Velu Prabakaran | |
---|---|
Occupation(s) | Film director actor cinematographer |
Years active | 1984–present |
Spouse | Shirley Das |
Velu Prabakaran is an Indian filmmaker, cinematographer and actor. He is known for his themes highlighting atheism and revolutionary subjects in his films. [1]
Velu Prabakaran began as a cinematographer before making his directorial debut with the 1989 horror film Nalaya Manithan , before also directing its sequel Adhisaya Manithan (1990). He then made two more consecutive action films under R. K. Selvamani's production in Asuran and Rajali , with both becoming box office failures. [2] He then worked on action films with lead characters, who often featured as a revolutionary, making Kadavul (1997), Sivan (1999) and Puratchikkaaran (2000). In 2000, he began pre-production on a film titled Deepavali and approached Kamal Haasan to play the lead role. However, the actor's rejection meant that the project was later shelved. [3]
Velu Prabakaran began work on the production of a film titled Kadhal Arangam in 2004, writing the story, screenplay and dialogue for the project. [4] Starring newcomers Preethi Rangayani and Shirley Das in leading roles, he revealed that the film would expose the falsehood of kama in society, though he later gave directorial credits of the film to his brother Velu Raja. The film also takes on the prevailing caste system and explores sexuality. Thus, the censors were not willing to give it a certificate due to objectionable scenes and an ongoing battle with the censor board emerged in December 2004. [5] In December 2006, Velu Prabakaran held an emotional appeal at a press conference stating that the film touched upon issues of social concern and stressed the importance of sex education amongst youngsters. In 2009, the team finally agreed to tone down the scenes and mute certain dialogues and to compromise with the censors the film, they changed the title from Kadhal Arangam to Kadhal Kathai. [6] In the title credits of the film, Velu Prabakaran included an extended scene which narrates his opinions and difficulties of the way the film released; while he also plays the role of a film director in the venture, noting that parts were autobiographical. [7] The film opened to very negative reviews from critics, with a reviewer noting "the movie has apparently no script or whatever and is a string of events interspersed with sex scenes." [8] Another critic noted "it's too boring to even qualify as a sex flick", describing the film as "unwatchable". [9]
In 2009, he signed on to direct a film titled Devadasi under JSK Film Corporation telling the tale of a 16th-century romance, though delays meant that he began another project titled Mugamoodi Koothu and then another titled Kalainganin Kadhal, where he would play the lead role. [10] The projects failed to take off and since then the director has kept away from the film industry for a number of years, before releasing a teaser trailer to Oru Iyakkunarin Kadhal Diary during January 2017.
Velu Prabhakaran was previously married to actress and director P. Jayadevi. At the age of 60 in June 2017, Velu Prabakaran announced to marry Shirley Das who acted in his film Kadhal Kadhai (2009). [11] [12]
Year | Title | Credited as | Notes | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Director | Writer | Cinematographer | Actor | Role | |||
1989 | Nalaya Manithan | ||||||
1989 | Sariyana Jodi | ||||||
1989 | Pick Pocket | ||||||
1990 | Adhisaya Manithan | ||||||
1991 | Uruvam | ||||||
1993 | Uthama Raasa | ||||||
1995 | Puthiya Aatchi | Tamizhmani | |||||
1995 | Asuran | ||||||
1996 | Rajali | ||||||
1997 | Kadavul | Rajapandi | Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Dialogue Writer | ||||
1999 | Sivan | ||||||
2000 | Puratchikkaaran | Tamizhmani | |||||
2003 | Vikadan | ||||||
2007 | Naalaiya Pozhuthum Unnodu | ||||||
2009 | Kadhal Kadhai | Himself | |||||
2011 | Pathinaaru | ||||||
2017 | Oru Iyakkunarin Kadhal Diary | ||||||
2019 | Gangs of Madras | ||||||
2021 | Jango | ||||||
2021 | Anti Indian | Hajiyar | |||||
2022 | Cadaver | ||||||
2023 | Pizza 3: The Mummy | ||||||
2023 | Raid | ||||||
2024 | Weapon | Omkar |
R.K. Selvamani is an Indian former film director. He is known to make films in the police or whodunit genres.
Adhu Oru Kana Kaalam is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Balu Mahendra. The film featured Dhanush and Priyamani, while Karunas and Delhi Ganesh played supporting roles. The music for the film was scored by Ilaiyaraaja, while Sai Suresh produced the venture. The film is a remake of the director's own Malayalam film Yathra. The film was released on 2 November 2005, coinciding with Diwali, and received a below average response commercially.
Kuruvi is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film written and directed by Dharani. It is produced by Udhayanidhi Stalin under Red Giant Movies. The film stars Vijay in the lead role alongside Trisha, Suman, Vivek, Ashish Vidyarthi and Manivannan.
Vijay Thesingu Rajendar, also known as T. R., is an Indian actor, film director, film producer, musician, cinematographer, film distributor and politician who works primarily in the Tamil film industry. He is living in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Rajendar is known for being able to speak in rhyming sentences spontaneously and incessant rapping.
Arun Vijay, formerly known as Arun Kumar, is an Indian actor who works primarily in Tamil cinema. He also starred in a few films in Telugu, Kannada and Hindi.
Mugamoodi, subtitled onscreen as The Superhero Within, is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language superhero film directed by Mysskin and produced by Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur. The film, which is dedicated to Bruce Lee, stars Jiiva, alongside Narain, Pooja Hegde, Nassar, Selva and Girish Karnad. In the film, Anand alias Bruce Lee, a martial artist, wears a superhero costume in order to impress his girlfriend Shakthi, but Anand gets framed for his friend Viji's death and sets out to prove his innocence by becoming a real superhero called Mugamoodi.
Maanja Velu is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language masala film directed by A. Venkatesh. It stars Arun Vijay, Karthik, Prabhu and Dhansika, with Vijayakumar and Riyaz Khan playing supporting roles and Santhanam and Ganja Karuppu providing comical relief.
G. Dhananjayan (GD) is an Indian film producer, distributor, columnist, author of four books on Indian films, and founder-director BOFTA Film Institute. He has produced films in the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi languages, including Sankat City (2009), Kanden Kadhalai (2009), Mugamoodi (2012), Anjaan (2014) and Irudhi Suttru (2016), Kaatrin_Mozhi (2018), Kabadadaari (2021), Kodiyil Oruvan (2021) and many other films. He has won two National Film Awards.
Mithran R. Jawahar is an Indian film director who works predominantly in Tamil cinema.
Velayudham is a 2011 Indian Tamil-language superhero film directed by Mohan Raja and produced by V. Ravichandran under Aascar Film. It stars Vijay in the titular role with Hansika Motwani and Genelia D'Souza, while Santhanam, Saranya Mohan, Soori, Abhimanyu Singh, and Vineet Kumar play other prominent roles. The music was composed by Vijay Antony with cinematography by Priyan and editing by B. Lenin and V. T. Vijayan. The film was inspired from the 2000 Telugu film Azad and also marks Genelia's last Tamil film till date. Velayudham was released on 26 October 2011 to positive reviews and became a commercial success at the box office.
Naalai Manithan is a 1989 Indian Tamil-language science fiction action horror film directed by Velu Prabhakaran. The film stars Prabhu, Ajay Rathnam, Amala and Jaishankar. It is a remake of the American film Silent Rage (1982). The film was remade in Kannada as Manava 2022 (1997). A sequel named Adhisaya Manithan was released a year later.
Adhisaya Manithan is a 1990 Indian Tamil-language science fiction slasher film directed by Velu Prabhakaran. It is a sequel to Naalai Manithan (1989). The film stars Gautami, Ajay Rathnam, Anand, Kuyili, Kovai Sarala and Silk Smitha. It was released on 6 July 1990.
Rajali is a 1996 Indian Tamil-language action-adventure film directed by Velu Prabhakaran, and written by R. K. Selvamani. The film stars Ramki and Napoleon, while Roja and Mansoor Ali Khan play supporting roles. It was released on 17 April 1996, and did not perform well at the box office.
Purathcikkaaran (transl. Revolutionary) is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language film directed by Velu Prabhakaran and scripted by P. Jayadevi. The film stars the director himself in the lead role with Sathyaraj, Radhika, Arun Pandian, Khushbu and Roja in other pivotal roles.
Thakkali Srinivasan is an Indian film director, musician and producer who has worked on Tamil films, often involving horror or murder mystery plotlines.
Singamuthu is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil language films as a comedian.
Oru Iyakkunarin Kadhal Diary is a 2017 Tamil-language Indian film directed by Velu Prabhakaran, starring Prabakaran and Pon Swathi with many newcomers.
Well Done is a 2003 Tamil language romantic drama film directed by Ravi Bhargavan, making his directorial debut. The film stars newcomers Jayanth and Chytra Hallikeri, with K. Prabakaran, Ramji, Suganthi, Vennira Aadai Moorthy, Charle, Mohan Raman and Ilavarasu playing supporting roles. The film, produced by N. Srinivasan, was released on 25 April 2003.
Kadhal Kadhai, also known as Velu Prabhakaranin Kadhal Kadhai, is a 2009 Indian Tamil language erotic romantic drama film written and directed by Velu Prabhakaran. The film stars Velu Prabhakaran himself, Shirley Das, Preity Rangayani, Babilona, and Stefi, with Jai Rathan, Adhiroopan, Sampath Ram, Srilekha, Saakshi Siva, and Suruli Manohar playing supporting roles. The film, produced by J. Satish Kumar, had music by Ilaiyaraaja. After years of struggle with the censor board, the film was released on 17 July 2009 amid a controversy over its adult content. The film was also dubbed into Telugu as Manmadhulu. In 2017, Velu Prabhakaran married Shirley Das.
Swaminath Raamanathan, better known as Dev Ramnath, is an Indian actor and content producer, who appears in Tamil films. He was earlier credited as Abhinav until 2019, when he adopted his new name.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)