Samuthirakani

Samuthirakani
Born	26 April 1971[1] Seithur, Rajapalayam, Tamil Nadu
Residence	Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupation	Film director, Film actor, screenwriter, voice actor
Years active	1973-present National Award = Best Supporting Actor

P Samuthirakani is a Tamil film actor and director.^[2] He worked as an assistant to director K Balachander.^[3] His 2009 directorial Naadodigal was a runaway hit,^[4] which was later remade in three languages. He has acted in several films as well and is best known for his performances in Subramaniapuram, Easan (both directed by M Sasikumar), and Saattai. He won the National award for best supporting actor in 2016 for his acting in the movie Visaranai.

Career

Samuthirakani entered cinema with dreams of making it as an actor. “People said I don't have the looks or the physique for it. I was unfazed. ‘Insults are a part of life,' I told myself and persevered. So when did he finally get a chance to don the greasepaint? “Pandiarajan's Padikkira Vayasu in which I had just a line to say! And to squeeze myself into the scene I had to cringe and crawl before the assistant director!” Not a tinge of self-pity! “Why at all? Slights can't hold me back.”

In 1997, he joined as an assistant director under K Vijayan. Samuthirakani who always used to keep himself busy with work was noticed by Iyakkunar Sigaram K Balachander and was roped in as assistant director for his 100th film Parthaale Paravasam. He also got the chance to work as Balachander’s assistant in mega-serial Anni telecasted by Jaya TV. The director recalls that the work experience he gained under his mentor Balachander helped him in many ways while shooting Arasi and Selvi, the mega-serial telecasted in Sun TV, which were massive hits among housewives.^[5]

And that's when he started writing out scenes and dialogue which he would enact within the confines of his room. Soon it led to the discovery that inside him was a capable storyteller.

Subramaniapuram showcased Samuthirakani as an actor with potential and Nadodigal helped him prove his mettle as a director. From maker of megas to director of films that began with Unnai Charan Adaindhain, Kani has always been busy, primarily because he's absolutely ego-less. The lukewarm response to his début film and the disaster ero — didn't deter him. “If the film is a hit everyone vies for the laurels. And if the result is negative, it's the director who has to bear the onus,” he shrugs. He went back to television, joined his mentor K Balachander's unit, worked as an assistant of Ameer for Paruthiveeran and kept himself as busy as ever. “I continued working till better things came my way". And the best did happen — Sasikumar gave him that solid role in Subramaniapuram, followed it up with another in Easan, played hero under Sasikumar's direction, and is back with him for Porali.^[6]

Filmography

As director

Year	Film	Language	Notes
2003	Unnai Charanadaindhen	Tamil	Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Story Writer
2004	Neranja Manasu	Tamil
2004	Naalo	Telugu
2009	Naadodigal	Tamil	Vijay Award for Favourite Director Nominated, Filmfare Award for Best Director – Tamil Nominated, Vijay Award for Best Director Nominated, Vijay Award for Best Story, Screenplay Writer
2010	Shambo Shiva Shambo	Telugu	Remake of Nadodigal
2011	Poraali	Tamil	Vijay Award for Best Dialogue Writer
2012	Yaare Koogadali	Kannada	Remake of Poraali
2014	Nimirndhu Nil	Tamil
2014	Janda Pai Kapiraju	Telugu	Remake of Nimirndhu Nil
2016	Appa	Tamil	Filming
2017	Kitna	Tamil	Filming[7]

As Actor

Year	Film	Role	Language	Notes
1998	Marmadesam - Edhuvum Nadakkum	A tribal man	Tamil	Marmadesam TV Series (Episode 1)[8]
2001	Ramany vs Ramany Part II	A middle-aged man	Tamil	TV series (Episode 51)[9]
2001	Guhan	An assistant director	Tamil	TV series (Episode 8)[10] also Co-director
2001	Parthale Paravasam	A back-pain patient	Tamil
2006	Poi		Tamil	Cameo appearance
2007	Paruthiveeran		Tamil	Cameo appearance
2008	Subramaniapuram	Kanugu	Tamil	Nominated, Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – Tamil
2010	Shambo Shiva Shambo		Telugu	Cameo appearance
2010	Shikkar	Abdullah	Malayalam
2010	Easan	Sangayya	Tamil
2012	Masters		Malayalam	Cameo appearance
2012	Thiruvambadi Thamban		Malayalam
2012	Saattai	Dayalan	Tamil
2012	Neerparavai	Uduman Gani	Tamil
2012	The Hit List		Malayalam
2013	D Company	Chaukidar	Malayalam
2014	Ninaithathu Yaaro	Himself	Tamil	Guest appearance
2014	Nimirndhu Nil	A car driver	Tamil	Guest appearance
2014	Velaiyilla Pattathari	Dhanush's father	Tamil	Nominated, Vijay Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated, Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – Tamil
2014	Vasanthathinte Kanal Vazhikalil	P Krishna Pillai	Malayalam
2014	Kaadu	Nandha	Tamil
2015	Sandamarutham	Thirumalai	Tamil
2015	The Reporter	Parthasarathy	Malayalam
2015	Massu Engira Masilamani	Radha Krishnan (RK)	Tamil
2015	Buddhanin Sirippu	Vettri	Tamil
2015	Kaaval	Chandrasekar	Tamil
2015	Kamaraj		Tamil
2015	Adhibar	Raja	Tamil
2015	Paayum Puli	Selvaraj (Selvam)	Tamil
2015	Strawberry	Aathi	Tamil
2015	Pasanga 2		Tamil	Guest appearance
2016	Tharkappu		Tamil
2016	Rajini Murugan	"Ezhrai" Mookan	Tamil
2016	Visaranai	Inspector Muthuvel	Tamil	National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor
2016	Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum		Tamil
2016	Vetrivel		Tamil
2016	Kolanji		Tamil	Filming[11]
2016	Amma Kanakku		Tamil	Filming
2016	Sattam		Tamil	Filming
2016	Untitled Thiru Project		Tamil	Filming[12]
2016	Oppam		Malayalam	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Language	Notes
2001	Ramani Vs Ramani	Tamil	Comedy TV Serial [13]
2001	Adi Ennadi Asathu Penne	Tamil	[14]
2001	Idho Boopalam	Tamil	[15]
2003	Anni	Tamil	TV Serial
2003	Tharkappu Kalai Theeratha	Tamil	TV Serial
2005	Thangavettai	Tamil	Game Show
2007	Arasi	Tamil	TV Serial
2011	7C	Tamil	TV Serial (Cameo)

Dubbing artist

Year	Film	For actor
2011	Aadukalam	Kishore
2012	Dhoni	Murli Sharma
2014	Goli Soda	Madhusudhan Rao
2016	Kathakali	Madhusudhan Rao

Singer

Year	Film	Song	Composer	Notes
2010	Vamsam	"Suvadu Suvadu"	Taj Noor	Sang along with M Sasikumar and Pandiraj
2011	Poraali	"Vidiya Potri"	Sundar C Babu

References

1. "SAMUTHIRAKANI P.". Tamilnadu Film Director's Association. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
2. "What's in a name?". Chennai, India: The Hindu. 2007-04-24. Retrieved 2009-08-27.
3. "Samuthirakani: My mother may not understand mywork". www.indiaglitz.com. Indiaglitz. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
4. "A tale of triumph". The Hindu. 2009-07-31. Retrieved 2009-08-27.
5. http://www.goergo.in/?p=4258
6. Rangarajan, Malathi (2011-11-26). "Rebel with a pause". The Hindu (Chennai, India).
7. "Dhansika signs Samuthrakani`s `Kitna`". Sify.
8. Edhuvum Nadakkum - Marma Desam - Episode 1. YouTube. 26 February 2013.
9. Ramany vs Ramany Part II Tamil TV Serial Episode - 51. YouTube. 10 July 2012.
10. Guhan Tamil TV Serial Episode - 8. YouTube. 29 March 2013.
11. "Sanghavi makes a comeback in Kani’s film". The Times of India.
12. "Samuthirakani and Sonia Aggarwal in Thiru film!". Sify.
13. Ramany Vs. Ramany - Part II - Episode 51. YouTube. 10 July 2012.
14. Adi Ennadi Asattu Penne. YouTube.
15. Idho Boopalam - Tamil Tv Serial. YouTube.

External links

• Opera king
• His still dreams to make it