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Perarasu (born 8 January 1967) is an Indian film director who works primarily in
Tamil film industry Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywood ...
. As a director, he is best known for his commercial Tamil movies with actors Vijay and
Bharath Srinivasan Bharath Srinivasan (born 21 July 1983), known professionally as Bharath, is an Indian actor, who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. He has mainly acted in Tamil films, along with few films in Malayalam, Hindi and Telugu. He made his acting deb ...
. He has also been credited as an actor, music director, singer and lyricist in some of his ventures.


Personal life

Perarasu, was born on 8 January 1967 in Natarasankottai in
Sivaganga Sivaganga () is a city and headquarters of the Sivaganga district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Sivaganga is a rani velunachiyar kingdom of Tamil Nadu. It is an important city in this district for official and commercial purposes. Its ni ...
district,
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
. Perarasu, married Shanthi at Nattarasankottai on June 11, 2000. A female child Viruthika was born to them in July 2001. When Shanthi conceived a second time, she was given abortion pills, she fell ill and was sent by Perarasu to her parents. A panchayat was summoned and they started living together. However, Perarasu insisted on Shanthi moving to Nattarasankottai. During this time, Perarasu received an explicit divorce decree without Shanthi's knowledge. She took steps to have the decree rescinded. She moved the JM court to Bhavani, who asked Perarasu to pay child support. Though Perarasu had filed a petition challenging the order, neither he nor his counsel appeared in court when the matter was called on five occasions. On September 12, 2007, a judicial magistrate court in Bhavani in Erode district, directed the film director to pay alimony of Rs 10,000 a month to Shanthi and Rs 5,000 a month to their daughter. Perarasu then married Krishnaveni.


Career

He tried for 7 to 8 years to make it big and had some off-beat stories. When he was new to
Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
, he used to frequent AVM and stand in front of the studios longing to visit the place. He bribed a production in charge ten rupees one day and got himself into the studios. His experience of 15 to 16 years in the industry taught him to analyse the pulse of the audience and give them what they want. He honed his skills under
Rama Narayanan Rama Narayanan (3 April 1949 – 22 June 2014) was an Indian film director and producer. In the 1980s, he was known as a director who specialized in shooting commercial films in which animals played vital roles, while in the 1990s, several of h ...
and
N. Maharajan N. Maharajan is an Indian film director who directed Tamil and Hindi films. He made his debut with '' Vallarasu'' and directed other films ''Anjaneya'' and ''Arasatchi''. He had provided scripts for Hindi films '' Zor'' and Champion Career Maha ...
. Apart from assisting, Perarasu appeared in few films doing small uncredited roles. He wants his films to be packed with mind-blowing songs, speedy screenplay, punchy dialogue and in between inserted with sentiments, comedy, twists and turns. Perarasu made his directorial debut with ''
Thirupaachi ''Thirupaachi'' is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Perarasu. The film stars Vijay, Trisha and Mallika, with Livingston, Pasupathy, Benjamin, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Vaiyapuri and Manoj K. Jayan in other roles. Ch ...
'' starring Vijay in lead role being his 40th film. The film was released on the eve of
Pongal Pongal may refer to: * Pongal (festival), an annual Tamil festival * Pongal (dish) Pongal, also known as pongali or huggi, is an Indian rice dish. In Tamil, "pongal" means "boil" or "bubbling up". The two varieties of pongal are ''chakarai pong ...
with 207 prints and the film received positive reviews from critics claiming that "you may strive hard to find anything new in Tirupachi, which is old wine served in a new bottle, with a different label". The film completed a 100-day theatrical run among 112 screens in Tamil Nadu and completed 200 days in more than 25 centres. After the success of ''Thirupaachi'',
A. M. Rathnam A. M. Rathnam is an Indian film producer, lyricist, screenwriter, and director known for his works in Telugu and Tamil cinema. Under the gamut of Sri Surya Movies Entertainment, Hyderabad, a movie production house owned by him, he has produced ...
called Perarasu to make a film with Vijay re-uniting with him for second time. ''
Sivakasi Sivakasi () is a city and Municipal Corporation in Virudhunagar District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This city is known for its fireworks, firecracker, matchbox and printing industries. Sivakasi city alone meets about 90% fire cracker ...
'' was Perarasu's second collaboration with Vijay after ''Thirupaachi'' and producer Rathnam's third film with Vijay after '' Kushi'' and ''
Ghilli ''Ghilli'' () is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language romantic action masala film directed by Dharani and produced by A. M. Rathnam. It is a remake of the Telugu-language film ''Okkadu'' (2003). The film stars Vijay, Trisha and Prakash Raj with Ashi ...
''. The film was released on Diwali to positive reviews with a critic claiming that ""This formula had worked well for director Perarasu and Vijay in ''Thirupaachi'' and now the team has re-worked it. This time, however, it will test your patience as it is not meant for the class audience or those seeking quality entertainment. Perarasu and Vijay believe only in catering to the mass audience who want their dose of unpretentious masala mix" but eventually became a successful venture at box office. During the making of ''Sivakasi'', representatives from AVM Productions approached Perarasu to make a commercial film with
Ajith Kumar Ajith Kumar (born 1 May 1971) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil films. To date, he has starred in over 60 films. His awards include four Vijay Awards, three Cinema Express Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and three Tamil N ...
in the lead role. The director immediately accepted the offer and told the producer the story of the film during the meeting and the film was announced publicly two days later. In August 2005, it became clear that the film would begin in November and that
Riyaz Khan Riyaz Khan is an Indian actor and bodybuilder. He predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films and television series, besides acting in a few Telugu and Kannada films, as well as two Hindi films. Riyaz debuted in Malayalam through the 1994 ...
would play the lead antagonist role in the project. Sadha was signed on to play the lead role after early reports suggested that either
Nayanthara Diana Mariam Kurian, known professionally as Nayanthara, is an Indian actress and film producer who is known for her work in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. She was in the ''Forbes India'' "Celebrity 100" 2018 list, with her total annual ...
,
Renuka Menon Renuka Menon is a former Indian actress who has predominantly appeared in Malayalam films. She also acted in few Tamil, Telugu and Kannada language films. Career In 2005, Menon entered the Tamil and Kannada film industries, through the film ...
or Gopika would play the lead female role. The film was named ''
Thirupathi Tirupati () is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirupati district. The city is home to the important Hindu shrine of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple and other historic temples and is refe ...
'' and was launched officially on 15 September 2005 with Vijay attending the opening ceremony. The film was critically panned, with critics claiming that the film drew too much resemblance to Perarasu's previous projects, ''Thirupaachi'' and ''Sivakasi''. After the success of ''Thirupathi'', Perarasu announced a project called "Pandigai" with S. J. Suryah but the project was cancelled and he announced his next project ''
Dharmapuri Dharmapuri is a special grade town in the north western part of Tamil Nadu, India. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Dharmapuri district which is the first district created in Tamil Nadu after the independence of India by spli ...
'' with
Vijayakanth Narayanan Vijayaraj Alagarswami (born 25 August 1952), better known by his stage name Vijayakanth, is an Indian politician and former actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil cinema. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Leg ...
in 2006 since Producer
A. M. Rathnam A. M. Rathnam is an Indian film producer, lyricist, screenwriter, and director known for his works in Telugu and Tamil cinema. Under the gamut of Sri Surya Movies Entertainment, Hyderabad, a movie production house owned by him, he has produced ...
expressed his desire of Perarasu directing a film for him again after ''
Sivakasi Sivakasi () is a city and Municipal Corporation in Virudhunagar District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This city is known for its fireworks, firecracker, matchbox and printing industries. Sivakasi city alone meets about 90% fire cracker ...
''. Incidentally it was Rathnam who suggested Vijayakanth's name for the film. When Rathnam and captain heard the ‘one liner’ of the movie, they both liked it instantly and thus ''Dharmapuri'' was born without even a heroine. Indiaglitz wrote: Perarasu has dished out a movie that would certainly appease front-benchers. A commercial pot-boiler, the movie will be lapped by Vijayakanth's fans. Sure to make it big in rural centres, the movie also has enough stunt sequences for action-lovers". Perarasu's next film was ''
Pazhani Palani ( or ''Palni'' as in British records, is a town and a taluk headquarters in Dindigul district of the western part of Tamil Nadu state in India. It is located about south-east of Coimbatore and north-west of Madurai, from Kodaikanal ...
'', starring Bharath and Kajal Aggarwal. It was average at the box office. Perarasu then directed films like, ''
Thiruvannamalai Tiruvannamalai (Tamil: ''Tiruvaṇṇāmalai'' IPA: , otherwise spelt ''Thiruvannamalai''; ''Trinomali'' or ''Trinomalee'' on British records) is a city, a spiritual, cultural, economic hub and also the administrative headquarters of Tiruvanna ...
'' and ''
Thiruthani Tiruttani is a town in Tiruvallur district, suburb of Chennai within Chennai Metropolitan Area limit in state of Tamil Nadu, India. This town is famous for Tiruttani Murugan Temple which is one of the Arupadaiveedu and is dedicated to (Kartike ...
''.
Thiruvannamalai Tiruvannamalai (Tamil: ''Tiruvaṇṇāmalai'' IPA: , otherwise spelt ''Thiruvannamalai''; ''Trinomali'' or ''Trinomalee'' on British records) is a city, a spiritual, cultural, economic hub and also the administrative headquarters of Tiruvanna ...
was a commercial hit, but Thiruthani failed at box office. Later a Malayalam action movie Samrajyam 2 was directed with
Unni Mukundan Unnikrishnan Mukundan (born 22 September 1987), commonly known as Unni Mukundan, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Telugu and Tamil films. Unni Mukundan made his acting debut with the Ta ...
as the main hero, which was a sequel to the first part of
Mammootty Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (; born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. He has also appeared in Tamil l ...
film
Samrajyam ''Samrajyam'' () is a 1990 Indian Malayalam-language gangster film directed by Jomon. The film stars Mammootty as Alexander, a powerful underworld don. The film narrates the story of his rise and fall. The film features Madhu, Srividya, Asho ...
. Though the film was action packed, entertainer, this film failed to attract the audience, ending up in becoming a heavy flop.


Style of work

Perarasu is known primarily for directing films which he says are "aimed at the common man who looks at pure entertainment", rather than critics. His films are also known for having sentiment and action scenes in equal proportions. Due to his films being named after towns and cities, he has been nicknamed "Oorarasu" by the media, the term being a portmanteau of "''oor''" (meaning town or city) and his name Perarasu.


Filmography

;Director *''All films are in Tamil, unless otherwise noted.'' ;As lyricist ;As singer


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perarasu Tamil film directors Living people Tamil film poets Film directors from Tamil Nadu People from Sivaganga district 21st-century Indian film directors Malayalam film directors Tamil screenwriters Screenwriters from Tamil Nadu Malayalam screenwriters 1967 births