Ganeshan Subbiah known as Susi Ganesan is an

Indian film The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, ...

director, producer, scriptwriter and screenwriter.

Early life

Ganesan was born on (25 August 1969) Vannivelampatti,

Madurai District Madurai district is one of the 38 districts of the state of Tamil Nadu in southeastern India., United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency The city of Madurai serves as the district headquarters. It houses the famous Sri Meenaksh ...

in Tamil Nadu to Tamil parents Subbiah and Sittamma. He changed his screen name to Susi Ganesan, his first name being from the first two letters from his parents' first names. He attended Gandhi Nikethan higher secondary school in T. Kallupatti and also graduated from

Madras Institute of Technology Madras Institute of Technology (MIT) is an engineering institute located in Chromepet, Chennai, India. It is one of the four autonomous constituent colleges of Anna University. It was established in 1949 by Chinnaswami Rajam as the first self-f ...

with a bachelor's degree in automobile engineering. During his college days, he was a journalist, writing many articles for the Tamil magazine ''

Ananda Vikatan ''Ananda Vikatan'' is a Tamil-language weekly magazine published from Chennai, India. History and profile ''Ananda Vikatan'' was started by Late Pudhoor Vaidyanadhaiyar in February 1926 as a monthly publication. The issue for December 1927 wa ...

''. He was also chairman of ATHENAEUM, the student body of the Madras Institute of Technology, during 1991–92. After working as an assistant to director

Mani Ratnam Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and few Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films. Ratnam has won six ...

during the filming of ''

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

'' (1995), ''

Iruvar ''Iruvar'' () is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language epic political drama film co-written, produced and directed by Mani Ratnam. The film, inspired by the lives of M. Karunanidhi, M. G. Ramachandran and J. Jayalalithaa is set against the backdrop of ...

'' (1997) and '' Dil Se..'' (1998), Ganesan debuted as a director with the 2002 film ''

Virumbugiren ''Virumbugiren'' is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by Susi Ganeshan. The film stars Prashanth and Sneha, while Eswari Rao played a pivotal role which fetched her Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Character Artis ...

''.

Career

His first film, ''

'', was initially titled ''Thithikkum Thee'' and was to feature Murali in the lead role of a firefighter, but later

Prashanth Prashanth Thiagarajan (born 6 April 1973), known professionally as Prashanth, is an Indian actor and businessman, known for his works predominantly in Tamil cinema. Besides Tamil films, he has also appeared in few Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam f ...

was finalized for the lead role. The project, which also marked the debut of actress Sneha, went through production troubles and released nearly two years after the launch, becoming Ganesan's second release. The film received four awards at the 2001

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence in Tamil cinema in India. They were given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to the South Indian film industry by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The aw ...

, winning the Best Director,

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

and Best Supporting Actress prizes, while also being adjudged as the

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

of the year. Ganesan then made ''

Five Star Five Star (also styled as 5 Star) are a British pop group, formed in 1983 and comprising siblings Stedman, Lorraine, Denise, Doris and Delroy Pearson. Between 1985 and 1988, Five Star had four top 20 albums and 15 top 40 singles in the UK, ...

'' (2002), which happened to be his first release, due to the delay of his first project ''Virumbugiren''. ''Five Star'', produced by his mentor

under the banner

Madras Talkies Madras Talkies is an Indian entertainment company, which was established by director Mani Ratnam and his brother G. Srinivasan as partners in 1995. Madras Talkies has actively involved in production of films and television serials, which are d ...

, featured five newcomers in the title roles. The story focused on friendship, love with social awareness and a touch of human emotions. The film won him the

Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Storywriter The Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Storywriter is given by the state government as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil (Kollywood) films. List of winners ;Key References {{Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Actor ...

. He then launched a film titled ''Sakkarai'' with

and

Reemma Sen Reema Sen (born 29 October 1981) is an Indian actress and model who primarily appeared in Bengali theatre films, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi films. Early life and education Sen was born in Kolkata on 29 October 1981. She completed high school fro ...

in the lead roles in October 2004, but the film was subsequently postponed then shelved. In 2006, Ganesan made his third film ''

Thiruttu Payale ''Thiruttu Payale'' ( en, Naughty thief) is a 2006 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language black comedy thriller film written and directed by Susi Ganesan. The movie stars ''Kaakha Kaakha'' fame Jeevan (Tamil actor), Jeevan, Sonia Agarwal, Abbas ...

''. The film, which featured

Jeevan Jeevan is an Indian sub-continent first name meaning 'life' or 'bringer of life', that may be used by males or females. The name originates from the Sanskrit language but is more often used as a Nepalese language name, a Sikh or a Hindu name. Alte ...

Sonia Agarwal Sonia Agarwal is an Indian actress known for her works predominantly in Tamil cinema and a few Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. She is best known for her performances in the films such as ''Kaadhal Kondein'' (2003), ''7G Rainbow Colony'' (2 ...

and Malavika in principal roles, emerged 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 prom ...

and ranked among the highest-grossing Tamil films of the year. It was named the third Best Film of the year by the Tamil Nadu State Government and gave major breaks to the leading actors, with the performances of Jeevan and Malavika, in particular, being considerably appreciated. Then, Ganesan directed ''

Kanthaswamy ''Kanthaswamy'' is a 2009 Indian Tamil-language superhero film written and directed by Susi Ganesan, starring Vikram as the titular character, with Prabhu, Shriya Saran, Ashish Vidyarthi, Mukesh Tiwari, Krishna Ghattamaneni and Vadivelu fo ...

''. The film dealt with the disparity of rich and poor in Indian society, and it was reportedly the first South Indian film in that the protagonist, portrayed by

Vikram Vikram may refer to: * Vikram (name), a male name in the Hindu community * ''Vikram'' (1986 Tamil film) * ''Vikram'' (1986 Telugu film) * ''Vikram'' (2022 Tamil film) * Vikram (actor) (born 1966), Indian actor * Vikram (spacecraft), an Indian M ...

, conceived a

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

character. The film had the biggest opening in the year 2009. Ganesan's next directed and produced the Hindi film, ''

Shortcut Romeo ''Shortcut Romeo'' is an Indian action crime thriller film directed and produced by Susi Ganeshan, under the banner of Susi Ganesh Productions. It is the Hindi remake of the director's own Tamil film ''Thiruttu Payale'' (2006), starring Neil Ni ...

'' (2013), a remake of his 2006 film ''

'' starring

Neil Nitin Mukesh Neil Nitin Mukesh Chand Mathur (born 15 January 1982) is an Indian actor, producer and writer who mainly works in Bollywood films . Born to singer Nitin Mukesh and grandson of Mukesh, he debuted as a child artist in '' Vijay'' (1988) and ''Jais ...

and

Puja Gupta Puja Gupta (born 30 January 1987) is an Indian model and actress. She is a former Miss India Universe, a title she won in 2007. Life and career Gupta was born in New Delhi, India. Her modeling breakthrough came in 2007 when she won the title ...

. After a long break from the Tamil film Industry, Susi Ganesan returned with a sequel to his film ''Thiruttu Payale''. ''Thiruttu Payale 2'' featured Bobby Simha, Prasanna and Amala Paul in lead roles. The movie was released in Nov 2017 and made an average collection. In 2018, Ganesan was accused by filmmaker

Leena Manimekalai Leena Manimekalai is an Indian filmmaker, poet and an actor. Her works include five published poetry anthologies and a dozen films in genres, documentary, fiction and experimental poem films. She has been recognised with participation, mentions ...

during the

MeToo movement in India The international #MeToo movement began in late 2018 (and continues to the present day) to manifest in areas of the Indian society including the government, the media, and the Bollywood film industry. In India, the Me Too movement is seen as ...

. Her accusation was supported by Amala Paul, whom Ganesan had worked with, in ''Thiruttu Payale 2''. In response, Ganesan filed a defamation suit against Manimekalai at the Saidapet Magistrate Court.

Awards

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ganesan, Susi People from Madurai district Tamil film directors Madras Institute of Technology alumni Living people Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners Indian male screenwriters Tamil screenwriters Tamil film producers Film directors from Tamil Nadu Screenwriters from Tamil Nadu 21st-century Indian film directors 21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Indian male writers 1971 births 21st-century Indian screenwriters