Praveen Gandhi

Last updated

Praveen Gandhi
Born
Praveenkanth

(1974-02-10) 10 February 1974 (age 50)
Chennai, India
Occupation(s)Film director, actor
Years active1996–2014

Praveen Gandhi (also credited as Praveenkanth) is an Indian film director, and actor known for his works in Tamil cinema.

Contents

Career

Praveen Gandhi entered industry with the aim to become an actor since he lacked background, he worked as co-director for Priyadarshan. [1] He was first given the opportunity to become a film maker by producer K. T. Kunjumon with Ratchagan (1997), who noted that in the director he saw "a young man who is very talented and full of ideas who was willing to work hard". [2] The film was launched in January 1996 but filming only commenced the following year in January 1997, with an established cast and crew including Telugu actor Nagarjuna, Miss Universe pageant winner Sushmita Sen, Girish Karnad and A. R. Rahman. The film was shot all over India including locations in Manali, Mumbai, Goa, Ooty, Rajasthan and Delhi, with Kunjumon making a claim during filming stages that the film would become India's most costly production. [3]

Praveen Gandhi returned in 1999 with the romantic film, Jodi , featuring Prashanth and Simran. He released the film under the name Praveenkanth, his original name, after being known as Praveen Gandhi in his first venture. The director also played a cameo role in the film portraying an eloping youngster who assists Prashanth. [4] [5] The film opened to positive reviews and became a box office success, with a reviewer noting "the director's light-veined screenplay keeps the movie moving at a good pace". [6]

In 2000, Praveen Gandhi considered making a film titled Apoorvan with Ajith Kumar and Aishwarya Rai starring, but the project did not materialise. [7] [8] Jodi's success prompted director to collaborate with Prashanth and Simran again in a project called Star (2001), but Simran soon dropped out and the film failed to replicate the success of Jodi. [9] Portraying a full length supporting role, Praveen Gandhi won negative reviews for his acting and direction with a critic noting it was a "ruinously shoddy script" and "the director’s attempt to enter into the acting arena, and play one of the crucial characters in the film adds insult to injury". [10] Another reviewer described that "the messy screenplay in the second half ruins the story that admittedly has enough potential for romance, laughs, sentiments and action". [11]

In 2003, he began working on a film titled Thullal, in which he would play the central character and despite being launched amidst much fanfare, its theatrical release saw a delay. [12] The film eventually opened in July 2007 to unanimously poor reviews, with a critic labelling the film as "torture", adding that the director has a "misplaced sense of self importance in his very first film as a hero". [13] Despite the failure of the film, he announced two further acting ventures Muktha then Vilasam TN 03 6999, though neither film were completed or released. [14] Another directorial venture planned in 2009, Adayalam with Ragini, also failed to materialize. [15]

Filmography

YearFilmRoleNotes
1997 Ratchagan
1999 Jodi Eloping youngstercredited as Praveenkanth
2001 Star Santhosh
2007 Thullal Seenu
2014 Pulipaarvai Also editor, art director, lyricist

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simran (actress)</span> Indian actress, film producer (b. 1976)

Simran Bagga is an Indian actress, film producer, dancer and singer who works predominantly in Tamil films. She has also appeared in Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada films. She is one of the most prolific actresses of Tamil cinema. She is the recipient of numerous accolades including three Filmfare Awards South and one Tamil Nadu State Film Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prashanth</span> Indian actor

Prashanth Thiagarajan, known professionally as Prashanth, is an Indian actor and businessman, known for his works predominantly in Tamil cinema. Besides Tamil films, he has also appeared in few Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam films. At the peak of his career in the late 1990s, Prashanth was one of the popular actors in South India. He has won a Kalaimamani Award from the Government of Tamil Nadu. The son of actor-director Thiagarajan, Prashanth began his career at 17 by appearing in the Tamil film Vaigasi Poranthachu (1990) and went on to feature in other films including Balu Mahendra's Vanna Vanna Pookkal (1992), R. K. Selvamani's Chembaruthi (1992), K. Rushendra Reddy's Tholi Muddhu (1993), and Mani Ratnam's action-comedy Thiruda Thiruda (1993). Prashanth rose to stardom with Shankar's romantic comedy Jeans (1998) in which he played a dual role alongside Aishwarya Rai. The success of Jeans saw him garner opportunities to work in bigger film projects and in the late 1990s, he featured in a series of breakthrough films such as Kannedhirey Thondrinal (1998), Kaadhal Kavithai (1998), Jodi (1999) and Parthen Rasithen (2000).

<i>Good Luck</i> (2000 film) 2000 Indian film

Good Luck is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written, directed and produced by Manoj Bhatnaghar. The movie stars Prashanth, Riya Sen and Raghuvaran in main roles. The film released on 4 February 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R. K. Selvamani</span> Indian film director (born 1965)

R.K. Selvamani is an Indian former film director. He is known to make films in the police or whodunit genres.

<i>Kaadhal Kavithai</i> 1998 Indian film

Kaadhal Kavithai is a 1998 Indian Tamil-language romance film directed by Agathiyan and produced by Sunanda Murali Manohar. The film stars Prashanth, Isha Koppikar and Kasthuri, while Manivannan and Srividya play supporting characters. The film had music composed by Ilaiyaraaja, while duo Lancy-Mohan and Ravi Yadav handled the editing and cinematography respectively.

<i>Ratchagan</i> 1997 Indian film

Ratchagan (transl. Saviour) is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language romantic action film written, produced by K. T. Kunjumon, and directed by Praveen Gandhi in his debut. The music and background score is composed by A. R. Rahman. It stars Nagarjuna and Sushmita Sen in their Tamil debuts, alongside Raghuvaran, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Vadivelu and Girish Karnad in supporting roles. The film was released on 30 October 1997. It was the most expensive Indian film at the time of release. Notably, this marks the first and last Tamil film to have Sen in a lead role. The film turned out to be a box-office bomb although it went on to gather a cult following over the years.

<i>Jodi</i> (1999 film) 1999 Indian film

Jodi (transl. Couple) is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy drama film directed by Praveenkanth and produced by Sunanda Murali Manohar. The film stars Prashanth and Simran, with Vijayakumar, Nassar and Srividya in supporting roles. The soundtrack is composed by A. R. Rahman, featuring music reused from his own earlier soundtrack for the Hindi film Doli Saja Ke Rakhna, except for the song Oru Poiyavathu. Due to Rahman's unavailability, Praveen signed Sabesh–Murali to quickly compose the background score. The film was released on 9 September 1999, and became commercially successful. It was remade in Kannada in 2006 as Sajni.

<i>Star</i> (2001 film) 2001 film directed by Praveen Gandhi

Star is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Praveenkanth and produced by Vijaykrishna. The film stars Prashanth and Jyothika while Raghuvaran, Vijayakumar, and Praveenkanth play other pivotal roles. The film features songs by A. R. Rahman reused from his own Hindi films Thakshak and 1947: Earth, while the background score was composed by Sabesh–Murali due to Rahman's unavailability. The film was released on 27 July 2001 and failed at the box office.

K. V. Saravanan, better known as Saran, is an Indian film director active mainly in Tamil cinema. He was once an assistant to K. Balachander. He owns production house called Gemini Productions.

<i>Virumbugiren</i> 2002 Indian film

Virumbugiren is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by Susi Ganeshan. The film stars Prashanth and Sneha, while Eswari Rao played a pivotal role which fetched her Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Character Artiste (Female) and Nassar, Livingston and Sriman portrayed supporting roles. Deva composed the film's music while K. V. Anand handled the film's cinematography. The film released after much delay across Tamil Nadu in December 2002.

<i>Thamizh</i> 2002 Indian film

Thamizh is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by Hari, in his directorial debut and produced by Amudha Durairaj. The film stars Prashanth and Simran, while Vadivelu, Urvashi, Nassar, Ashish Vidyarthi and Livingston portray supporting roles. Featuring music composed by Bharadwaj, Thamizh opened to positive reviews upon release in 14 April 2002 and became a commercial success.

<i>Time</i> (1999 film) 1999 Indian film

Time is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by Geetha Krishna. The film stars Prabhu Deva, Simran and Radhika Chaudhari. It was released on 3 December 1999.

<i>Payanam</i> (2011 film) 2011 film by Radha Mohan

Payanam (transl. Journey) is a 2011 Indian action thriller film that was written and directed by Radha Mohan. It was simultaneously filmed in Tamil and Telugu languages, the latter being titled Gaganam (transl.Sky). The film's plot is based on a flight hijacking incident. Payanam's cast includes Nagarjuna, Prakash Raj, Poonam Kaur, Sana Khan, Rishi, Brahmanandam and Thalaivasal Vijay. The film was co-produced by Raj and Dil Raju, and was released on 11 February 2011 to critical and commercial success.

<i>Ala Modalaindi</i> 2011 film by B.V. Nandini Reddy

Ala Modalaindi is a 2011 Indian Telugu-language romantic comedy film written and directed by B. V. Nandini Reddy under the Sri Ranjith Movies banner. It stars Nani, Nithya Menen and Sneha Ullal with the music composed by Kalyani Malik. The film's cinematography is performed by Arjun Jena with editing by Marthand K. Venkatesh.

K. T. Kunjumon is a former Indian film producer and writer, politician active in Tamil and Malayalam films. He began his career co-producing several Malayalam films, often working with director P. G. Viswambharan. His first Kollywood project, Pavithran's Suriyan as Sarathkumar's first solo lead role was a success. Kunjumon's second venture, S. Shankar's directorial debut Gentleman was a major success and set several records for Tamil film production. His subsequent films, Kaadhalan (1994) and Kadhal Desam (1996) were also successful, while Ratchagan (1997) became the most expensive Tamil film ever made on release.

<i>Jai</i> (2004 Tamil film) 2004 film by S. Narayan

Jai is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by S. Narayan, who had previously worked in Kannada language films. The film stars Prashanth and Anshu, while the former's father Thiagarajan, along with Rajkiran, Bhanupriya, and Rajan P. Dev play supporting roles. A remake of the 2002 Telugu blockbuster film Aadi, it was produced by Thiagarajan and has music composed by Mani Sharma. Jai was released in January 2004 to negative reviews.

Pavithran is an Indian film director, who has made many hit Tamil films. He was active primarily in the 1990s collaborating in ventures which often included Sarathkumar in pivotal roles. He was awarded the Tamil Nadu state Kalaimamani award for his works in the film industry. He is known to have made his assistants huge stars in the film Industry. All his assistant film directors have gone to be huge like S. Shankar, A. Venkatesh, Balaji Sakthivel, Vincent Selva, Saravana Subbaiya and many more. He has also introduced stars like Prabu Deva, Devayani, and Roja. During the 1990s his movies with newcomers like Sarathkumar, Ajith Kumar, and Vijay made them stars and established actors in the industry. He also introduced comedians like Soori and Vimal in his movie Mattuthavani.

Thullal (transl.Overjoy) is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language adult erotic drama film written and directed by Praveenkanth starring himself, Gurleen Chopra and Sonika. Dhina composed the film's music. Thullal which began production in 2003 had a delayed release on 19 July 2007 to poor reviews.

Sivasakthi Movie Makers is an Indian film production and distribution company headed by Sivasakthi Pandian. The film had been a leading production studio in the Tamil film industry in the 1990s, but has struggled following the switch to digital film-making. The studio has made eleven films, all of which have music composed by Deva.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. M. Nandakumar</span> Indian film director and screenwriter

A. M. Nandakumar is an Indian film director and screenwriter who has worked on Tamil films. He made his debut with the 2003 action drama film, Thennavan starring Vijaykanth and Kiran Rathod.

References

  1. "கடவுளே நினைச்சாலும் என்னை காப்பாத்த முடியாதாம்!". Kalki (in Tamil). 9 October 2005. pp. 16–17. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
  2. "Rediff On The Net, Movies: Will Rakshakan resurrect Sushmita's career?". Rediff.com. 2 August 1997. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  3. "rediff.com, Movies: Gossip from the southern film industry". Rediff.com. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  4. "rediff.com, Movies: Gossip from the southern film industry". Rediff.com. 31 May 2000. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  5. "Jodi: Movie Review". Indolink.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. "dinakaran". 23 October 2004. Archived from the original on 23 October 2004.
  7. "www.cinesouth.com - Masala (Hot News from Tamil Film Industry)". 15 May 2001. Archived from the original on 15 May 2001.
  8. "Star: A multi-starrer flop — The New Indian Express". 20 June 2004. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  9. "Siliconeer: August 2001". www.siliconeer.com.
  10. "Star - Tamil Movie Review". Archived from the original on 14 January 2010.
  11. "The Hindu : Another director-actor!". www.hindu.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2004. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  12. "Movie Review : Thullal". Sify . 29 March 2014. Archived from the original on 29 March 2014.
  13. "THULLAL PRAVEEN KANTH Nagarjuna Sushmita Sen Jodi Prashanth Simran Vilasam TN 03 6999 Tamil Movie Trailer Indian movie Trailers image gallery". www.behindwoods.com.
  14. "Tamil Cinema News | Tamil Movie Reviews | Tamil Movie Trailers - IndiaGlitz Tamil". Archived from the original on 26 October 2009.