S. P. Jananathan (7 May 1959 – 14 March 2021) was an Indian film director and screenwriter who worked in Tamil cinema.

Early life

Jananathan worked as an assistant to directors like

B. Lenin B. Lenin born as Bhimsingh Lenin is an Indian film editor, writer and director who works in Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi films. The son of Tamil film maker A. Bhimsingh, Lenin entered the film industry as an assistant editor and went on to work i ...

Bharathan Bharathan (14 November 1946 – 30 July 1998) was an Indian film maker, artist, and art director. Bharathan is noted for being the founder of a new school of film making in Malayalam cinema, along with Padmarajan and K. G. George, in ...

Vincent Selva Vincent Selva is an Indian film director and screenwriter associated with the Tamil cinema, Tamil film industry. This director is best known for his debut flick, ''Priyamudan'' starring Vijay (actor), Vijay, Kausalya (actress), Kausalya. Other ...

and

Keyaar Kothanda Ramaiah (also known as K.R and Keyaar) is an Indian Tamil film director, producer, distributor and exhibitor. He has held various leading positions in different film industry organizations. Career KR studied film processing at the Ady ...

. He was a treasurer of the Tamil Film Directors’ Union. He produced ''Purampokku'' in collaboration with

UTV Motion Pictures UTV Motion Pictures (also known as Disney-UTV) was the feature film unit of UTV Software Communications founded by Ronnie Screwvala and Zarina Screwvala in 1996 as UTV Motion Pictures Plc., the film distribution division of UTV Software Communi ...

. Apart from directing, he also served as a visual effects director for films like ''

Dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for ...

'' and ''

Kumbakonam Gopalu ''Kumbakonam Gopalu'' is a 1998 Indian Tamil-language film directed by Keyaar, produced by A. V. Subba Rao, and starring Pandiarajan, Mayoori, Janagaraj and Thyagu. It has a musical score by Ilayaraja. The film was a remake of 1991 Kannada film ...

'', both of which were directed by Keyaar.

Career

Jananathan's debut film as a director was the romantic drama ''

Iyarkai ''Iyarkai'' (, ) is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film that was written and directed by S. P. Jananathan in his directorial debut. The film stars Shaam and Radhika. Arun Vijay—who at the time was known as Arun Kumar—and Bo ...

'' (2003). Although it failed to deliver expectations in the box office, it went onto win the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil The Indian Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several aw ...

in 2004. 2006 saw him directing the thriller film '' E''. Unlike his debut, this film was a commercial failure. His third directorial film, ''

Peranmai ''Peranmai'' () is a 2009 Indian Tamil-language action adventure film, co-written and directed by S. P. Jananathan for his venture and produced by Ayngaran International Films, it stars Jayam Ravi and Roland Kickinger, with Dhansika, Saranya N ...

'', was an action-adventure film loosely based on the 1972 Russian movie ''

The Dawns Here Are Quiet ''The Dawns Here Are Quiet'' (russian: А зори здесь тихие, A zori zdes tikhie) is a 1972 Soviet war drama directed by Stanislav Rostotsky based on Boris Vasilyev's novel of the same name. The film deals with antiwar themes and ...

''. In 2015, Jananathan directed the political thriller ''

Purampokku Engira Podhuvudamai ''Purampokku Engira Podhuvudamai'' () is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language political thriller film co-produced, written and directed by S. P. Jananathan, which stars Arya, Shaam, Vijay Sethupathi, and Karthika. Also produced by UTV Motion Pictures, t ...

'', featuring

Arya Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ...

Vijay Sethupathi Vijaya Gurunatha Sethupathi (born 16 January 1978), known professionally as Vijay Sethupathi, is an Indian actor and film producer who predominantly works in Tamil films. He is a recipient of several accolades including a National Film Award. ...

, and

Shaam Syria ( Hieroglyphic Luwian: 𔒂𔒠 ''Sura/i''; gr, Συρία) or Sham ( ar, ٱلشَّام, ash-Shām) is the name of a historical region located east of the Mediterranean Sea in Western Asia, broadly synonymous with the Levant. Ot ...

. The film also saw the director making his debut as a producer. His final directorial film was the 2021 film '' Laabam'', in which he collaborated with Vijay Sethupathi for a second time.

Death

Jananthan died on 14 March 2021 at the age of 61 after being unconscious for two days following a cardiac arrest. Prior to his death, he underwent treatment at a private hospital in Chennai and was under ventilator support. He was admitted in the ICU on 11 March 2021 by his assistants who found him unstable and unconscious at his residence in Chennai. His final film, '' Laabam'', was released six months after his death.

Filmography

References

Tamil film directors 2021 deaths Film directors from Chennai 21st-century Indian film directors 1959 births Tamil film producers Tamil screenwriters Film producers from Chennai Screenwriters from Tamil Nadu 21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Indian screenwriters {{India-film-director-stub