Shankar

Shankar Shanmugam is an Indian film director and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema .He made his directional debut in Gentleman in1993 for which he was awarded the Filmfare Best Director Award and the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for the Best Director. Two of his films, Indian (1996) and Jeans (1998) were submitted by India for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

His production venture Veyyil has won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil in 2007. In 2007, he was awarded as an honorary doctorate by M. G. R. University. He is generally known for making highest -budget films in the Indian Film industry. In a personal appreciation letter to S. Shankar for the Enthiran's release, K. Balachander described Shankar as India's James Cameron, and Enthiran as India's Avatar. Shankar shanmugan was born on August 17, 1963 in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu to Muthulakshmi and Shanmugam. He completed his Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from Central Polytechnic College in Tharamani [C.P.T] , before entering film industry.

Debut Film Awards Enumeration Career Personal Life He made his production of debut through Mudhalvan in 1999, with Rajinikanth playing the lead. After the actor cited schedule conflicts, Arjun Sarja joined this project. At the same time, Shankar had started to work on his next film which was supposed to be a science fiction film titled Robot, but this project could not move forward due to an immensely very large budget. Instead, he opted to remake Mudhalvan in Hindi called as Nayak, thus making his Bollywood debut. Awards: Filmfare Best Director Award - Gentleman (1993), Action film acted by Arjun and Madhubala State Award for Best Director in the year 1993 Filmfare Best Director Award - Kadhalan (1994), Comedy film acted by Prabhudeva and Nakma Filmfare Best Director Award - Indian (1996), Action film dual roles acted by Kamalhasaan and Manisha Koirala Kalaimaamani Award in the year 1997 Academy Award foe Best Foreign Language film - Jeans (1998), Romantic film acted by Prasanth and Aishwarya Rai Filmfare Best Tamil Film Award - Mudhalvan (1999), Action film acted by Arjun and Manisha Koirala National Film Award for Best Tamil Film Award - Mudhalvan (1999) Filmfare Best Director Award and Tamilnadu State Film award for Best Director - Anniyan (2005), Psychological thriller film, acted by Vikram and Sadha, music by Harris Jeyaraj National Film Award for Best Feature Tamil Film in Tamil - Veyyil (2006) acted by Pasupathi, Barath and Bavana Doctorate Award by MGR University in the year 2007 From Director Shankar to Doctor Shankar, he has literally scripted his success story that is his script – writing skills are from the backbone of his runaway hits. His fervour for his films transcends direction – his production banner named S pictures and audio record label S music's stand testimony to his passion for different facets of movie – making. As director Shankar is continuing to entertain his audiences with one blockbuster after another, may this be one success story that never sees "the end". Shankar began his career as an assistant with film directors like S. A. Chandrasekhar and Pavithran. His first break in Bollywood films was as an assistant director to S. A. Chandrasekhar in Jai Shiv Shankar which was produced by Rajesh Kanna. In 1993, he made his directional debut through his Tamil film Gentleman. Arjun Sarja in the lead role, the film was made with a highest budget in Tamil cinema at that time. A. R. Rahman, the film's composer continued to work with director Shankar in his following six directorial ventures. His second film named Kadhalan, a romantic-action film was released in the following year, in which Prabhu Deva played a lead role. In the year 1996, he had to collaborate with Kamal Haasan for Indian. This film and kadhalan were both critically acclaimed and a commercial success. The film kadhalan was selected as one of the country's submission for the Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film. Following with the success of Indian, Shankar began to work on Jeans. He made his production debut through Mudhalvan, which was launched with Rajinikanth playing the lead. His musical entertainer film Boys was released in the year 2003, which was praised by critics for its depiction of youth. His psychological thriller Anniyan, featuring Vikram in three distinct characters Ambi , Remo and Anniyan was released in 2005 with Harris Jayaraj as the music composer for his film. Shortly after the release of Anniyan, Shankar had teamed up with Rajinikanth and AVM Productions for a film. His renewed with his association with A. R. Rahman with the film. Sivaji was made at a budget of 60 crores, the most expensive Indian film at that time. After two years of shooting, the film was released in 2007 with much fanfare and hype across the globe. Ultimately it went on to become the highest grossing Tamil film of that time. Following Sivaji, Shankar had revisited the possibility of beginning his shelved science fiction venture. After an unsuccessful attempt of bringing the project to Bollywood with Shahrukh Khan in the lead, he later decided to make the project in Tamil with Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai. The film was produced by South Indian media proprietor, Kalanithi Maran, and it was renamed as Enthiran and was made on a budget of 165 crore, it was the most expensive Indian film. This film broke Sivaji's record and became the highest grossing Tamil film and also the highest grossing Indian film. After initial reports about Shankar's next film is entitled to be with Siddharth, Shankar started to work as the director of Nanban, the Tamil remake of the 2009 Hindi film 3 Idiots with Vijay, Jeeva and Srikanth. On 21st June 2012 Shankar announced the name for the next film named I. In which Vikram, after the successful Anniyan in 2005, again joining with Shankar. Actress Amy Jackson is starring as Vikram's ladylove. This movie is also said to be starring Santhanam and Suresh Gopi. This movie is also expected to be produced on a mega scale. Shankar's family includes his father Shanmugam, mother Muthulakshmi, his wife and two daughters.