N. Lingusamy
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Nammalvar Lingusamy, (born 14 November 1967), is an Indian film director, film producer and screenwriter who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. He made his directorial debut with ''
Aanandham ''Aanandham'' () is a 2001 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language Drama (film and television), drama film co-written and directed by N. Lingusamy in his directoral debut and produced by R. B. Choudary. The film features an ensemble cast includi ...
'' (2001). He went on to direct ''
Run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...
'' (2002), ''
Sandakozhi ''Sandakozhi'' () is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by N. Linguswamy and produced by Vikram Krishna under G K Film Corporation. The film stars Vishal, Meera Jasmine, Rajkiran, and Lal, while Raja, Suman Setty and ...
'' (2005), ''
Paiyaa ''Paiyaa'' () is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language action-adventure film directed by N. Lingusamy and produced by N. Subash Chandra Bose under the banner Thirrupathi Brothers. The film stars Karthi and Tamannaah Bhatia in the lead roles, while M ...
'' (2010) and ''
Vettai ''Vettai'' () is a 2012 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language action comedy film co-produced, written and directed by N. Linguswamy. The film stars Arya (actor), Arya and R. Madhavan in the lead roles, while Sameera Reddy, Amala Paul, Ashutosh R ...
'' (2012). He and his brother N. Subash Chandrabose have also produced films through his production company,
Thirupathi Brothers Thirrupathi Brothers is an Indian Tamil film production company owned by brothers N. Subash Chandrabose and N. Lingusamy and was founded in 2006. History The first venture of Thirrupathi Brothers was ''Deepavali'', directed by Ezhil with Jaya ...
.


Early life

Lingusamy born on 14 November 1967 and hails from a town
Kumbakonam Kumbakonam (formerly spelt as Coombaconum or Combaconum), or Kudanthai, is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the States of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Chennai and is the hea ...
,
Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also known as Thanjai, previously known as Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 12th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of southern Indian religion, art ...
,
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 ...
. He worked as an assistant director to A. Venkatesh and
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 actor ...
.


Career


2001-2005: Debut and success

Lingusamy made his directorial debut with the Tamil family drama ''
Aanandham ''Aanandham'' () is a 2001 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language Drama (film and television), drama film co-written and directed by N. Lingusamy in his directoral debut and produced by R. B. Choudary. The film features an ensemble cast includi ...
'', starring
Mammootty Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam-language films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, ...
. About the film, Linguswamy said: "The film actually is based on real life. Born in a large family I was impressed with the incidents my mother narrated to me. They were deeply etched in my memory and I thought I would use them when I got a chance to direct a film. Thus when Mr. Choudary gave me an opportunity I narrated the stories and he found them highly appealing". Linguswamy originally wanted to title the project, ''
Thirupathi Brothers Thirrupathi Brothers is an Indian Tamil film production company owned by brothers N. Subash Chandrabose and N. Lingusamy and was founded in 2006. History The first venture of Thirrupathi Brothers was ''Deepavali'', directed by Ezhil with Jaya ...
'', which he later went on to name his production house. ''Aanandham'' opened to positive reviews in May 2001, with a critic noting that "it is a promising work from the debutant director". The film won several awards including the
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 – ...
,
Cinema Express Award for Best Film – Tamil The Cinema Express Best Film Award is given as a part of its annual Cinema Express Awards for Tamil (Kollywood Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spo ...
, and 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 ...
, while,
The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...
listed the film amongst the best of 2001. His second film was ''
Run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...
'' with Madhavan. The film, too, was a commercially successful and also received good reviews. After the success of ''Run'', Linguswamy announced his plans of re-collaborating with Madhavan in ''Sathyam'', a film about student politics. Owing to Madhavan's unavailability, the role went to
Ajith Kumar Ajith Kumar Subramaniam (born 1 May 1971) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. To date, he has starred in over 63 films, and won four Vijay Awards, three Cinema Express Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and three Ta ...
, with the film being newly re-titled '' Ji''. Upon release the film received positive reviews especially a critic from Indiaglitz praising the film citing that "Lingusamy should be appreciated for giving a movie with pulsating sequences. He has infused the script with all the right ingredients and keeps the tempo of the narration on an even keel." Critics from
The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...
claimed that the film "could have been better". Similarly the film received a negative review from
Rediff.com Rediff.com, stylized as rediff.com, is an Indian news, information, entertainment, and shopping website. Founded by Ajit Balakrishnan in 1996, it was the first Indian website to become a mainstream news media organization. It is headquartered i ...
's critics citing that "Ji is for Ajith fans only!". The film took a large opening all over Tamil Nadu, but later turned out to be a box office failure and sustained a considerable loss for the producer. His next project was ''
Sandakozhi ''Sandakozhi'' () is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by N. Linguswamy and produced by Vikram Krishna under G K Film Corporation. The film stars Vishal, Meera Jasmine, Rajkiran, and Lal, while Raja, Suman Setty and ...
'' with
Vishal Vishal may refer to: People * Vishal (name), a common Indian given name * King Vishal, emperor of the Mahabharata era who founded the ancient city of Vishalapura * Vishal (actor) (born 1977), Indian film actor, producer and anti-piracy activi ...
in his second film. The film was a commercial success grossing $3.5 million at the box office. A critic from Sify in his review wrote: "Lingusamy lives up to his reputation as a director who makes racy action packed family entertainers with his new release Sandakozhi." In 2005, Vikram signed his next project ''
Bheemaa ''Bheemaa'' is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language crime action film written and directed by N. Linguswamy, and produced by A. M. Rathnam. It stars Vikram, Trisha, Prakash Raj, Raghuvaran, and Ashish Vidyarthi. The film score and soundtrack was ...
'', which faced severe delays and only released in January 2008. Upon release, the film gained mixed reviews though reviewers praised Vikram's performance with a critic claiming to see the film "only for him". Similarly the review from ''The Hindu'' was critical of the excessive violence and mentioned that "as narration gives way after a point, Vikram can only appear helpless". Noted director
Gautham Vasudev Menon Gautham Vasudev Menon (born 25 February 1973) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, film producer and actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, Tamil film industry. He has also directed Telugu cinema, Telugu, Hindi cinema, Hindi and Ma ...
criticized the film in a leading newspaper.


2008-2012: Continued success

In 2008, Lingusamy began filming his sixth project, ''
Paiyaa ''Paiyaa'' () is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language action-adventure film directed by N. Lingusamy and produced by N. Subash Chandra Bose under the banner Thirrupathi Brothers. The film stars Karthi and Tamannaah Bhatia in the lead roles, while M ...
'' featuring
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 ...
and
Tamannaah Tamanna Bhatia (born 21 December 1989), known professionally as Tamannaah Bhatia, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films. Having appeared in 88 films, she has received several awards, including two Sa ...
in the lead roles. Upon release the film and its soundtrack by
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 ...
were successful and received generally positive reviews, with most critics calling the film "summer entertainer" and lauding its technical aspects. ''
Sify Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology (ICT) company providing telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation integration services, and ...
'' described the film as a "road movie laced with mass elements and extraordinary songs", adding that it is a "jolly good ride" and naming it "technically ..Linguswamy's his best". A reviewer from the ''
Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
'', Bhama Devi Ravi, gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, writing that "the story is not earth-shatteringly new, but what pulls you into the movie is the different spin that Lingusamy gives to the familiar story". Lingusamy's next made the action masala film ''
Vettai ''Vettai'' () is a 2012 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language action comedy film co-produced, written and directed by N. Linguswamy. The film stars Arya (actor), Arya and R. Madhavan in the lead roles, while Sameera Reddy, Amala Paul, Ashutosh R ...
'' with
Arya ''Aryan'' (), or ''Arya'' (borrowed from Sanskrit ''ārya''),Oxford English Dictionary Online 2024, s.v. ''Aryan'' (adj. & n.); ''Arya'' (n.)''.'' is a term originating from the ethno-cultural self-designation of the Indo-Iranians. It stood i ...
and Madhavan in lead roles. ''Vettai'' released on the Pongal weekend on 14 January 2012, and received overall mixed to positive reviews as well. Although Lingusamy has mainly worked in Tamil, his films have been dubbed or been remade in other languages. Dubbed Telugu versions of ''Run'', ''Sandakozhi'' and ''Paiyaa'', titled ''Run'', ''Pandem Kodi'' and ''Awara'', respectively, were released in Andhra Pradesh and also became commercially successful. ''Aanandham'' was remade in 2005 as ''
Sankranti Sankranti () refers to the transmigration of the sun from one zodiac to another in Indian astronomy. In ''Saurmana'' ''varsha'' (Hindu Solar year), there are twelve Sankrantis corresponding with twelve months of a year. The Sankrantis can be broa ...
'' by
Muppalaneni Shiva Muppalaneni Shiva is an Indian film director and writer who works in Telugu cinema. He has directed movies for production houses like Suresh Productions, Super Good Films, Sravanthi Movies, Ramakrishna Cine Studios & Etharam films etc. His succ ...
in Telugu, while Jeeva remade ''Run'' in Hindi under the same title in 2004.


2014-2022: Career decline

In 2014, Lingusamy's '' Anjaan'' was released, starring
Suriya Saravanan Sivakumar (born 23 July 1975), known professionally as Suriya, is an Indian actor and film producer who primarily works in Tamil films. One of the highest-paid Tamil actors, Suriya is considered as one of the finest actors of Indian ...
and
Samantha Samantha is an English feminine given name in use since the 17th century that is of uncertain derivation. It is now in popular use worldwide due to various popular culture influences. Etymology Some etymologists have suggested Samantha might ...
. The film turned out to be a disaster. Critics lashed at the lack of content with some labelling it as a "Kaatu Kuppa". Part of the reason for the film's box office result was due to the hype generated by the film crew pre release which it subsequently could not satisfy and also became the basis of memes generated on social media. Lingusamy later directed ''
Sandakozhi 2 ''Sandakozhi 2'' () is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by N. Linguswamy. A sequel to ''Sandakozhi'', the film stars Vishal in his 25th film, alongside Rajkiran, Keerthy Suresh and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar. The music ...
'' (2018), a sequel to ''Sandakozhi'', having Vishal reprising his role. The film could not repeat the success of the original. In 2022, he directed the bilingual Telugu-Tamil film ''
The Warriorr ''The Warriorr'' is a 2022 Indian action thriller film directed by N. Lingusamy and produced by Srinivasa Chitturi under Srinivasa Silver Screen. The film was shot simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil languages. It stars Ram Pothineni and Krit ...
'' (2022), which marked his Telugu debut. It received negative reviews from critics and was a box office bomb.


Filmography

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


References


External links


N. Lingusamy
at Facebook {{DEFAULTSORT:Lingusamy, N. Tamil film producers Tamil film directors People from Theni district Living people Film producers from Tamil Nadu Film directors from Tamil Nadu 21st-century Indian people Tamil screenwriters Screenwriters from Tamil Nadu 1965 births Telugu film directors Telugu screenwriters