Murugadoss Arunasalam, commonly known as A. R. Murugadoss, is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who predominantly works in the Tamil film industry. He is best known for directing action films mainly on social issues. In addition, he has worked in Telugu films and Hindi films. Murugadoss won the Filmfare Award for Best Director for his 2014 Tamil action drama Kaththi.
Kalaipuli S. Thanu is an Indian film producer, director and distributor, known for his films in Tamil cinema. He has produced several films through his two companies, V Creations and Kalaipuli Films International. Many of his films have been commercially successful, three of which are among the top-ten highest grossing Tamil films. He has won two National Film Awards, two Cinema Express Awards and one Filmfare Awards South.
Pa. Ranjith is an Indian film director and screenwriter who primarily works in Tamil cinema. He made his directorial debut with the 2012 romantic comedy Attakathi, before earning unanimously positive reviews for his second film, the political drama Madras (2014). In 2016, he wrote and directed the gangster-drama Kabali and in 2018, Kaala both starring Rajinikanth.
Arun Kumar, known mononymously as Atlee, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer best known for his work in Tamil films. He initially worked as an assistant director under S. Shankar in the films Enthiran (2010) and Nanban (2012). He made his directorial debut with the film Raja Rani starring Nayanthara, Nazriya, Arya and Jai, produced by Fox Star Studios, for which he was awarded Best Debut Director by Vijay Award and Tamil Nadu State award for best dialogue writer.
Theri is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Atlee Kumar and produced by Kalaipuli S. Thanu under the banner V Creations. It is inspired from Mani Ratnam's film Chatriyan. The film stars Vijay, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Amy Jackson. The film's music is composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar, with cinematography handled by George C. Williams and editing done by Ruben. In the film, a former police officer is on a mission to protect his daughter from his past enemies.
Kabali is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by Pa. Ranjith and produced by Kalaipuli S. Thanu. The film stars Rajinikanth in the titular role, with Radhika Apte, Sai Dhanshika, Winston Chao, Kishore, Dinesh, Kalaiyarasan and John Vijay in supporting roles. In the film, Kabali is an aged gangster who gets released from prison and sets on to exact revenge on his rivals while also looking for his wife Kumudhavalli and daughter Yogitha.
The 2nd IIFA Utsavam ceremony honouring the winners and nominees of the best of South Indian cinema in 2016 was an event held on 28 and 29 March 2017 at the Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The event, which is the second edition of the IIFA Utsavam, recognises the best work from the four industries during the year 2016 and awarded prizes to performers and technicians from the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada languages.
Kabali is the soundtrack album, composed by Santhosh Narayanan for the 2016 Indian Tamil-language action crime film of the same name written and directed by Pa. Ranjith and produced by Kalaipuli S. Thanu, starring Rajinikanth, Radhika Apte and Winston Chao. This album marks the first collaboration between Rajinikanth and Santhosh. The soundtrack album featuring five songs with lyrics written by Kabilan, Vivek, Umadevi and Arunraja Kamaraj was released on 12 June 2016, at Chennai and was also released in Telugu, Hindi and Malay languages. Santhosh Narayanan won the Best Music Director Award at the 2017 Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards. Initially, he was nominated for the Best Music Director – Tamil award at the 2017 Filmfare Awards South, along with Arunraja Kamaraj, for Best Lyricist – Tamil, Best Male Playback Singer – Tamil for the song "Neruppu Da". However, Shweta Mohan won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer – Tamil for "Maya Nadhi".
