Ramana is an Indian film director, who has directed Tamil films. After making his debut in 2003 with the successful ''

Thirumalai ''Thirumalai'' is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language masala film written and directed by Ramana. The film stars Vijay and Jyothika, with Manoj K. Jayan, Avinash (in his Tamil debut), Vivek, Raghuvaran, Kausalya and Karunas in supporting roles ...

'', he has gone on to make other ventures including ''

Sullan ''Sullan'' is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Ramana. It stars Dhanush, along with Sindhu Tolani, Manivannan, Pasupathy and Easwari Rao among others. The film was composed by Vidyasagar. The film was opened on ...

'' and ''

Aathi ''Aathi'' () or known as ''Aadhi'' is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film, directed by Ramana and produced by S. A. Chandrasekhar. Starring Vijay in the lead role, it is a remake of the 2005 Telugu film ''Athanokkade''. The fil ...

''.

Career

Ramana penned a series of film scripts featuring serious off-beat stories and approached producers with little luck, hoping to land an offer. He spent several years narrating the script of a proposed film titled ''Karkaalam'' to actors and then finally agreed terms with

Prakash Raj Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam-language films, he is the recipient of several ...

to play the lead role during 1996, but no financiers eventually backed the project. After failing to establish himself as a director who could be funded to make films with serious themes, he felt that he should make a series of commercially viable films in the

masala Masala, Massala or MASALA may refer to: Spice * Masala (spice), any of the many spice mixes used in South Asian cuisine ** Masala chai, a flavoured tea beverage ** Masala incense, Indian incense using a spice mix ** Masala dosa, an Indian dish Pl ...

genre before diversifying into serious subjects. Ramana's first release was ''

'' (2003), an action-masala venture featuring Vijay, which took a large opening at the box office and performed well commercially. He briefly began work on ''Parthasarathy'', a project starring

Vijayakanth Narayanan Vijayaraj Alagarswami (born 25 August 1952), better known by his stage name Vijayakanth, is an Indian politician and former actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil cinema. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Leg ...

in the lead but the film was later stalled. Despite receiving several offers to remake the film in Telugu, he chose to make ''

'' (2004), another action film featuring

Dhanush Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja (born 28 July 1983), known professionally as Dhanush, is an Indian actor, producer, director, lyricist and playback singer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Starring in 46 films over his career, among hi ...

in the title role, which was a flop at the box office. His next film, ''

'' (2006) an action-masala venture featuring Vijay for the second time, took a large opening at the box office but turned out to be a disaster incurring 5 crore loss. In 2007, he revealed that he was simultaneously working on a Telugu film featuring

Mahesh Babu Ghattamaneni Mahesh Babu (born 9 August 1975) is an Indian actor, producer, media personality, and philanthropist who works mainly in Telugu cinema. He has appeared in more than 25 films, and won several accolades including, eight Nandi Awar ...

in the lead role, while

Sarath Kumar Sarathkumar Ramanathan (born 14 July 1954) is an Indian actor, politician, filmmaker, and singer. He has acted in more than 130 Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. He has won two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and three Filmfare Awards S ...

had agreed to finance and star in his next Tamil film. However, neither of the projects materialised. He then briefly forayed into acting and was approached for a role in

S. A. Chandrasekhar S. A. Chandrasekar (born 2 July 1945) is an Indian film director, producer, writer, and actor who primarily works within Kollywood. He made his directorial debut with ''Aval Oru Pachai Kuzhanthai'' (1978), He got his breakthrough with '' Satt ...

's '' Pandhayam'' (2008), before playing a pivotal role in an unreleased film titled ''Kuthirai''. In 2011, it was reported that Ramana was suffering from

throat cancer Head and neck cancer develops from tissues in the lip and oral cavity (mouth), larynx (throat), salivary glands, nose, sinuses or the skin of the face. The most common types of head and neck cancers occur in the lip, mouth, and larynx. Symptoms ...

and would take a break from films. In July 2013, it was announced that he had recovered from the disease but had lost his voice permanently during his recovery.

Filmography

As director

As actor

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramana Living people Tamil film directors Film directors from Tamil Nadu Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Indian film directors Tamil screenwriters