Ameer Sultan (born 5 December 1967) is an Indian film director, film producer, screenwriter and actor, working in the

Tamil film industry Tamil cinema is the segment of cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to the production of Film, motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the nam ...

Early life and career

Ameer Sultan was born in

Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...

, Tamil Nadu

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He initially studied economics and worked as an entrepreneur before starting to work as an assistant director to Tamil filmmaker Bala on his award-winning film '' Sethu'' in 1999 and '' Nandhaa'' in 2001. Shortly after, he directed his first film, the romantic comedy '' Mounam Pesiyadhe'' (2002). The film starred Suriya in the lead and became

Trisha Krishnan Trisha Krishnan (born 4 May 1983) is an Indian actress known for her work primarily in Tamil language, Tamil and Telugu language, Telugu cinema. One of the highest-paid actresses in India, she has sustained a successful career as a leading ...

's first release featuring her in a leading role. The same year, he began his own production company, Teamwork Production House. His second directorial was the mystery thriller '' Raam'', which he produced himself. It was released three years later, in 2005. The film, which revolves around an

autistic Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...

teenager, portrayed by

Jiiva Amar Choudary (born 4 January 1984), known professionally as Jiiva, is an Indian actor and film producer who works mainly in Tamil cinema and a few Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi films. He is the youngest son of film producer R. B. Choudary. ...

, who is highly attached to his mother, but becomes suspected of having murdered her, received critical acclaim, with Jeeva and the film's composer

Yuvan Shankar Raja Yuvan Shankar Raja (born 31 August 1979), is an Indian composer and playback singer. He mainly scores music for Tamil films along with few Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi films. Considered a versatile composer, he is particularly known for his use o ...

winning awards at the 2005 Cyprus International Film Festival. It also became Jeeva's first successful film in the film industry, who till then, had appeared in two unsuccessful home productions only. In 2007, he directed the drama '' Paruthiveeran'' set in a village in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, which marked the debut of

Karthi Karthik Sivakumar (born 25 May 1977), credited as Karthi, is an Indian actor who works in Tamil Cinema. He is son of veteran actor Sivakumar who began his career as an assistant director in his elder brother Suriya's film '' Aayutha Ezhuthu ...

, younger son of

Sivakumar Palaniswamy Gounder (born 27 October 1941), better known by his stage name Sivakumar, is an Indian visual artist and former actor who has appeared in Tamil cinema and television. He made his acting debut in '' Kaakum Karangal'' (1965) and has ...

and brother of Suriya. Karthi as well as Priyamani, who performed the female lead, won several notable prizes for their performances. ''Paruthiveeran'' remains Ameer's most acclaimed work, having received six

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 ...

including the Best Film and Best Director trophies, two

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 ...

, two

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 ...

and four

Vijay Awards The Vijay Awards are presented by the Tamil television channel STAR Vijay to honour excellence in Tamil cinema. It has been given annually since 2006, with the latest—the 10th edition—of the award-giving ceremony having been held i ...

. The film further fetched accolades at international platform, winning the Best Film Award at the Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema and Netpac Special Mention award at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

. His fourth directorial, '' Aadhi Bhagavan'', starring

Jayam Ravi Ravi Mohan (born 10 September 1980), better known by his former stage name Jayam Ravi, is an Indian actor who works in Tamil cinema. The son of veteran film editor A. Mohan, Ravi made his lead acting debut in ''Jayam (2003 film), Jayam'' (2003) ...

and Neetu Chandra, released in 2013, to mixed reviews. Later, he win Ananda Vikatan Cinema Award Best Supporting Actor for '' Vada Chennai'' (2018). He starred as lead actor in the political drama '' Uyir Thamizhukku'' (2024).

Filmography

As a film director, producer and writer

As an actor

Discography

Controversy

On 24 October 2008, Ameer was arrested. Being a Tamil activist, he took part in a film rally condemning state atrocities against Tamils in Sri Lanka, organised by director

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 ...

, also a Tamil activist, and other prominent Tamil directors, actors, and producers. The rally was part of statewide protests across

in 2008 condemning Sri Lanka. During the rally, Ameer and fellow director Seeman made speeches criticising the Indian government and expressing support to the

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; , ; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization, that was based in the northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eela ...

, a Tamil separatist group on the island and condemning the genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka. The two were later released on bail with the help of their assistant directors, Bharathiraja, and actor R. Sarath Kumar. Other Film directors such as

Balu Mahendra Balanathan Benjamin Mahendran (20 May 1939 13 February 2014), commonly known as Balu Mahendra, was a Sri Lankan Tamil cinematographer, director, screenwriter and film editor who worked in various Indian film industries, primarily in Tamil ...

, Bhagyaraj, Cheran, R K Selvamani, V Sekar, Bala, Rajkapoor, lyricists Arivumathi, Snehan and others waited from 8 am for the two directors' release.

Awards

* 2007 –

Filmfare Award for Best Film – Tamil The Filmfare Best Film Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Tamil ( Kollywood) films. Winners Nominations 1970s *1972 – '' Pattikada Pattanama'' *1973 – '' Bharatha Vilas'' *1974 – ...

– '' Paruthiveeran'' * 2007 – Filmfare Award for Best Director – Tamil – '' Paruthiveeran'' * 2007 – Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema – '' Paruthiveeran'' * 2007 –

– Special Mention – '' Paruthiveeran'' * 2018 – Ananda Vikatan Cinema Award for Best Supporting Actor – '' Vada Chennai''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ameer Sultan Writers from Madurai Tamil Muslims Tamil film directors 21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Tamil male actors Tamil activists Tamil-language film directors Tamil screenwriters Living people 1966 births Filmfare Awards South winners Male actors from Madurai Screenwriters from Tamil Nadu 21st-century Indian screenwriters