Shanmugam Saravanan is an Indian cinematographer and film director who works mainly in the

Indian film industry The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Ko ...

. He is an alumnus of the M.G.R. Government Film and Television Training Institute. He started his career with ''

Poove Unakkaga ''Poove Unakkaga'' () is a 1996 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Vikraman. The film stars Vijay and Sangita. Actor Murali makes a guest appearance in a song in the film. The film released on 18 February 1996. ...

'', a Tamil romantic film starring Vijay and

Sangita Sangita (Devanagari: , IAST: ), also spelled Samgita or Sangeeta, refers to "music and associated performance arts" in the Indian traditions. According to Guy Beck, the root "saṃ-" implies "combining, coming together, convergent wholesome blend ...

and was released in the year 1996. He debuted as a director by his directorial venture ''

Silambattam Silambam is an Indian martial arts, Indian martial art originating in South India in the Indian subcontinent. This style is mentioned in Tamil Sangam literature. The World Silambam Association is the official international body of Silambam. ...

''. Saravanan is well known for his association with Directors

Vikraman Vikraman is an Indian film director primarily working in Tamil cinema. Career 1990–1994 He worked as an assistant to actor and director R. Parthiban in '' Puthiya Pathai'' (1989), which was the latter's debut film as a director and an act ...

and Suresh Krissna. He has worked as a cinematographer in more than 25 films in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

, Telugu, and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

Early life and career

The son of poet Ulundurpettai Shanmugham, after completing the Diploma in cinematography from the M.G.R. Government Film and Television Training Institute, Chennai, he assisted senior cinematographer P. Selvakumar in the team of '' Aabavanan''. Later, he made his cinematography debut in the film '' Amma Ponnu''. After watching his work in that film Director

called and offered him to do cinematography for his next venture titled

Pudhiya Mannargal ''Pudhiya Mannargal'' () is a 1994 Indian Tamil-language film directed by Vikraman with music by A. R. Rahman. The film stars Vikram and Mohini. The movie's score and soundtrack are composed by A. R. Rahman. The film did not perform well com ...

. His work was well appreciated in that movie. He then continued to work with Director

in the films ''

'' and '' Suryavamsam''. Both the films were a huge commercial success and was also remade in other Indian Languages. In 1995, he did a Telugu drama film '' Stri'', directed by K. S. Sethumadhavan. The film has garnered two National Film Awards and also showcased in the Indian Panorama section, International Film Festival of India and 2nd Prague International Film Festival. He then teamed up with director Suresh Krissna and did films like '' Aahaa..!'', ''

Auto Driver ''Auto Driver'' is a 1998 Telugu film, produced by D. Siva Prasad Reddy under the Kamakshi Movies banner, directed by Suresh Krishna. It stars Nagarjuna, Deepti Bhatnagar and Simran, with music composed by Deva. It was dubbed into Tamil as ' ...

'', ''

Sangamam ''Sangamam'' () is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language musical romance dance film co written and directed by Suresh Krissna and produced by V. Natarajan of Pyramid Films. The film stars Rahman and newcomer Vindhya with Manivannan, Vijayakumar, Rad ...

''. In 2008, Saravanan made his directorial debut in the film ''

'', a

action comedy film Action comedy is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy. The genre is most prevalent in film with action comedy films, though several TV series fit this genre. Film The action comedy film is a film genre that combines aspects of acti ...

. The film starred

Silambarasan Rajendar Silambarasan Thesingu Rajendar, nicknamed as Simbu or his initials S. T. R., is an Indian actor, filmmaker and musician in Tamil cinema. He began his acting career by playing roles as a child artist in films directed by his father T. Rajendar, ...

in dual roles while Sneha,

Sana Khan Sana Khan (born 21 August 1988) is an Indian Businesswoman and a former actress. She predominantly worked in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu language films. Khan began her career in modeling and went on to appear in advertisements, feature films, a ...

Prabhu ''Prabhu'' means master or the Prince in Sanskrit and many of the Indian languages; it is a name sometimes applied to God. The term is also used by devotees of the Hindu God Lord Krishna/Vishnu as a title and form of address. It is also appended ...

and Kishore also play lead roles.

Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja or Abdul Haliq (born 31 August 1979) is an Indian film score and soundtrack composer and singer-songwriter. He mainly scores music for Tamil films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use of Wes ...

composed the film's background score and soundtrack. The film was a huge commercial success. The film released on 19 December 2008.

Legacy

Saravanan has mentored some of the prominent cinematographers in the South Indian film industry, who had all assisted him including

Vijay Milton S. D. Vijay Milton is an Indian cinematographer and director working in Tamil films. He directed the romantic comedy film ''Azhagai Irukkirai Bayamai Irukkirathu'' (2006) starring Bharath and Mallika Kapoor. He received critical acclaim for his ...

, R. Madhi, Vetri and Manoj Paramahamsa.

Filmography

As cinematographer

As Director

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saravanan, S. Living people Tamil film directors Tamil film cinematographers Telugu film cinematographers Malayalam film cinematographers M.G.R. Government Film and Television Training Institute alumni Cinematographers from Tamil Nadu 1972 births