Agathiyan

Agathiyan
Agathiyan
	Agathiyan at the "Kennedy Club" film Audio Launch
Born	18 August 1952 (age 71); Peravurani, Madras State (now Tamil Nadu), India
Occupations	Director; screenwriter; producer; lyricist; actor;
Years active	1991 – present
Spouse	Radha (m. 1978; died 2016)
Children	Kani Thiru; Vijayalakshmi Agathiyan; Niranjani Ahathian
Relatives	Thiru (son-in-law); Desingh Periyasamy (son-in-law)

Agathiyan (born 18 August 1952; pronunciation^ⓘ) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, lyricist, and actor.^[2] He was the first director in Tamil cinema to win the National Film Award for Best Direction for Kadhal Kottai (1996).^[3] For the film, he also won National Film Award for Best Screenplay and Filmfare Award for Best Director – Tamil.

Career

Agathiyan, a director in his late forties entered films a decade back and struggled as an assistant to various directors. Hailing from a agriculturist family, he spent a happy-go-lucky time in college, and when he decided to pack his bags and come to Chennai to try his luck in films as a director, he lost his family's support. Struggling with no money, he did odd jobs in film companies and became an assistant to anyone who offered him food and shelter.^[4]

He wrote story for Ramarajan starrer Manasukketha Maharasa under the name Karunanidhi Santharam and initially directed a film called Mangalyam Thanthunanena in 1991 and was credited as Ravi Thasan but it was unsuccessful.^[5] Anbalaya Prabhakaran, who acted in that movie and also produces small budgeted films with new directors, gave Ahahtian his second break as a director with Madhumathi, a teenage love story with new faces. The film was a big hit. He was back to where he started, but again fate had bigger things in store for him. Sivasakthi Pandian, a film distributor turned producer, produced Vaanmathi with Ajith and Swathi. The film was a hit. Next came Kadhal Kottai from the same banner and Ahahtian became the toast of the industry. Offers poured in for films.^[6]

In late 2014, he began work on an untitled project produced by Bharathiraja starring Santhosh Prathap, Oviya, Vijayalakshmi and Manoj Bharathiraja, but the film was later shelved.^[7] He has served as jury member at 57th National Film Awards.^[8]

Personal life

He married Radha in 1978.^[1] His elder daughter Kani (Karthika), host of Makkal TV, is married to film director Thiru.^[9] Kani Thiru is a winner of Vijay TV's Cook With Comali (Season 2). His second daughter Vijayalakshmi Agathiyan is an actress and is married to film director Feroz. His younger daughter Niranjani Ahathian is a costume designer and actress who is married to director Desingh Periyasamy.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography

Films

Year	Film	Credited as				Role	Notes
Year	Film	Director	Writer	Producer	Actor	Role	Notes
1989	Manasukketha Maharasa	N	Y	N	N		Credited as Karunanidhi Santharam in the film
1991	Mangalyam Thanthunane	Y	Y	N	N		Credited as Ravi Thasan in the film
1992	Pondatti Rajyam	N	Y	N	N
1993	Madhumathi	Y	Y	N	N
1996	Vaanmathi	Y	Y	N	N
1996	Kadhal Kottai	Y	Y	N	Y	Cameo
1996	Gokulathil Seethai	Y	Y	N	Y	Cameo
1997	Vidukathai	Y	Y
1998	Santhosham		Y	N	N
1998	Kaadhal Kavithai	Y	Y	N	N
1999	Sirf Tum	Y	Y	N	N		Hindi film
2001	Hum Ho Gaye Aapke	Y	Y	N	N		Hindi film
1999	Poovellam Kettuppar	N	N	N	Y	Himself
2001	Vinnukkum Mannukkum	N	N	N	Y	Cameo
2002	Kadhal Samrajyam	Y	Y	N	N		Unreleased film
2004	Ramakrishna	Y	Y	N	N
2004	Ee Abbai Chala Manchodu	Y	Y	N	N		Telugu film; credited as Agastyan
2005	Selvam	Y	Y	Y	N
2007	Agaram	N	N	N	Y	Thiru's father
2008	Nenjathai Killadhe	Y	Y	N	N
2011	Avargalum Ivargalum	N	N	N	Y
2011	Maithanam	N	N	N	Y
2018	Mr. Chandramouli	N	N	N	Y

Television

Year	Serial	Channel	Notes
2005	Pugazh	DD Podhigai	^[10]

Discography

As lyricist

Year	Film	Song(s)
1996	Kadhal Kottai	All songs
1996	Gokulathil Seethai	All songs
1997	Vidukathai	Idhayam Idhayam, Meenakshi Kaiyil, Kidaichuruchu
1998	Santhosham	All songs
2002	Kadhal Samrajyam	All songs
2004	Ramakrishna	All songs
2005	Selvam	All songs
2008	Nenjathai Killathe	All songs
2020	Meendum Oru Mariyathai	Kozhandhan Peru