S. Shankar

S. Shankar
Born Shankar Shanmugam
(1963-08-17) 17 August 1963[1]
Kumbakonam, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India
Residence Bhimavaram, AndhraPradesh, India
Nationality Indian
Occupation Film director, film producer, screenwriter
Years active 1993–present
Spouse(s) Easwari Shankar
Children Aishwarya Shankar
Aditi Shankar
Arjith Shankar

Shankar Shanmugam (born 17 August 1963), credited mononymously as Shankar, is an Indian filmmaker who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Recognized for directing some of the most expensive films in Indian cinema, he is also a pioneer of vigilante films in Tamil. He made his debut as a director in the film Gentleman (1993) produced by K. T. Kunjumon, for which he was awarded the Filmfare Best Director Award and the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Director. He is the highest paid film-maker in India among his contemporaries. He usually collaborates with composer A. R. Rahman, both having done over 10 films together. He had received numerous accolades for his rich and innovative film-making.[2]

Two of his films, Indian (1996) and Jeans (1998), were submitted by India for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by M. G. R. University.

Early life

Shankar was born on 17 August 1963 in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu to Muthulakshmi and Shanmugam. He completed his diploma in Mechanical Engineering from Central Polytechnic College before entering the film industry.[1] He was roped into the film industry as a screenwriter by S. A. Chandrasekhar, who accidentally saw the drama stage shows made by Shankar and his team. Though he wanted to be an actor, he chose to be a director instead and became one of the leading directors in Indian Cinema.[3]

Career

1990s

Shankar began his career as an assistant to film directors like S. A. Chandrasekhar and Pavithran.[1][3] His first break in Hindi films was as an assistant director to S. A. Chandrasekhar in Jai Shiv Shankar (1990) produced by Rajesh Khanna. In 1993, he made his directional debut through Gentleman. Starring Arjun Sarja in the lead role, the film was made with a higher budget in Tamil cinema during that time, won positive response and became a blockbuster.[4] A. R. Rahman, the film's music composer continued to work with Shankar in his following 6 directorial ventures.

His second film Kadhalan, a romantic-action film was released in the following year, had Prabhu Deva in the lead role. In 1996, he collaborated with Kamal Haasan for Indian. It was dubbed in Hindi as Hindustani and Telugu as Bharateeyudu. The film was selected as the country's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Following Indian, Shankar began work on Jeans, which released in 1998 and became the most expensive film in Indian cinema at that time with a budget of ₹ 200 million. Upon release, it became one of the highest grossing Tamil films of the 1990s. He made his production debut through Mudhalvan (1999). Arjun Sarja joined the project.

2000s

Shankar opted to remake Mudhalvan in Hindi as Nayak, thus making his Bollywood debut. Nayak, released in September 2001, was declared a "Flop" by Box Office India due to the poor marketing, its high budget and distribution price. It went on to gain a cult status despite not doing well at the box office.[5][6][7] Shankar started to work on his next film which was supposed to be a science fiction film titled Robot that was slated to have Kamal Haasan in the lead, the project was stalled since Kamal Haasan was busy with other projects. Later, the project could not move forward due to budgeting problems.[8]

His musical entertainer film Boys was released in 2003, which received mixed response from the critics and audience, prompting it to do only average business. His psychological thriller Anniyan, featuring Vikram in three distinct characters (Ambi, Remo & Anniyan) was released in 2005 with Harris Jayaraj as the composer for his film. Anniyan turned out to become the second highest grossing Tamil film of 2005. Shortly after the release of Anniyan, it was reported that Shankar had teamed up with Rajinikanth and AVM Productions for a film. He renewed his association with A. R. Rahman with the film. Sivaji was made at a budget of ₹ 600 million,[9] the most expensive Indian film at that time. He was paid with a record salary of ₹100 million for the film. After two years of filming, the film released in 2007. Ultimately it went on to become one of the highest grossing Tamil films of that time.[10]

2010s

Following Sivaji, Shankar revisited the possibilities of opinion regarding the script, he later decided to make the project in Tamil with Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai. The film was produced by South Indian media proprietor, Kalanithi Maran, was renamed as Enthiran and was made on a budget of ₹1.32 billion, the most expensive Indian film. Some reports also make it one of the highest grossing Tamil films of the time.[11][12] After initial reports indicating that Shankar's next film is entitled to be with Siddharth, Shankar started to work on Nanban, the Tamil remake of the 2009 Hindi film 3 Idiots starring Vijay, Jeeva and Srikanth. The film opened in January 2012. After Nanban, it was wrongly reported that Shankar's next film would be called Therdal.[13] On 21 June 2012, Shankar announced his next film named I.[14] A romantic ting revenge upon the people who turned him into a hunchback. Vikram played the lead role, collaborating with Shankar again after Anniyan (2005), while Amy Jackson was the female lead. The film, made over a period of two and half years, released on 14 January 2015 to mixed reviews but earned almost ₹2 billion in 19 days.[15] He is currently working on the production of 2.0, a sequel to Enthiran.

Personal life

S.Shankar family includes his father Shanmugam, mother Muthulakshmi, his wife Easwari, two daughters and a son.

Filmography

As director, writer and producer

Year Film Male Lead Female Lead Credited as Notes
Director Producer Writer
1993 Gentleman Arjun Madhoo Yes Yes
1994 Kadhalan Prabhu Deva Nagma Yes Yes Dubbed in Telugu as Premikudu
The Gentleman Chiranjeevi Juhi Chawla Yes Hindi film
1996 Indian Kamal Hassan Manisha Koirala

Urmila mandotkar

 Yes Yes Dubbed in Telugu as Bharateeyudu
1998 Jeans Prasanth Aishwarya Rai Yes Yes
1999 Mudhalvan Arjun Manisha Koirala Yes Yes Yes Dubbed in Telugu as Oke Okkadu
2001 Nayak Anil Kapoor Rani Mukherji Yes Yes Hindi film
2003 Boys Siddharth Genelia D'Souza Yes Yes
2004 Kaadhal Bharath Sandhya Yes
2005 Anniyan Vikram Sadha Yes Yes Dubbed in Telugu as Aparichitudu

Dubbed in Hindi as 'Aparichit'

2006 Imsai Arasan 23am Pulikesi Vadivelu Monica Yes
Veyil Bharath Bhavana Yes
2007 Sivaji Rajinikanth Shreya saran Yes Yes
Kalloori Akhil Tamannaah Yes
2008 Arai Enn 305-il Kadavul Prakash Raj Jyothirmayi Yes
2009 Eeram Aadhi Sindhu Yes
2010 Rettaisuzhi Aari Anjali Yes
Anandhapurathu Veedu Nandha Chaya Yes
Enthiran: The Robot Rajinikanth Aishwarya Rai Yes Yes Dubbed in Telugu as Robo

Dubbed in Hindi as 'Robot'

2012 Nanban Vijay Jeeva

Srikanth

 Ileana D'Cruz Yes Remake of Hindi Film 3 Idiots

Dubbed in Telugu as Snehitudu

2015 I Vikram Amy Jackson Yes Yes
2018 2.0 Rajinikanth

Akshay Kumar

 Amy Jackson Yes Yes Post-production
TBD Indian 2 Kamal Haasan Nayanthara Yes Yes Pre-production

Other credited works

Year Film Notes
1986Poovum PuyalumUncredited role
Vasantha RaagamUncredited role as a printing press worker
1990SeethaUncredited role as Japan
1994KadhalanLyricist for "Pettai Rap"
Special appearance in the song "Kadhalikum Pennin"
2002Kadhal VirusSpecial appearance as himself
2007Sivaji: The BossSpecial appearance in the song "Balleilakka"
2010EnthiranSpecial appearance
2012NanbanSpecial appearance in the song "Asku Laska"

Shankar is known to favor certain actors and actresses in the industry, and has often worked with them on multiple films. This list includes Vikram, Aishwarya Rai, Arjun, Manisha Koirala, Amy Jackson, and Rajinikanth, who appears in three of Shankar's films — the most for any actor.

Accolades

Submissions for the Academy Award

Year Films Category Result
1996 Indian Best Foreign Language Film Submitted
1998 Jeans

National Film Award

Year Films Category Result
2006 Veyil Best Feature Film in Tamil Won

Filmfare Awards South

Year Films Category Result
1994 Gentleman Best Director Won
1995 Kadhalan
2006 Anniyan
2007 Veyil Best Film – Tamil
2008 Sivaji: The.Boss Best Director Nominated
2011 Enthiran: The Robot
2016 I

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards

Year Films Category Result
1993 Gentleman Best Director Won
1996 Indian Best Feature Film (First prize)
2005 Anniyan Best Feature Film (Second prize)
Best Director
2006 Veyil Best Feature Film (First prize)
2007 Sivaji: The.Boss

Vijay Awards

Year Films Category Result
2010 Enthiran: The Robot Favourite Director Won
2013 Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan Award for Excellence in Indian Cinema

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Director Shankar — Director, Producer, Writer, picture, biography, profile, info and favourites". Nilacharal.com. Archived from the original on 24 March 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  2. ↑ "Demystifying India's highest paid film-maker - the elusive S Shankar". Mumbai Mirror. The Economic Times. 3 October 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  3. 1 2 Pavithra Srinivasan (4 April 1997). "Rediff On The Net, Movies:An interview with Shankar". Rediff.com. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  4. ↑ "Director Shankar's Interview". Behindwoods. 20 January 2005. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  5. ↑ "Nayak - Movie - Box Office India". Box Office India. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  6. ↑ Devika Sahni (7 September 2016). "15 Years On, Nayak Remains As Relevant To India's Political Scenario As It Was Back Then". scoopwhoop.com. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  7. ↑ "Baahubali writer gets busy with Nayak sequel". The New Indian Express. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  8. ↑ Rajitha (5 November 2001). "Movies:Shankar and Rajnikanth team up". Rediff.com. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  9. ↑ "Sivaji – The Boss (Now Playing)". Indiatimes. 18 June 2007. Archived from the original on 4 January 2010. Made on a budget of about Rs. 75 Crores...
  10. ↑ "Eros buys Tamil film distributor". Business Standard. 13 July 2007. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  11. ↑ "Rajinikanth's 'Robot' biggest grosser of all time". IBN Live.
  12. ↑ "Rajinikanth adds 30% to Kalanithi Maran's Sun TV Network revenue". The Economic Times. 31 January 2011.
  13. ↑ "Samantha bags Shankar's next Therdal". The Times of India. Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. 16 June 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  14. ↑ "'I' will be produced on a mega scale". The Times of India. 26 June 2012.
  15. ↑ Prakash, Upadhyaya (3 February 2015). "'I' Box Office Collection: Vikram's Flick Grosses ₹200 Crore Worldwide in 19 Days". IB Times. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
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