Soundarya Rajinikanth (born Shaku Bai Rao Gaikwad; 20 September 1984) is an Indian
graphic designer
A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, ...
,
film producer
A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...
and
director
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''D ...
who primarily works in the
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 ...
. She is the founder and owner of Ocher Picture Productions. Soundarya began her career in films as a graphic designer. For those starring her father
Rajinikanth
Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 160 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannad ...
, she designed the title sequences. She became a film producer with ''
Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
'' (2010). She made her debut as a director with the film ''
Kochadaiyaan'' (2014).
Career
Soundarya Rajinikanth, born as Shaku Bai Rao Gaikwad did her childhood education in the Ashram Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Velachery, Chennai.
In 2007, Ocher Studios signed an agreement with
Warner Bros Entertainment to partner up in producing and distributing Tamil films. Her directorial debut was supposed to be ''Sultan: The Warrior'', a
3D animated
Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes (still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refer ...
film featuring her father
Rajinikanth
Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 160 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannad ...
. Despite heavy pre-production promotion, including a teaser of the film and an interactive website, the film was dropped. She instead directed ''
Kochadaiiyaan
''Kochadaiiyaan: The Legend'' () is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language 3D animated action film written by K. S. Ravikumar and directed by Soundarya Rajinikanth. It is India's first photorealistic motion capture film, featuring characters whose de ...
'', India's first
motion capture
Motion capture (sometimes referred as mo-cap or mocap, for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robo ...
film, with Rajinikanth in the lead role. Through ''Kochadaiiyaan'', Soundarya earned the distinction of becoming the first woman to direct her father in a feature film. At the
NDTV Indian of the Year
NDTV Indian of the Year is the annual award given by the NDTV group.
Winners of the Award
Seventh NDTV Indian of the Year
The Seventh NDTV Indian of the Year was held at the Taj Palace Hotel on 18 October 2011. The winners were:
* Indian of th ...
awards 2014, she was honoured for "Technical Innovation In Film".
In 2016, she worked on the pre-production of a film titled ''Nilavukku Enmel Ennadi Kobam'' with
Dhanush
Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja (born 28 July 1983), known professionally as Dhanush, is an Indian actor, producer, director, lyricist and playback singer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Starring in 46 films over his career, among hi ...
,
Kajal Aggarwal
Kajal Aggarwal (born 19 June 1985) is an Indian actress and model who mainly appears in Telugu and Tamil language films, in addition to a few Hindi films. Aggarwal has worked in more than 50 films and also received two South Indian Internatio ...
and
Manjima Mohan
Manjima Mohan is an Indian actress who primarily appears in Malayalam and Tamil films. She started her career as a child artist in Malayalam films. she made her debut as a lead actress with ''Oru Vadakkan Selfie'' (2015) in Malayalam and '' ...
, but the film was later dropped. Her next directorial venture was ''
Velaiilla Pattadhari 2
''Velaiilla Pattadhari 2'' () is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language comedy drama film directed by Soundarya Rajnikanth. It is a sequel to the 2014 film ''Velaiilla Pattadhari'' and has Dhanush, Amala Paul, Vivek, Hrishikesh, Saranya Ponvannan, and Sam ...
'', shot in Tamil and Telugu languages.
In 2019, She started a production company called May 6 Entertainment. She founded
Hoote, a social media platform that is based on voice messages.
Personal life
Soundarya is the younger daughter of actor
Rajinikanth
Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 160 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannad ...
and his wife
Latha. She has one elder sister,
Aishwarya Rajinikanth
Aishwarya Rajinikanth (born 1 January 1982) is an Indian film director and playback singer who works in Tamil cinema. She is the elder daughter of actor Rajinikanth and wife of actor Dhanush. She made her feature film directorial debut with '' ...
.
Soundarya married Ashwin Ramkumar, an industrialist, on 3 September 2010 at Rani Meyyammai Hall in Chennai. The couple has a son born on 6 May 2015. In September 2016, Soundarya revealed that she and her husband had filed for divorce by mutual consent due to irreconcilable differences. In July 2017, the couple officially divorced.
She married Vishagan Vanangamudi, an actor and businessman, on 11 February 2019 at Leela Palace in Chennai. Their son "Veer" was born in 2022.
Filmography
Web series
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajinikanth, Soundarya
Living people
Indian women film producers
Tamil film producers
Film directors from Chennai
Indian women film directors
Tamil film directors
1984 births
Indian women designers
21st-century Indian designers
Pseudonymous artists
Film producers from Chennai
21st-century Indian film directors
21st-century Indian women artists
Women artists from Tamil Nadu
Businesswomen from Tamil Nadu
20th-century Indian businesswomen
20th-century Indian businesspeople
21st-century Indian businesswomen
21st-century Indian businesspeople