Happy Birthday, S Shankar: A Look At The Famous South Director’s Film Career

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The director began his career as an actor in the film Vasantha Raagam and Seetha in 1986.

Director S Shankar turned 61 years old today. He is one of the highest-grossing film directors in Indian cinema. The director is known for his high-budget films with a focus on special effects. S Shankar has directed some of the blockbuster films like Indian, Anniyan, Sivaji: The Boss, Robot, I, and Indian. S Shankar started his directorial journey with the film Gentleman in 1993. It starred Arjun Sarja, Madhubala and Subhashri in the lead roles. He won the Filmfare Best Director Award for this film. Collecting accolades from his first film, S Shankar’s films have always been the centre of attraction at the awards ceremony.

Shankar began his career as an actor in the film Vasantha Raagam and Seetha in 1986. He delved into the directorial journey by being an assistant to directors like SA Chandrasekhar and Pavithran. After learning under the wings of critically acclaimed directors, S Shankar began his directorial journey through Gentleman. The budget of the film was higher than the average Tamil film at that time. AR Rahman composed the music for the film. It received a positive response from the viewers and emerged as a blockbuster at the box office. His second film came a year later with Prabhu Deva in the lead role. It was titled Kadhalan.

After creating wonders with his initial projects, S Shankar decided to take a two-year break to direct Kamal Haasan-starrer Indian. It was released in Hindi as Hindustani and Telugu as Bharateeyudu in 1996. It was one of the highest-grossing Tamil releases. It won three National Awards.

Nayak: The Real Hero served as the entry of S Shankar in Bollywood. It was the remake of his Tamil film Mudhalvan in 1999. Nayak was a commercial failure at first but later became a cult classic. The best of S Shankar was yet to come though. After Vikram starrer Anniyan, S Shankar started working on the Rajinikanth starrer Sivaji: The Boss. The making of the film took two years. It was made at a budget of Rs 6 crore, the most expensive film at that point. It became one of the highest-grossing Tamil films after its release.

S Shankar’s other hits include Robot, 2.0, and I. The director recently released the sequel of the film Indian. S Shankar is currently working on Ram Charan starrer Game Changer.