S. Saravanan


Shanmugam Saravanan is an Indian cinematographer and film director who works mainly in the Indian film industry. He is an alumnus of Film and Television Institute of Tamil Nadu. He started his career with Poove Unakkaga, a Tamil romantic film starring Vijay and Sangita in the lead roles and was released in the year 1996. He debuted as a director by his directorial venture Silambattam. Saravanan is well known for his association with Directors Vikraman and Suresh Krissna. He has worked as a cinematographer in more than 25 films in Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam.

Early life and career

The son of poet Ulundurpettai Shanmugham, after completing the Diploma in cinematography from Film and Television Institute of Tamil Nadu, he assisted senior cinematographer P.Selvakumar in the Team of Aabavanan. Later he made his cinematography debut in the film Amma Ponnu. After watching his work in that film Director Vikraman called and offered him to do cinematography for his next venture titled Pudhiya Mannargal. His work was well appreciated in that movie. He then continued to work with Director Vikraman in the films Poove Unakkaga 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 Directed by K. S. Sethumadhavan. 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 Suresh Krissna and did films like Aahaa, Auto Driver, Sangamam.
In 2008 Shanmugam Saravanan made his directorial debut in the film Silambattam, a Tamil action comedy. The film starred Silambarasan Rajendar in dual roles while Sneha, Sana Khan, Prabhu and Kishore also play lead roles. Yuvan Shankar Raja 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, R. Madhi, Vetri and Manoj Paramahamsa.

Filmography

As cinematographer

YearFilmLanguageDirector
1993Amma PonnuTamilArun
1994Pudhiya MannargalTamilVikraman
1995StriTeluguK. S. Sethumadhavan
1996Poove UnakkagaTamilVikraman
1996SelvaTamilA. Venkatesh
1997SuryavamsamTamilVikraman
1997AahaaTamilSuresh Krissna
1998Aahaa...!TeluguSuresh Krissna
1998Auto DriverTeluguSuresh Krissna
1998OruvanTamilSuresh Krissna
1999SangamamTamilSuresh Krissna
2000VallarasuTamilN. Maharajan
2000MaayiTamilSurya Prakash
2001VaanchinathanTamilShaji Kailas
2002Pammal K. SambandamTamilMoulee
2003Priyamana ThozhiTamilvikraman
2003VishnuTeluguShaji Kailas
2004MadureyTamilR. Madhesh
2004ArasatchiTamilN. Maharajan
2005ThirupaachiTamilPerarasu
2005The TigerMalayalamShaji Kailas
2006ThirupathiTamilPerarasu
2006DharmapuriTamilPerarasu
2006Smart CityMalayalamB. Unnikrishnan
2008VaitheeswaranTamilR.K. Vidhyadharan
2010Twinkle Twinkle Little StarMalayalamVayalar Madhavan Kutty
2013Alex PandianTamilSuraj
2017PakkaTamilS.S. Surya
2017DharmayuddhayaSinhalaCheyyar Ravi

As Director

YearFilmLanguageActors
2008SilambattamTamilSilambarasan, Sneha, Sana Khan, Prabhu, Santhanam, Nedumudi Venu