Shakti Soundar Rajan

Shakti Soundar Rajan
Born (1982-03-10) 10 March 1982 (age 42)
Karur, Tamil Nadu, India
NationalityIndian
Occupation(s)Film Director
Screenwriter
Years active2010–present

Shakti Soundar Rajan is an Indian film director who predominantly works in Tamil cinema.[1] He is known for directing science fiction films that introduce new concepts to Tamil cinema.

Career

Rajan worked as an assistant director to Venkat Prabhu. His debut movie was Naanayam, released in 2010. In 2014, he directed Naaigal Jaakirathai, which received stellar reviews from both the critics and the audience.[2] After this movie, Shakti achieved a certain stance in the industry. Following a zombie film in Miruthan (2016), and a space film in Tik Tik Tik (2018), Shakti Soundar Rajan returned with one of the country's first live-action animated films, Teddy (2021).[3] In 2022, he directed the science fiction monster film Captain.

Filmmaking style

Rajan has a reputation for introducing different concepts to Tamil cinema relative to Hollywood films. His second film, Naaigal Jaakirathai, was the first Tamil film to feature a dog as the main protagonist.[4] His third film, Miruthan, was the first Tamil film to feature zombies.[5] Rajan's fifth film, Teddy, is he first Tamil film to use an Indian animation company to design a special animated character and the second Tamil film (after Rajinikanth's Kochadaiiyaan) to use motion-capture technology, marking the new wave of animation usage in Tamil industry.[3] His sixth film, Captain, is the first Indian creature-based film.

For his first two films, Rajan has collaborated with music directors James Vasanthan and Dharan Kumar, after which he has collaborated with music director D. Imman for his subsequent films.

Filmography

Year Film Director Writer Notes
2010 Naanayam Yes Yes Money heist film
Inspired from The Bank Job,Inside Man, Entrapment and the Ocean's franchise
2014 Naaigal Jaakirathai Yes Yes First Tamil film to feature a dog as the main protagonist
Inspired from Turner & Hooch
2016 Miruthan Yes Yes First Tamil film to feature zombies
Inspired from Dawn of the Dead
2018 Tik Tik Tik Yes Yes Inspired from Armageddon
2021 Teddy Yes Yes First Tamil film to use an Indian animation company to design a special animated character
Inspired from Ted
2022 Captain Yes Yes First Indian creature-based film
Inspired from Predator

References

  1. ^ "Shakti Soundar Rajan movies, filmography, biography and songs - Cinestaan.com". Cinestaan. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Kollywood Director Shakti Soundar Rajan Biography, News, Photos, Videos". nettv4u. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Shakti Soundar Rajan: All the VFX work for Teddy was done not in LA or Mumbai, but in Saligramam". Cinema Express. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  4. ^ Raghavan, Nikhil (27 July 2013). "Etcetera: Pet subject". The Hindu.
  5. ^ "India's first zombie film is in Tamil". gulfnews.com. Retrieved 19 October 2022.