Shanmugam Saravanan is an Indian

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the c ...

and

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, ...

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, K ...

. He is an alumnus of the

M.G.R. Government Film and Television Training Institute The M.G.R. Government Film and Television Training Institute, formerly known as the Adyar Film Institute, is Asia's first-ever film and television training institute. Established in 1945 as Adyar Film Institute, it is one of the pioneer film in ...

. 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 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. Origin Referenc ...

''. 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 actor ...

and

Suresh Krissna Suresh Krissna (born 25 June 1959) is an Indian film director who has directed Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi Language films. His first independent film as a director was '' Sathya'' (1988), with Kamal Haasan. He is well known for ha ...

. 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, nati ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

, and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

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 Abhavanan is an Indian screenwriter, Associate Music Director, Lyricist, Director and Producer, who has worked in Tamil films. Overview Abhavanan is a portmanteau of his parents' names Arumugam and Pavayee. Since the early 1980s, he worked ...

''. Later, he made his cinematography debut in the film ''

Amma Ponnu ''Amma Ponnu'' () is a 1993 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by Arun. The film stars Vignesh and newcomer Akhila, with Nagesh, K. R. Vijaya, Goundamani, Senthil, Ponvannan and Nandagopal playing supporting roles. It was relea ...

''. 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 commer ...

. 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 ''Stri'' () is a 1995 Indian Telugu-language drama film featuring Rohini and Thalaivasal Vijay. It was written by Palagummi Padmaraju with screenplay and direction by K. S. Sethumadhavan. The film garnered two National Film Awards, two Nandi ...

'', directed by

K. S. Sethumadhavan K. S. Sethumadhavan (15 May 1931 – 24 December 2021) was an Indian film director and screenwriter who worked predominantly in Malayalam cinema. He also directed films in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. Since the early 1960s, he directed over 60 mo ...

. 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

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, Radh ...

''. 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 a ...

. 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 Sneha ( hi, स्नेहा) is a popular Hindu Indian feminine given name, which means "Affection". Notable people named Sneha *Sneha (actress) (born 1981), Indian actress in South Indian films - Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada languag ...

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, ...

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 We ...

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 hi ...

R. Madhi Madhie is an Indian film cinematographer. Former assistant of noted cinematographer S. Saravanan, he has notably worked in films such as ''Veyil'', ''Paiyaa'', ''Pandianadu'', '' Mirchi'', ''Srimanthudu'' and ''Ghaz''i. Early life Madhie is ...

, Vetri and

Manoj Paramahamsa Manoj Paramahamsa is an Indian cinematographer, who has worked in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam film industries. Career He was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. His father UV Babu, has directed more than half-a-dozen films in Telugu and Manoj has sai ...

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