Sj Surya

S. Justin Selvaraj is an Indian film director, writer, actor, and producer in Kollywood, the Tamil film industry. His screen name is S.J. Surya. He is known for his outspoken attitude and broad outlook. SJ Surya is also known to portray roles which are considered totally inappropriate for family audiences, especially his roles in Anbe Aruyire, New and Kalvanin Kadhali. In these movies he plays the stereotyped role of a person, who is either being seduced by women or is a playboy/casanova kind of a protagonist and these movies feature explicit soft porn scenes. Surya has carved a niche for himself not only as a director but also as a storyteller and actor.

Suryah's style of film making is unique, taking the viewer in to the plot itself with a fantastic narrative of the story. His first film, Vaali with Ajith as the hero in Tamil, was a huge runaway hit playing for 270 days. It had an adult theme and went off well with the audience.

Suryah followed that with the multi-lingual, Khushi which was a huge money-spinner in Tamil and Telugu but did not fare too well in Hindi. After a hiatus for nearly 2 years, he came up with another blockbuster, New in which Suryah played the lead role apart from directing and producing the film. The film's opening is considered to be one of the biggest in Tamil cinema in recent years, with over Rs.1.1 crore being collected on the first day at the box-office. The film's music by noted composer A. R. Rahman had created waves in the audio market. However, the movie was banned by the Madras High Court in August 2005, a year after it collected huge revenues in the box office. His fourth venture in Tamil as a director was "Anbe Aaruyire" which was initially titled "Best Friend". Though this movie wasn't as big a hit as Vaali and Khushi, his fans enjoyed the movie. Currently he is ready to start his next directorial venture in telugu titled "PULI" which will be a political thriller. PULI is said to release for Summer 2008.

Director turned actor S J Suryah’s next film is Vil which will be directed by Prabhakar where he plays the role of a physically challenged man. Though initially skeptical about featuring in this movie, S J Suryah eventually agreed after watching the way the trailer of Vil was shot by the talented director.

As regards the heroine, many ladies were considered but the director was keen to have Bhavana as the leading actress and approached her. However, she had also declined the offer at the outset but the director had goaded her to see the trailer of the film and then to make her decision later. Heeding to him, Bhavana watched the trailer and as expected by Prabhakar, has instantly accepted the offer to feature as S J Suryah’s heroine in Vil. So, this magical trailer has certainly helped Prabhakar to tilt the balance in his favor.

Shyam

Shaam Sudeen is a Tamil Muslim model turned actor in Kollywood. His screen name is Shaam. His acting career began with a cameo in SJ Suryah's Khushi as a friend of Vijay. His first proper film was 12B (a knockoff of the British film, Sliding Doors) 12B was also the directorial debut for the director Jeeva, who then was a leading camera man. In 12B, his co-stars were Simran and Jyothika, the two leading actresses at that time. The movie had an average gross though the music by Harris Jeyaraj received critical acclaim.

Shaam's film Iyarkai, directed by debutant S. P. Jananathan and ably supported by cinematographer, N. K. Ekambaram, won the National Best Picture Award (Tamil, 2003) with its unique storyline and departure from cliched Tamil film romances. The shoestring budget film, a realistic portrayal of seafarers in between commission, through its excellent camerawork and music score by Vidyasagar added to the stature of the film's cast and crew but due to its delayed release was under-appreciated at the box office.

His later films showed promise but were yet to make the box-office. Shaam, after an effort to make better story selections, improved his image as his films got better returns at the box-office and helped him maintain his reputation. His recent movie Ullam Ketkumae was a commercial success. He was also a part of Mani Ratnam's stage show, Netru, Indru, Naalai. Shaam is married to his friend and college sweetheart, Kashish. When he was a model, Shaam nursed Bollywood dreams, but he got his first big break in Tamil cinema.He made his debut in 2000 with 12B, the debut directorial venture of well-known cinematographer Jeeva, co-starring Jyothika and Simran. It was a dream debut. Shaam was hailed as the next big thing in Tamil cinema. But somewhere along the way, his magic waned. A big box-office hit eluded him till Ullam Ketkume happened recently -- once again a Jeeva film -- a film that had to wait for a year to see the light of day. Now, Shaam is back with ABCD. And, he is nervous. Reviewers have given him the thumbs up, but the box-office verdict is not yet in. How do you describe your journey from 12B to ABCD? As an actor, I have grown. From the 10 films I have done so far, I have learnt a lot and gained in experience. For a person with no formal training, these films have been a tremendous learning experience. Is formal training necessary for an actor? To a great extent. If you can afford it, it's very good. But when I was trying for films, I didn't have the money to go and train myself in fights or dance. I did a course on diction, dialogue delivery in Hindi, etc in Bombay because I was trying for a break in Hindi. I feel if you are looking at acting as a full-fledged career and if you have the money, training is absolutely essential before you come into films.

Sundar C

Sundar C is a Tamil language director who has recently gone on a sabbatical in order to become an actor. He had directed 28 films in the Tamil language film industry and has acted in one project but has signed up for six more. He is married to popular actress Kushboo and has two daughters.

In the past, directors made a token appearance in their films. It was limited to one or two scenes. Then, came directors who could also act well. Therefore, K. Bhagyaraj, Parthiban, Pandiarajan and Cheran became popular. The latest director to join the club of actors is Sundar C. Acknowledged as a master of slapstick comedies, Sundar is busy taking lessons necessary to be a good actor. Best of luck, mate!

Sundar C is certainly a happy man these days. What with this film, Thalainagaram, creating a niche for itself in the list of successful films, Sundar C has truly arrived!

Sources reveal that Sundar C has done a good job for a debut film as an actor (his earlier avatars include direction), which is probably one of the reasons for the high success rate, not to forget Vadivelu’s comedy track.Sundar says, “I was quite excited to take up the challenge of acting in a film, and now, with the film being a declared a hit, the experiment has paid off and am happy for its success.” Though he is quick to add, “Perhaps not as happy as the sweet taste of victory that comes with working as a director.”

For most actors, it is the directorial debut that remains a distant dream. Save for directors-turned-actors like S J Suryah, Cheran, etc, a new trend is emerging.

But Sundar, however, is quick to clarify that his passion remains direction. “There are quite a few offers that are coming my way for acting, and I do spend sometime listening to the various scripts. But, I have not yet committed myself to another project. My choice will always remain direction though,” he says.

While the industry talk might speculate his next venture as an actor, this director is already in the process of directing his next film. “My next film is with Madhavan.”

If he were given an ultimatum to either act or direct, Sundar is quite clear that he would choose direction anyway. And for the question on whether we will someday see him share screen space with his wife, Kushboo, we only get an enigmatic smile in return. That, is perhaps, left to our own imagination!

Prabu

Prabhu Ganesan (Tamil : பிரபு) is a famous Indian actor. A native of Tamil Nadu, he is the son of actor Dr. Sivaji Ganesan and was born on December 31st. The last few films he starred in were Thamirabharani, Kusthi, Pasa Kiligal, and Chandramukhi.

Prabhu has appeared in over one hundred films. After his debut in the film Sangili (1982), he made several hit films during the '80s. He has acted in several types of roles, including comedic roles (Kanni Raasi) and villains.

He received a Best Actor Award in 1991. His film Chinna Thambi broke existing box office records in 1991. He also appeared in multi-starrers Chandramukhi and Suyamvaram.

It's a wide angle shot. A man is seen opening a gate, dressed in rags and smoking a beedi. A terminally ill disease writ large on his face. Precisely on that frame appears the Sanskrit term shruthi bedham, coupled with an off screen voice, an undoubtedly inauspicious start to any debutante's first screen appearance, especially in the maiden frame.

The film was Apoorva Raagangal (1975). The film itself was thick in controversy, and nobody took notice of the young newcomer, who was on screen barely for fifteen minutes, muttered a few apologetic words to the wronged woman and ultimately died an unsung, unheroic death.

No one in the audience, even in his wildest imagination, would have thought this nondescript man, who had won the least attention in the film would ever win over millions of hearts in Tamil Nadu. Or ride the state like a colossus. Or even that his sway over the masses would be so intense that he could rewrite the fate of Tamil Nadu politics, exactly two decades after the release of his first film.

K Balachander, the director who has an uncanny knack of creating stars, first met Rajnikant at the film institute, where he was a student. Balachander glanced at the dark young man and crisply asked him to meet him in his office the next day. When Rajnikant walked into his office gingerly, Balachander informed him he was going to act in his next film. Overwhelmed by the sudden offer from a big director, Rajnikant just could not believe his ears. It's a feeling Rajni still recounts whenever in the mood of reminiscence.

Later, Balachander confided in his close friend and associate Ananthu, Watch out! There is a fire in the young man's eyes. One day he will take Tamil Nadu by storm. How true the prediction turned out!

A bit of a recluse, he may be at heart, but everyone who's had the privilege of a darshan with the thalaivar has come away with a spring in his step, and a warm glow in his heart. Warm, friendly and affable, he's the sort who deserves all the superstardom he's earned. Such men, indeed, are rare.

Jeeva

Jeeva is an upcoming actor. He is the son of known Indian film producer, R B Choudary. Jeeva debut performance as a film hero was his father’s 50th production, Aasai Aasaiyai. Jeeva 2^nd film Thithikuthe, a Tamil remake of Uday Kiran’s Telugu film Manasanta Nuvve, was also from his father’s banner, Super Good Films. Jeeva has three older brothers: B.Sursh is the joint producer in ‘Super Good Films’. Another brother Jeevan is a business magnate. Next is Ramesh.

Jeeva is also an actor, now known as Githan Ramesh. Jeeva started off as a child star in 2 of his father’s film productions, one of them being the Sarath Kumar blockbuster Sooryavamsam. Audiences remember Jeeva as the cute boy who brought an estranged father and son together in Sooryavamsam.He is the youngest and inarguably the cutest with the boyish charms and killer smile that made people stand up to notice in his debut film Aasai Aasaiyai itself. Jeeva’s father, R B Choudary, produced numerous films, introduced now-famous directors and heroes and is a noted South Indian film producer despite having Hindi as mother tongue and hailing from Rajasthan, a north Indian state.

After Aasai Aasaiyai and Thittikudhey, which were romantic Tamil flops, he found himself in a spot of bother, with no good film offers coming his way. Then in 2005, he came back with the mega blockbuster Raam which put him in contention with other young actors in Kollywood like Jayam Ravi, Bharath and Silambarasan. Raam was a one-of-a-kind Tamil movie by critically acclaimed director of the 2002 sleeper hit Mounam Pesiyathe, Ameer Sultan; it falls in the genre of a murder mystery thriller, yet it is primarily a character study.

He played Ramakrishna, an autistic schoolboy, desired by the rich girl next door and later accused by her father for murdering his own mother. Jeeva hardly talked throughout the movie, letting his body language demonstrate his character. The movie was one of the highest grossing movies of the year, it was screened at Indian Panorama and later at the Cyprus International Film Festival(CIFF), where it won two awards - the Best Actor award for Jeeva and the Best Musical Score Award for its Music director Yuvan Shankar Raja. For 22-year old, it was not only the first International Award he received, but also his first ever acting award.

The only other time a Tamil actor received an international award was when Legendary actor Sivaji Ganesan received the Best Actor Award for his film in 1959, Veerapandiya Kattabomman, at the Afro-Asian International Film Festival in Cairo, Egypt in 1960. Thanks to Raam and Jeeva, this was indeed an honour for Kollywood in 21st century. From then onwards, he has had a successful stint in Dishyum with Kaadhal actress, Sandhya, proving a musical hit. Jeeva played another different role in Dishyum, that of a stuntman in films, this role was different from usual heroic roles in Tamil Cinema. Although the title Dishyum gave viewers the impression of an action-packed film, Dishyum was predominantly a romance between that of a cocksure stuntman and a practical arts student. This film won accolades due to the remarkable acting and an impressionable direction by Sasi, director of former hits such as Sollamalae and Roja Kootam.

Among his films, Raam, Dishyum, Keerthi Chakra and E are the ones that have done well at the box office. Jeeva’s flops include Aasai Aasaiyai, Thittikudhey, and Pori. Hence, his hits and misses are balanced. Aran was not a flop it was considered a success and his upcoming films are Thamizh MA, Thenavattu and Rameswaram. Jeeva is considered a better actor than his brother Ramesh.

Vishal

Vishal is the son of ace producer G.K.Reddy and, after 3 superhits, is touted to be the next "Ilayathalapathy". He is a graduate of Visual communication. He did his graduation in Loyola College and started his career as assistant director. His role model is Bollywood director Ram Gopal Varma.

He has worked as assistant director with Arjun for the movies Vedham and Ezhumalai. In the shooting spot of Ezhumalai producers Gnanavel and Jeya Prakash asked him to play the lead role in their movie Chellame . Vishal made his debut as the leading man in the movie Chellame which turned out to be a superhit film and a chart buster. His next 2 films, Sandakozhi and the new Thimiru too are big hits, placing Vishal firmly in the top slot of young, rising actors.

Vishal seems to be overwhelming with joy as his Pongal release Thaamirabharani is drawing good revenue. In spite of tough competion with Pokiri and Alwar. Thaamirabharani has managed to draw crowd. Vishal has already given remarkable movies like Chellame, Sanda kozhi, Sivapadhigaram.

Vishal's strong passion for direction got him an apprenticeship with Ram Gopal Varma, just after he completed Visual Communication at Loyola College, Chennai. But for his parent’s desire to have him closer to home, he canceled his flight ticket to Mumbai and headed to the decks of actor-director Arjun’s production house.

Vishal’s tenure as assistant to Arjun for the films Vedham & Ezhumalai exposed him not only to the nuances of direction but also aspects for excellence in the performing branch. A chance encounter with G.J. team had his providence rewritten on a different path. Their offer to cast him as the protagonist in their venture Chellamae was accepted by Vishal after a careful consideration. With his zeal and sincerity, he did not land directly on the sets, rather took up a three-month acting lessons from a Koothupatrai troupe. The rest is history as Vishal became the leading young action hero of Tamil Cinema. He had 3 back-to-back hits with Chellamae, Sandakozhi and Thimiru which all became dubbed in telugu. This was a feat indeed as few actors actually score a first-time hat-trick in Cinema history. His father G.K. Reddy was one of the veteran producers of Tamil films, having made quite a few films with top actors like Sivaji Ganesan in 'Poo Parikka Varugirom', though he quit production after that due to failure in the business. His brother, Vikram Krishna Reddy, who was formerly an actor under the name 'Ajay' and acted with Sivaji in Poo Parikka Varugirom, took off from where his father left and produced two films, Sandakozhi and Thimiru, starring Vishal.

His 4th film, Sivappathigaram was an average grosser while his 5th film Thamiraparani with popular director Hari achieved enough box-office success, after it opened in Pongal 2007, to be dubbed in Telugu as Barani. His next film will be a Tamil-Telugu bilingual, titled 'Sathyam' in Tamil, which had a soft launch in Chennai on July 2007, and 'Salute' in Telugu, which had a big launch on August 15, Indian Independence Day in Hyderabad.

Bharath

Bharath (born July 21st, 1983) is a brilliant Kollywood actor. A trained dancer by profession, his luck brought him into movies. He debuted in Boys directed by S. Shankar. The film was a musical hit and it fared well in box-office. He then acted in the remake of the Malayalam film 4 the people, 4 Students which was a musical hit and was a blockbuster in Kerala. One of his recent movies Kaadhal by a debutant director (assistant of S. Shankar) and Produced by Shankar was a blockbuster of the year. Kaadhal was well received everywhere and his performance as the naive but sweet lover was highly praised. His film Pattiyal, brought him even more great recognition for playing a dumb and deaf lover. His latest releases are Chennai Kadhal and Veyil both released on December 8, 2006. He has received great accolades and the film is a hit. He was also a part of Mani Ratnam’s stage show, Netru, Indru, Naalai.

His next projects are Killadi directed by Salem A. Chandrasekharan , Nepali, directed by Dhurai, and an untitled movie with director Ravikumar. Bharath’s forthcoming Tamil release Khilladi is going to be dubbed in telugu too.His movie Veyil has been selected for screening in the ’Tous les Cinemas du Monde’ (All the Cinemas of the World) section at Cannes Film Festival. The movie was screened at 6.30 pm on May 19.

Actor Bharath is one of Kollywood's newest heartthrobs. Starting with his part in director Shankar's `Boys' to the latest `Em Magan', he has done a variety of roles in Malayalam and Tamil. The dancing hero talks about his entry into films, his experiences after he entered the field, and forthcoming ventures.I am a fun loving person. My motto in life is `Live for today, work for today and be happy.' I studied in DAV School and did B.Com in New College, Chennai. I wanted to do higher studies in dance, or if that was not possible I wanted to join an MBA course. Everything changed when director Shankar saw my dance at Music Academy. I must thank B.R. Prassana Kumar of Swingers, who made me dance in that show. I was selected to act in `Boys'. I was happy to be launched by him, but after that I knew I must take care of my own career.

Till now I have done a dozen films, including Malayalamfilms: `Boys', `4 The People', `Chellame', `Yuvaseena' in Telugu, `Kadhal', `February 14', `Azhagai Irukkirai Bayamai Irukkirathu' and `Pattiyal' to name a few. I have acted for Sathya Jothi films in `Em Magan', which is running successfully in theatres now, and for Deepavali it is going to be `Chennai Kadhal', directed by Vikraman. I am happy that my career is shaping up, and that I am moving in the right direction. `Boys' gave me a name, and the people know Bharath from the Tamil film `Four Students' (`4 the People' in Malayalam) through my dance movements in the movie and mainly because of the songs `Lajjavathiye' and `Annakkili'. `Chellame' showed my acting talent, and `Kadhal' is a milestone in my career. The last film showed that as a single hero I could carry off a film on my own. And now, `Em Magan' has proved that I can be a part of a big family-oriented movie and pack a powerful performance. I do not want to leave out my other films as they too showed my skill.

My forthcoming films are `Chennai Kadhal' and `Veiyil'. I am doing a different role in `Chennai Kadhal'. In fact, it is a totally different film, not only for me but also for director Vikraman. He is known for his family dramas. But, `Chennai Kadhal' is an out-and-out action film. The next release will be `Veiyil'. I want to act in good and successful films and prove that Bharath can give box office hits. Among actors I like Vijay and Ajith as they are commercial heroes. I have a soft corner for Ajith, as he has had no godfather in the film industry like me and has still managed to come up in an amazing way. He is an inspiration not only to me but to others as well. , I also like Simran and Jyotika. As an upcoming hero, I would like to do four to five films a year. This would mean that one of my films would be released every third month. I will then remain permanently in the minds of the people. I thank all my producers, directors and technicians who gave me an opportunity to work with them.Success makes me truly happy. But, I also have a fear, and keep asking myself, "What is the next [movie], and will it click with the audience?" I have taken acting as my career and I need to stay here permanently. I have always wanted to be a producer's hero, or shall we say director's actor.