Agathiyan (born 18 August 1952; ) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, lyricist, and actor. He was the first director in

Tamil cinema Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Ch ...

to win the

National Film Award for Best Direction The National Film Award for Best Direction is an honour presented annually at India's National Film Awards ceremony by the National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC), an organisation set up by the Indian Ministry of Information and Bro ...

for ''

Kadhal Kottai ''Kadhal Kottai'' () is a 1996 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Agathiyan, and produced by Sivasakthi Movie Makers. The film stars Ajith Kumar and Devayani in the lead roles, with Heera, Thalaivaasal Vijay, a ...

'' (1996). For the film, he also won

National Film Award for Best Screenplay The National Film Award for Best Screenplay is one of the categories in the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with ...

and

Filmfare Award for Best Director – Tamil The Filmfare Best Director Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Tamil language, Tamil (Kollywood) films. The awards were extended to "Best Director" in 1972. Superlatives *K. Balachander ...

Career

Agathiyan, a director in his late forties entered films a decade back and struggled as an assistant to various directors. Hailing from a agriculturist family, he spent a happy-go-lucky time in college, and when he decided to pack his bags and come to Chennai to try his luck in films as a director, he lost his family's support. Struggling with no money, he did odd jobs in film companies and became an assistant to anyone who offered him food and shelter. He wrote story for Ramarajan starrer ''Manasukketha Maharasa'' under the name Karunanidhi Santharam and initially directed a film called ''Mangalyam Thanthunanena'' in 1991 and was credited as Ravi Thasan but it was unsuccessful. Anbalaya Prabhakaran, who acted in that movie and also produces small budgeted films with new directors, gave Ahahtian his second break as a director with ''Madhumathi'', a teenage love story with new faces. The film was a big hit. He was back to where he started, but again fate had bigger things in store for him. Sivasakthi Pandian, a film distributor turned producer, produced '' Vaanmathi'' with Ajith and Swathi. The film was a hit. Next came ''

'' from the same banner and Ahahtian became the toast of the industry. Offers poured in for films. In late 2014, he began work on an untitled project produced by

Bharathiraja Bharathiraja ( born 17 July 1941) is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor who works mainly in the Tamil film industry. Making his debut in 1977 with ''16 Vayathinile'', he is known for realistic and sensitive portrayals of ...

starring Santhosh Prathap,

Oviya Helen Nelson, (born 29 April 1991) better known professionally by her stage name Oviya, is an Indian actress who works in the Tamil and Malayalam films also appeared in few Kannada and Telugu films. She made her breakthrough as an actress i ...

, Vijayalakshmi and

Manoj Bharathiraja Manoj Kumar Bharathiraja (11 September 1976 – 25 March 2025) was an Indian actor, film director, producer and playback singer who worked in Tamil cinema. He was the son of director Bharathiraja and made his acting debut with his father's ''Ta ...

, but the film was later shelved. He has served as jury member at

57th National Film Awards The 57th National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 2009. Three different committee ...

Personal life

He married Radha in 1978. His elder daughter Kani (Karthika), host of

Makkal TV Makkal TV is a Tamil language TV channel. It was launched on 6 September 2006 and is promoted by Makkal Tholai Thodarpu Kuzhumam. Pattali Makkal Katchi leader Ramadoss S. Ramadoss (born 25 July 1939) is an Indian politician. He is the found ...

, is married to film director

Thiru Thiru may refer to: *Thiru, an alternative rendering of the Tamil honorific Tiru, which is a variant of the Sanskrit Shri Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word i ...

. Kani Thiru is a winner of

Vijay TV Star Vijay is an Indian Tamil language general entertainment pay television channel owned by JioStar, a joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney India. The channel telecasts programmes such as serials, reality shows & Tamil films. History T ...

's ''Cook With Comali'' (Season 2). His second daughter Vijayalakshmi Agathiyan is an actress and is married to film director Feroz. His younger daughter Niranjani Ahathian is a costume designer and actress who is married to director

Desingh Periyasamy ''Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal'' () is a 2020 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language romance film, romantic Heist film, heist comedy film written and directed by Desingh Periyasamy in his directorial debut. The film stars Dulquer Salmaan, Ritu ...

Filmography

*''Note: all films are in Tamil, unless otherwise noted.''

As film director

As writer

As an actor

Television

Director

Actor

As lyricist

Awards

;

National Film Awards The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

* 1997 –

Best Direction The MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction is an award given to the artist, the artist's manager, and the director of the music video. From 1984 to 2006, the full name of the award was Best Direction in a Video, and in 2007, it was briefly renam ...

– ''

'' * 1997 – Best Screenplay – ''

'' * 1997 –

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil The National Film Award for Best Tamil Feature Film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Rajat Kama ...

– ''

'' ;

Filmfare Awards South The Filmfare Awards South are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, Malayalam cinema and Kannada cinema. They are presented by ''Filmfare'' magazine of The Times Group. When it was intr ...

* 1997 –

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * As ...

– ''

'' ;

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence in Cinema of Tamil Nadu, Tamil cinema in India. They were given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to the South Indian film industry by the Governmen ...

* 1996 –

– ''

References

External links

* Living people Tamil film directors Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners Filmfare Awards South winners Best Director National Film Award winners Hindi-language film directors Tamil screenwriters Tamil film producers 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Best Original Screenplay National Film Award winners 1952 births Tamil television directors {{India-film-director-stub