T. Santhanam (c. 1970 – 24 October 2022) was an Indian film art director who worked 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 ...

Career

Santhanam graduated from the Government College of Fine Arts in 1996, and assisted art director

M. Prabhaharan M. Prabhaharan is an Indian Film Art Director, Production Designer and Director who completed his degree course in Fine Arts at Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai. He had a brief stint as an illustrator in Special Effects Venky's office in ...

for five years. He started doing ad films, and then got his break in films with the K Bhagyaraj directorial, '' Chokka Thangam'' (2003). Santhanam garnered acclaim for his work on Selvaraghavan's fantasy film '' Aayirathil Oruvan'' (2010), where he depicted various periods, including the Chola dynasty and contemporary times. Santhanam also worked on Vasanthabalan's period drama '' Kaaviya Thalaivan'' (2014), set in the 1930s. For both films, he won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Art Director. He later notably collaborated with

AR Murugadoss Murugadoss Arunasalam (born 25 September 1974), commonly known as A. R. Murugadoss, is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who predominantly works in the Tamil film industry. He is best known for directing action films mainly on ...

on the Vijay-starrer '' Sarkar'' (2018) and the

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 ...

-starrer '' Darbar'' (2020), as well as with Karthik Subbaraj on the gangster dramas ''

Jagame Thandhiram ''Jagame Thandhiram'' () is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Karthik Subbaraj and produced by YNOT Studios and Reliance Entertainment. The film stars Dhanush, James Cosmo, Joju George, Aishwarya Lekshmi ...

'' (2021) and '' Mahaan'' (2022).

Death

Santhanam died on 24 October 2022 of a heart attack, in his early 50s.

Partial filmography

As art director

*'' Chokka Thangam'' (2003) *'' Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan'' (2004) *'' Bose'' (2004) *'' Pudhupettai'' (2006) *'' Yaaradi Nee Mohini'' (2008) *'' Aayirathil Oruvan'' (2010) *'' Thamizh Padam'' (2010) *'' Kalavani'' (2010) *'' Thoonga Nagaram'' (2011) *'' Deiva Thirumagal'' (2011) *'' Kaaviya Thalaivan'' (2014) *'' Demonte Colony'' (2015) *'' Irudhi Suttru'' (2016) *'' Saala Khadoos'' (2016) *'' Sarkar'' (2018) *'' Darbar'' (2020) *''

'' (2021) *'' Mahaan'' (2022) *''August 16 1947'' (2023)

References

External links

* 1970s births 2022 deaths Indian art directors Indian production designers Artists from Chennai 21st-century Indian designers {{India-film-bio-stub