Susi Ganeshan

Susi Ganeshan
Born Ganeshan Subbaiya
(1971-06-16) 16 June 1971
Vannivelampatti, Madurai district, Tamil Nadu, India
Years active 2002–present
Parent(s) Subbaiya
Sittammaal
Website www.directorsusiganesh.com

Susi Ganesan (born Ganesan Subbiah) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter.

Early life

Ganesan was born in (16 June 1971) Vannivelampatti, Madurai District in Tamil Nadu to Tamil parents Subbiah and Sittamma. He changed his screenname to Susi Ganesan, his first name being derived from the first two letters from his parents' first names.He did his schooling in Gandhi nikethan higher secondary school in T.Kallupatti, Ganesan graduated from Madras Institute of Technology with a bachelor's degree in automobile engineering.[1]

During his college days, he was a journalist and had published many articles for the Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan.[1] He was also chairman of ATHENAEUM, the student body of the Madras Institute of Technology, during 1991–92. After working as an assistant to director Mani Ratnam during the filming of Bombay (1995), Iruvar (1997) and Dil Se.. (1998), Ganeshan debuted as a director with the 2002 film Virumbugiren.[2]

Career

In March 1999, Susi Ganeshan was able to convince producer Shanti Thiagarajan to fund his first feature film, after he left Mani Ratnam's team of assistant directors. The film was initially titled Thithikkum Thee and was to feature to Murali in the lead role of a firefighter. In return for producing his first film, Shanti Thiagarajan requested Ganeshan to also work on another film starring her son Prashanth in the lead role and consequently, Ganeshan finalised a script titled Pepsi: Generation Next.[3] In a turn of events, Prashanth replaced Murali in the director's first project, which was retitled as Virumbugiren in early 2000. The project, which also marked the debut of actress Sneha, went through production troubles and released nearly two years after the launch, becoming Ganeshan's second release. The film received four awards at the 2001 Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, winning the Best Director, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress prizes, while also being adjugded as the Best Film of the year.

Ganeshan then made Pepsi: Generation Next as Five Star (2002), which happened to be his first release, due to the delay of his first project Virumbugiren.[2] Five Star, produced by his mentor Mani Ratnam under the banner Madras Talkies, featured five newcomers in the title roles. The story focused on friendship, love with social awareness and a touch of human emotions. The film won him the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Storywriter. In early 2004, he announced plans on directing Madhavan in a film titled Karuppan which would feature ten female lead actresses, but the venture did not materialize.[4] He then launched a film titled Sakkarai with Prashanth and Reemma Sen in the lead roles in October 2004, but the film was subsequently postponed then shelved.[5]

In 2006, Ganeshan made his third film Thiruttu Payale. The film, which featured Jeevan, Sonia Agarwal and Malavika in principal roles, emerged a sleeper hit and ranked among the highest-grossing Tamil films of the year. It was named the third Best Film of the year by the Tamil Nadu State Government and gave major breaks to the leading actors, with the performances of Jeevan and Malavika in particular being considerably appreciated. Three years later, Ganeshan directed Kanthaswamy. The film dealt with disparity of rich and poor in the Indian society, and it was reportedly the first South Indian film in that the protagonist, portrayed by Vikram, conceived a superhero character. The film had the biggest opening in the year 2009.

Ganeshan's next directed and produced the Hindi film, Shortcut Romeo (2013), a remake of his 2006 film Thiruttu Payale starring Neil Nitin Mukesh and Puja Gupta.

After a long break in Tamil Film Industry, Susi Ganesan made a come back with a sequel to his success film Thiruttupayale. Thiruttupayale 2 featured Bobby Simha, Prasanna and Amala paul in lead roles. The movie was released in Nov 2017 and made an average collection.

Filmography

Year Film Credited as Language Notes
Director Writer
2002Five StarGreen tickGreen tickTamilWinner, Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Storywriter
2002VirumbugirenGreen tickGreen tickTamilWinner, Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film
Winner, Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Director
2006Thiruttu PayaleGreen tickGreen tickTamilWinner, Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Third Best Film
2009KanthaswamyGreen tickGreen tickTamilNominated, Vijay Award for Favourite Director
2013Shortcut RomeoGreen tickGreen tickHindi
2017Thiruttu Payale 2Green tickGreen tickTamil

References

  1. 1 2 "An Encounter with S Ganeshan". Rediff. 7 November 2002. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  2. 1 2 Ashok Kumar, S.R. (21 June 2006). "From MIT engineer to film director". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  3. ↑ http://m.rediff.com/movies/1999/mar/26ss.htm
  4. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20040617013758/http://www.chennaionline.com/reeltalk/04reeltalk26th.asp
  5. ↑ http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/malayalam/article/11054.html
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