Magizh Thirumeni is an Indian film director who has worked Tamil language films. After working as an assistant to directors,
Selvaraghavan
Selvaraghavan is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor who has directed and acted predominantly Tamil cinema, Tamil films. His directorial debut had with ''Thulluvadho Ilamai'' (2002) but his father is credited for business reasons, w ...
and
Gautham Vasudev Menon
Gautham Vasudev Menon (born 25 February 1973) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, Tamil film industry. He has also directed Telugu cinema, Telugu and Hindi cinema, Hindi films th ...
, he directed five films, including the action thrillers ''
Thadaiyara Thaakka
''Thadaiyara Thaakka'' () is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Magizh Thirumeni, starring Arun Vijay, Mamta Mohandas and Rakul Preet Singh. The title is derived from a devotional song titled ''Kanda Sh ...
'' (2012), ''
Meaghamann
''Meaghamann'' () is a 2014 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Magizh Thirumeni and produced by Nemichand Jhabak. The film stars Arya (actor), Arya and Hansika Motwani, while Ashutosh Rana, Sudhans ...
'' (2014), ''
Thadam'' (2019), and ''
Kalaga Thalaivan'' (2022).
Career
Early career
As a teenager, Magizh Thirumeni was an avid reader of Tamil and Russian literature, and often wrote poetry and short stories revealing he found the experience "fulfilling".
He thus moved on to attempting novels and writing scripts, before being smitten by film-making. In the early 2000s, hoping to make a breakthrough in the film industry as a director, Magizh often visited the offices of directors, including
P. Vasu
Vasudevan Peethambharan, known professionally as P Vasu, is an Indian director, writer and actor who works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam language films. In a career spanning three decades, Vasu has directed over 64 films. and
T. Rajender, hoping to join their teams. Director
Kasthuri Raja
Kasthuri Raja is an Indian film director. He is the father of director Selvaraghavan and actor Dhanush. He worked as an assistant director with Director K.S.G. Most of the films he directed were either village based or infatuation of youngsters ...
signed on Magizh to work on his son
Selvaraghavan
Selvaraghavan is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor who has directed and acted predominantly Tamil cinema, Tamil films. His directorial debut had with ''Thulluvadho Ilamai'' (2002) but his father is credited for business reasons, w ...
's first film, but delays meant he first worked as an assistant director in the team of their coming-of-age film ''
Thulluvadho Ilamai
''Thulluvadho Ilamai'' () is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language teen drama film written and directed by Selvaraghavan, but Kasthuri Raja is credited for business reasons and the film marks the acting debut of Dhanush, who plays the lead role. The fi ...
'' (2002). Magizh then met his mentor
Gautham Vasudev Menon
Gautham Vasudev Menon (born 25 February 1973) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, Tamil film industry. He has also directed Telugu cinema, Telugu and Hindi cinema, Hindi films th ...
at editor
Suresh Urs
Suresh Urs is an Indian film editor who works predominantly in the South Indian cinema. He has edited over 700 films and 40 documentaries and television shows. Urs is well known for his association with directors like Girish Karnad, Mani Ratnam ...
's office while working on the post-production of another film and offered to work with Menon, being signed up to join him during the production of ''
Kaakha Kaakha
''Kaakha Kaakha'' (), titled ''The Police'' in the UK, is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. It stars Suriya and Jyothika, with Jeevan playing the antagonist. The film featured music ...
'' (2003).
He worked extensively on the film as well as on ''
Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu
''Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu'' () is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language neo-noir action thriller film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. The film stars Kamal Haasan, Jyothika, and Kamalinee Mukherjee in prominent roles, while Prakash Raj, D ...
'' (2006), before leaving Menon's team ten days into the shoot of ''
Pachaikili Muthucharam
''Pachaikili Muthucharam'' () is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. It is based on the 2005 British-American thriller film '' Derailed''. The film stars Sarathkumar and Jyothika, while Andrea J ...
'' (2007).
As a director
Magizh made his
directorial debut
This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...
with the 2010 romantic comedy film, ''
Mundhinam Paartheney
''Mundhinam Paartheney'' is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by debutant director Magizh Thirumeni, starring newcomers Sanjay, Ekta Ghosla, Lizna, Pooja and Sai Prashanth in lead roles. The film, produced by ...
'', featuring a cast of newcomers. His second film, the action thriller, ''
Thadaiyara Thaakka
''Thadaiyara Thaakka'' () is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Magizh Thirumeni, starring Arun Vijay, Mamta Mohandas and Rakul Preet Singh. The title is derived from a devotional song titled ''Kanda Sh ...
'' (2012), featuring
Arun Vijay
Arun Vijay (born 19 November 1977), formerly known as Arun Kumar, is an Indian actor who works primarily in Tamil cinema. He also starred in a few films in Telugu, Kannada and Hindi.
Born as Arun Kumar and being the only son of veteran actor ...
and
Mamta Mohandas
Mamta Mohandas is an Indian actress, film producer and a playback singer of Malayalam film industry, she has also worked in Tamil and Telugu productions. She has acted in more than 50 films and won several accolades including two Filmfare Awar ...
in the lead roles, released in June 2012. It eventually went on to become a
sleeper hit
In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit is a film, television series, music release, video game, or some other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release but became a success later on. A sleeper hit may have little promo ...
. Despite the positive reviews from critics and making profits, Magizh revealed that the film would have done better with a wider release and more publicity. He stated that the "Adults only" censor certificate meant that the film could not stay in the cinema halls for a long period of time. However, it went on to gain a cult following after it was uploaded on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
.
Magizh then made another action thriller, ''
Meaghamann
''Meaghamann'' () is a 2014 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Magizh Thirumeni and produced by Nemichand Jhabak. The film stars Arya (actor), Arya and Hansika Motwani, while Ashutosh Rana, Sudhans ...
'' (2014), with
Arya
Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...
and
Hansika Motwani
Hansika Motwani (born 9 August 1991) is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Tamil and Telugu films. Hansika began her career as a child actor in Hindi films, and later went on to appear in lead roles in Telugu films, including ''Des ...
in the lead roles, which released in December 2014, to positive reviews.
His next film, ''
Thadam'', was his second collaboration with
Arun Vijay
Arun Vijay (born 19 November 1977), formerly known as Arun Kumar, is an Indian actor who works primarily in Tamil cinema. He also starred in a few films in Telugu, Kannada and Hindi.
Born as Arun Kumar and being the only son of veteran actor ...
. It was released in March 2019, to highly positive reviews from both the critics and audience, alike. It went on to become his first blockbuster, and is considered to be one among Arun Vijay's best films. He collaborated with
Udhayanidhi Stalin
Udhayanidhi Stalin (born 27 November 1977) is an Indian film producer, actor, and politician who prominently works in the Tamil cinema. He is the Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development of Tamil Nadu in the ministry led by his father, ...
,
Nidhi Agerwal
Nidhhi Agerwal is an Indian actress who has appeared in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films. Agerwal made her acting debut in 2017 with the Hindi film '' Munna Michael.'' She made her Telugu debut with '' Savyasachi'' (2018) and Tamil debut with '' ...
, and
Arav
Arav (; born as Nafeez Kizar) is an Indian model and actor who works in the Tamil film industry. After making his acting debut through the Vijay Antony-starrer ''Saithan'' (2016), he became known after winning the first season of the Tamil real ...
for his next film, ''
Kalaga Thalaivan''. Upon release, in November 2022, it received mixed reviews from the critics.
Personal life
Filmography
As a director
As actor
*
*
As dubbing artist
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thirumeni, Magizh
1978 births
21st-century Indian film directors
Living people
Tamil film directors
Tamil-language film directors