Agni Natchathiram is a 1988 Indian Tamil-language masala film that was written and directed by Mani Ratnam. The film stars Prabhu, Karthik, Amala and newcomer Nirosha, with Vijayakumar, Jayachitra, Sumithra, Tara, S. N. Lakshmi and G. Umapathy in supporting roles. Its story revolves around two half-brothers who come into conflict with each other due to their claims for legitimacy as sons of a common father.
Thalapathi (transl. Commander) is a 1991 Indian Tamil-language gangster drama film written and directed by Mani Ratnam, and produced by G. Venkateswaran. The film stars Rajinikanth and Mammootty with Arvind Swamy in his feature-film debut, Jaishankar, Amrish Puri, Srividya, Bhanupriya, Shobana and Geetha in supporting roles. This is the Tamil debut of Bollywood actor, Amrish Puri. It is about a courageous slum dweller who befriends a powerful gangster and the attempts of a district collector to thwart them.
Kannathil Muthamittal is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language musical war film produced and directed by Mani Ratnam. It was based on a short story, "Amuthavum Avanum" by Sujatha. The film stars R. Madhavan, Simran and P. S. Keerthana with Nandita Das, J. D. Chakravarthy, Prakash Raj and Pasupathy portraying other pivotal characters. The film's score and soundtrack were composed by A. R. Rahman, while Ravi K. Chandran handled the cinematography. Mani Ratnam presents the story of a child of Sri Lankan Tamil parentage adopted by Indian parents, whose desire is to meet her biological mother in the midst of the Sri Lankan Civil War. It was released on 14 February 2002.
Rajiv Menon is an Indian filmmaker who has worked as a director and cinematographer in several Indian regional film industries. After making his breakthrough as a film cinematographer with Mani Ratnam's Tamil drama Bombay (1995), Menon has continued to collaborate with Ratnam on other projects including Guru (2007) and Kadal (2013). He has also directed two critically acclaimed Tamil films, Minsara Kanavu (1997) and Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000), winning a Filmfare Award for the latter. After a sabbatical, Menon returned to directing with Sarvam Thaala Mayam.
Sri Lankan cinema encompasses the Sri Lankan film industry. It is a fledgling industry that has struggled to find a footing since its inauguration in 1947 with Kadawunu Poronduwa produced by S. M. Nayagam of Chitra Kala Movietone. Sri Lankan films are usually made in Sinhala and Tamil, the dominant languages of the country.
Deshabandu Gammana Patabendige Don John Abeywickrama, popularly as Joe Abeywickrama, was an actor in Sri Lankan cinema, theater and television. Initially famed as a comedic actor in early 1950s, Abeywickrama became one of the greatest film actors of alltime in Sinhala cinema with several critically acclaimed award winning dramatic performances.
Krishna Kulasekaran credited as Krishna is an Indian actor who mainly appears in Tamil cinema. He is the younger brother of Tamil film director Vishnuvardhan.
Bernard Aloysius Wanniarachchi Jayamanne who was better known as B.A.W. Jayamanne was a Sri Lankan playwright, director, producer and actor. He played a major role in the making of the first Sinhala film Kadawunu Poronduwa in 1947; Jayamanne achieved a level of popularity as a director with movies starring Rukmani Devi and Eddie Jayamanne in the 1950s.
Sri Lankan Tamil cinema is a small filmmaking industry based in Sri Lanka, which has made under 100 Tamil language films as of 2013. it is separate from its Indian counterpart, the Tamil cinema of Kodambakkam in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, as many Sri Lankan Tamil actors work in Sri Lankan films or independent Tamil films overseas, although a few noted Tamil actors in India were born in Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan Tamil cinema's growth has largely been stalled due to the Sri Lankan Civil War.
Krishna Kumar, better known by his stage name K, is an Indian music composer.
Karthik Subbaraj is an Indian film director, screenwriter and film producer working mainly in Tamil cinema.
Aaryan Dinesh Kanagaratnam, also known by his initials A. D. K. or simply Dinesh Kanagaratnam, is a Sri Lankan R&B and hip hop artist and music producer who has composed tracks in Tamil language. He also often collaborates with music directors in Tamil cinema as a playback singer.
Siva Ananth is an Indian film writer, producer, lyricist, director and actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Siva made his directorial debut with the Telugu film Chukkallo Chandrudu (2006). He later pursued career as a screenwriter, lyricist, executive producer and actor.
Mani Ratnam is an Indian filmmaker who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. Regarded as one of the greatest Indian filmmakers, he is credited with redefining the "range and depth of Tamil cinema". As of 2019, he has directed 28 films, and produced over 15 under his production company Madras Talkies.
Komaali Kings is a 2018 Sri Lankan Tamil language black comedy thriller film written and directed by King Ratnam in his directorial debut and co-produced by Ganesh Deivanayagam, Bawadharani Rajasingham, and R. Selvaskandan for Picture This Motions. The film, starring Raja Ganeshan, Kamala Sri Mohan, Darshan Dharmaraj, Gajan Kanesshan, Niranjani Shanmugaraja, Sathiyapriya Ratnasaamy, and King Ratnam in the lead roles, opened to positive reviews among the audience after the first day. The film also received praise from critics for its satire and comedy storyline.
Niranjani Shanmugaraja also known as Niranjani Shanmugarajah is a Sri Lankan award-winning actress in Sri Lankan Sinhalese and Tamil Cinema. She also works as a television host in Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation.
Demons in Paradise is a 2017 trilingual Sri Lankan based documentary feature film written by Isabelle Marina and directed by Jude Ratnam in his directorial debut depicting the worst consequences for both Sinhalese and Tamils due to the 30 year long endured Sri Lankan Civil War. The portions of the film were mostly shot in Sri Lanka and was set in France. The film had its world premiere during the 2017 Cannes Film Festival in May 2017 and was opened to highly positive reviews making it as an internationally acclaimed and recognised film. Jude Ratnam became the first Tamil filmmaker to openly criticise the Tamil Tigers through the plot of the documentary film and the film received criticism among Sri Lankan Jaffna Tamils for the storyline.
Wasantha Kumaravila is a Sri Lankan actor, and stunt director. Particularly active in cinema in villain roles, Kumaravila is also a film producer and stunt performer. He is most notable for the role "Wasantha" in soap opera Nilanjana directed by Suki Jeyaram.
The 42nd SIGNIS Sri Lanka Salutation Awards Ceremony 2018 festival, presented by the SIGNIS and organized by Sri Lanka Catholic Cinema Parshadaya, was held to honor the cinema and television in Sri Lanka on August 2, 2019, at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall, Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Secretary General of International Signis, Ricardo Younes; and Bertha Detta Padiandrajani (Rome) Maria C. Lorenzo, Secretary General of Asia Signis were the chief guests at the awards night. The keynote address was delivered by Prof. Saumya Liyanage.
Contributions to popular culture involving direct reference to the Sri Lankan Tamil community in Indian cinema are listed below. All communities that speak Tamil and originally came from Sri Lanka are included. Tamils of Sri Lanka today are a trans-national minority and are found across the globe. While most films on the topic are made in Tamil cinema, there has also been Malayalam and Hindi content on the area.
