Cheran (director)

Cheran (born 12 December 1970) is an Indian film director, producer, actor and lyricist known for his works in Tamil cinema.

In the film Puriyaadha Pudhir (1990), he worked as an assistant Director K. S. Ravikumar, and was later promoted to an associate director from Cheran Pandiyan (1992) to Nattamai (1994).

Cheran initially made breakthrough as a director by making village-based drama films focusing on human relationships, and achieved critical acclaim for his work in Bharathi Kannamma (1997) and Porkkaalam (1997).

Cheran made his directorial debut through Bharathi Kannamma (1997), a village drama narrating the relationship between the daughter of a rich family and their retainer, starring Parthiban and Meena.

During its release, the film ran into trouble with Thevar community who almost imposed a ban of the film due to its content.

However the film won good reviews and performed well at the box office.

In spite of controversies, the film became successful at box-office.

His second film, Porkkaalam (1997) was in the same genre, and also performed well commercially as well as winning favourable reviews from critics.

The film, which explored the life of a hard-working potter and his poor family, earned Cheran an award for best director from the Tamil Nadu State.

Unlike his first two films, his third film did not fare well at the box office despite winning positive reviews.

Desiya Geetham (1998) told the story of a Chief Minister being kidnapped and taken to a remote village, and it subsequently met with a controversial response from politicians.

Despite Cheran's intervention and explanation of the script to senior political figures, the film was quickly removed from cinema halls, much to the director's dismay.

However, the film won good reviews and a critic noted it was "a rare, good movie with a message" and added that Cheran "deserves credit for making a movie that tries to tell something and keeping away from the usual, commercial add-ons".

Following the film's failure, Cheran announced several projects before opting not to continue with them.

He initially considered other films with Murali, one co-starring Shammi Kapoor titled Paraseega Roja, and another co-starring Meena titled Maaya Maan but the films did not progress.

Cheran then moved on an urban love story starring Prashanth, Shamitha and himself.

The film was initially titled Inniya Kaadalargale and then renamed as Vinnodum Mugilodum, but the film was also later dropped.

Another light-hearted film titled Aagaya Kottai was planned with Arunkumar, Suriya and Raju Sundaram, but it did not start production.

He is a four time National Film Award winner for Vetri Kodi Kattu (2000), Autograph (2004) and Thavamai Thavamirundhu (2005).

He has also won five Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and six South Filmfare Awards.

He later moved on to work on themes exploring how globalisation affects the Indian middle class, and told the story of scam job offers in Vetri Kodi Kattu (2000) and village-to-city emigration in Pandavar Bhoomi (2001).

He later worked again with Parthiban and Murali for the social comedy drama, Vetri Kodi Kattu (2000), which focused on scams committed by agents who promised lavish jobs and salaries abroad, and in the process swindling the money of innocent people.

The film won critical acclaim upon release, and Cheran won a National Film Award for his work in the film.

Cheran first began work on Autograph in October 2000 with Prabhu Deva and then Vikram cast, though the actors later opted out as a result of schedule clashes.

Cheran then made Pandavar Bhoomi (2001) with actors Arunkumar, Shamitha and Rajkiran, which explored themes of wholesale emigration of villagers to the city and the loss of good, solid agricultural lands, culture and solidarity.

The film performed well at the box office and garnered mixed reviews from critics.

A reviewer from Sify.com stated the film was "typical overdose of Cheran melodrama masala".

Cheran then turned actor in director Thangar Bachan's romantic drama film Solla Marandha Kadhai (2002).

The film garnered mixed review but performed well at the box office.

In early 2002, Cheran announced that he was going to instead make a film titled Pokkisham and Kanika would star alongside him.

However he failed to find a financier and moved back to making Autograph.

As producers were unwilling to finance the film, Cheran opted to produce and star in the film himself and the film consequently took over a year to make.

Autograph told the story of a man named Senthil, presented in four stages of his life – at school, college, work and during his marriage, and Cheran called the film "semi-autobiographical".

His most renowned film till date, Autograph (2004), is a semi-autobiographical tale of a man at four stage of his life.

He later also experienced success with the family drama film Thavamai Thavamirundhu (2005) and as an actor in films such as Pirivom Santhippom (2008) and Yuddham Sei (2011).

Cheran was born in Pazhaiyurpatty village near Madurai.

His father Pandian was a film projector operator in Vellalur's touring theatre.

His mother Kamala was a primary school teacher, and he has two sisters.

He came to Chennai to pursue a career in films, and was keen to become an actor.

Initially, he started career as a production manager in some films.