless of whether one believes in the supernatural or not". [19] Likewise Sify wrote, "Yaamirukka Bayamey is something different within the commercial format and provides potent dose of laughs to release the tension built up by the scares", and praised Elred's introduction of director Deekay. [20] However, Elred Kumar's next film, Yaan (2014) starring Jiiva and Thulasi Nair, which marked the debut of cinematographer Ravi K. Chandran as a director, became a large commercial failure at the box office. [21] The film, which was made on a lavish budget over a period of two years, was heavily criticised upon release. Baradwaj Rangan from The Hindu wrote, "Yaan, is a major disappointment", while The Times of India gave 2 out of 5 for the film and wrote, "despite all the colours on screen, this is such a dull, flavourless film, let down by the writing, which is preposterous and uninspiring". [22] [23] After release, Elred Kumar heavily criticised Chandran and threatened to file legal action after it was reported that the film was plagiarised from Midnight Express (1978). [24]
He then planned to make multiple films in nominal budget and planned film with Bobby Simha in the lead, which was Ko 2, directed by Sarath Mandava. Veera and Deekay's second film, Kavalai Vendam, all three films got a decent opening with profit venture in the overall revenue. He's now planned a Pan-Indian project with National Award-winning director Mr.Vetrimaaran, which is now in its pre-production stage. [25]
| Year | Film | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Muppozhudhum Un Karpanaigal |
Silambarasan Thesingu Rajendar, nicknamed as Simbu or his initials S.T. R. and known as Little Super Star, is an Indian actor, filmmaker and musician in Tamil cinema. He is the eldest son of actor and director T. Rajendar. He began his acting career by playing roles as a child artist in films directed by his father, before his first lead role in his father's Kadhal Azhivathillai (2002).
Jiiva is an Indian actor and film producer who works mainly in Tamil cinema and a few Hindi and Malayalam films. He is the youngest son of film producer R. B. Choudary. He began his career as a child actor in 1991 in films produced by his father. He made his debut as a lead actor in his father's 50th production, Aasai Aasaiyai (2003). After Sivaji Ganesan, Jiiva is the only Tamil actor to have been awarded at the Cyprus International Film Festival, particularly for his performance in Raam (2005).
Gautham Vasudev Menon is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor who predominantly works in Tamil film industry. He has also directed Telugu and Hindi films that either simultaneously shot with or remakes of his own Tamil films.
Thamarai is an Indian poet and lyricist who writes in Tamil. She is a prominent figure in the Tamil literary world and has worked in Tamil cinema.
Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, starring Silambarasan and Trisha. Jointly produced by Elred Kumar, Jayaraman, VTV Ganesh and P. Madan under the banner Escape Artists Motion Pictures and RS Infotainment, the film was distributed by Udhayanidhi Stalin's Red Giant Movies. The story was simultaneously shot in Telugu as Ye Maaya Chesave, starring Naga Chaitanya and Samantha, however, with a different cast.
Ye Maaya Chesave is a 2010 Indian Telugu-language romantic drama film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. The film stars Naga Chaitanya and Samantha in her debut as lead. It was produced by Manjula Ghattamaneni under the banner Indira Productions with soundtrack composed by A. R. Rahman. The film featured cinematography by Manoj Paramahamsa, editing by Anthony Gonsalves, and dialogue by Umarji Anuradha.
Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa is the soundtrack of the 2010 Tamil romance film of the same name, directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. The soundtrack album and background score were composed by A. R. Rahman, collaborating with Menon for the first time. The lyrics for the songs were penned by Menon's usual associate, Thamarai along with Kalyani Menon and Kaithapram, the latter penning the Malayalam lyrics in the album. The album was released on 25 December 2009 in London with several film personalities participating at the grand function. It was the first time that a Tamil film audio release was held in London. It was followed by an audio launch function which was also held in Chennai on 6 January 2010. Sony Music released the album worldwide. The album opened to critical acclaim from music critics. The audio was marked as #1 in Asia, in terms of advance bookings. The album was ranked among the best musicals of 2010. A collector's edition of the film was released on 1 December 2010, which featured two unreleased tracks. The same soundtrack album was reused in the simultaneous Telugu version Ye Maaya Chesave (2010) and its Hindi remake Ekk Deewana Tha (2012).
Photon Kathaas was an Indian film production company led by director Gautham Vasudev Menon. It was established in 2010 by Menon along with Venky Somasundaram and Reshma Ghatala, who worked as the co-promoters. Its name is derived from Gautham Menon's original company Photon Factory, which had previously co-produced several of Menon's films like Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu and Kaakha Kaakha, its Telugu remake Gharshana and Pachaikili Muthucharam.
Muppozhudhum Un Karpanaigal is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language romantic thriller film directed by Elred Kumar starring Atharvaa and Amala Paul, while Jayaprakash, Anupama Kumar, Santhanam, Yashika and Nassar played supporting roles. The music was scored by G. V. Prakash Kumar. The film opened to mixed reviews, but had a successful 100-day run. The film was later also screened at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival in a non-award ceremony, winning acclaim.
Ganesh Janardhanan, also known by his stage name VTV Ganesh is an Indian actor, comedian and film producer. He is best known for his hoarse voice, and his appearances in films featuring Silambarasan. He had made his debut in Tamil movie Red (2002) directed by Singampuli. He is very much known for his movie Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (2010) directed by Gautham Menon,which is the reason that he got 'VTV' prior to his name.
Neethaane En Ponvasantham is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film co written, co produced and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, starring Jiiva and Samantha. This film is shot simultaneously in Telugu, Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu, with Nani replacing Jiiva, while the team also briefly filmed an incomplete Hindi version with Aditya Roy Kapoor, with Samantha playing the leading female role in all three versions. The film is based on a story written by Reshma Ghatala, who produced the film alongside Elred Kumar, Venkat Somasundaram and Menon. The cinematography was handled by M. S. Prabhu and Om Prakash. The film's background score and soundtrack were composed by Ilaiyaraaja which went on to become a chartbuster, and the soundtrack album sold a record 8.5 million units through various platforms on its release.
Yaan (transl. Me) is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written, directed and filmed by Ravi K. Chandran. It stars Jiiva and Thulasi Nair. This was the second and final Tamil film of leading actress, Thulasi as the latter further quoted of unable to enjoy the deeds of acting. As it never appealed to her taste. The film's soundtrack and score was composed by Harris Jayaraj, while editing and art direction were done by A. Sreekar Prasad and Sabu Cyril, respectively. Resul Pookutty was in charge of the sound mixing and Brinda was in charge of the choreography. The movie was reported to be based on the 1978 movie Midnight Express.
Escape Artists Motion Pictures is an Indian film production studio established by producers Madan and James. Formed in 2010, it has since gone on to produce several Tamil language films. They have also acted as distributors for several Tamil films since 2010.
Kavalai Vendam is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Deekay. The film stars Jiiva and Kajal Aggarwal, while Bobby Simha and Sunaina play supporting roles. The film, which is said to be an urban romance "about first love, second chances and relationships", features music composed by Leon James, cinematography by Abinandhan Ramanujam and editing by Suresh. Produced by Elred Kumar, Kavalai Vendam released on 24 November 2016 while its dubbed Telugu version Entha Varaku Ee Prema released on 7 April 2017 to mixed reviews and did average collections. The film later gained further recognition after being published on OTT, noting it for its comedy.
Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language romantic action thriller film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. The film stars Silambarasan and Manjima Mohan, while Baba Sehgal plays the role of a corrupt cop. The film revolves around a youngster who embarks on a road trip with his lady-love during which he meets with an accident which causes things to get out of control.
Livingston Antony Ruben is an Indian film editor, who works in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, and Kannada films.
RS Infotainment is an Indian film production and distribution company headed by Elred Kumar. The studio has produced films made in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi.
Karthik Dial Seytha Yenn is a 2020 Indian Tamil-language short film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. A sequel to his feature film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (2010), it stars Silambarasan and Trisha reprising their roles from that film. The short was released on 21 May 2020 on YouTube.
Nalini Sriram is an Indian fashion costume designer and entrepreneur. She is considered one of the early pioneers of fashion designing for South Indian films.
The following is a list of unproduced Gautham Vasudev Menon projects in roughly chronological order. During his career, Indian film director Gautham Vasudev Menon has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the production stage under his direction. Some of these projects fell in development hell, were officially canceled, or would see life under a different production team.
