S. Shankar

Early life

Shankar was born on 17 August 1963 in Kumbakonam, Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu to Muthulakshmi and Shanmugam. He completed his diploma in mechanical engineering from Central Polytechnic College and worked in a typewriting company before entering the film industry. He was roped into the film industry as a screenwriter by S. A. Chandrasekhar, who accidentally saw the drama stage shows made by Shankar and his team. Though Shankar wanted to be an actor, he chose to be a director instead.

Career

1985-1990: Early work before directorial

Shankar was a wannabe actor who, after small and unnoticed roles in two films such Vesham (1985) and Poovum Puyalum (1986), eventually grabbed the opportunity to assist directors S. A. Chandrasekhar and Pavithran. He began his career as an actor in the films Vasantha Raagam (1986), Neethikku Thandanai (1987) and Seetha (1990).

1993-2002: Debut and breakthrough

In 1993, Shankar made his directional debut through Gentleman, starring Arjun Sarja in the lead role. The film was made with a higher-than-average budget in Tamil cinema during that time. It received a positive response and became a blockbuster. A. R. Rahman, the film's music composer, continued to work with Shankar in his next six directorial ventures.

Shankar's second film, Kaadhalan, a romantic thriller film, released the following year and featured Prabhu Deva in the lead role. In 1996, he collaborated with Kamal Haasan for Indian. It was dubbed in Hindi as Hindustani and Telugu as Bharateeyudu. The film was selected as the country's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Following Indian, Shankar began work on Jeans, which released in 1998 and became the most expensive film in Indian cinema at that time with a budget of 200 million. Upon release, it became one of the highest grossing Tamil films of the 1990s. He made his production debut through Mudhalvan (1999), where he collaborated with Arjun Sarja for the second time as lead actor. The film was a hit at the box office.

Shankar opted to remake Mudhalvan in Hindi as Nayak, thus making his Bollywood debut. Nayak released in September 2001 and was declared a flop by Box Office India due to its poor marketing, high budget, and distribution price. It went on to gain cult status from repeated telecasts despite not doing well at the box office. Shankar started work on his next film, which was supposed to be a science fiction film titled Robot that was slated to have Kamal Haasan in the lead. The project was stalled since Haasan was busy with other projects. Later, the project could not move forward due to budgeting problems.

2003-2018: Widespread success

Shankar's coming-of-age musical film Boys released in 2003. It received mixed reviews from the critics and audience, resulting in average business. However, A. R. Rahman's soundtrack for the film became a major sensation. On the box office front, the Telugu-dubbed version of Boys was a hit in Andhra Pradesh.

Shankar's psychological thriller Anniyan, featuring Vikram in three distinct characters (Ambi, Remo and Anniyan), was released in 2005. Shankar collaborated with composer Harris Jayaraj for the first time. Anniyan turned out to become the second-highest grossing Tamil film of 2005.

Shortly after the release of Anniyan, it was reported that Shankar had teamed up with Rajinikanth and AVM Productions for a film. He renewed his association with A. R. Rahman for the film. Sivaji was made at a budget of 600 million, the most expensive Indian film to that point. He was paid a record salary of 100 million for the film. After two years of filming, the film released in 2007 and ultimately became one of the highest grossing Tamil films of that time.

Following Sivaji, Shankar revisited the possibilities of opinion regarding the script of Robot. He later decided to make the project in Tamil with Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai. The film was produced by South Indian media proprietor, Kalanithi Maran, was renamed Enthiran, and was made on a budget of 1.32 billion, which was again the most expensive Indian film to that point. Some reports also make it one of the highest grossing Tamil films of the time.

Shankar started to work on Nanban, the Tamil remake of the 2009 Hindi film 3 Idiots starring Vijay, Jiiva and Srikanth. The film opened in January 2012. After Nanban, it was wrongly reported that Shankar's next film would be called Therdal.

On 21 June 2012, Shankar announced his next film titled I. A romantic thriller, Vikram essayed the roles of a bodybuilder, fashion model, and hunchback. It was his second collaboration with Shankar after Anniyan. The film, made over a period of 2.5 years, released on 14 January 2015 to mixed-to-positive reviews and earned almost 2 billion in 19 days.

Shankar then started working on 2.0, a sequel to Enthiran, which released on 29 November 2018 and received positive to mixed reviews. It went on to become the highest-grossing Indian film of 2018 as well as the seventh highest-grossing Indian film of all time at release. To date, the film is still the highest-grossing Tamil film of all time.

2019-present: Commercial fluctuations

Shankar then began work on Indian 2, the sequel to Indian, reuniting with Kamal Haasan. It was produced by Lyca Productions, marking the production company's second collaboration with Shankar after 2.0. However, due to Haasan contesting the 2019 Indian general election, an accident on the sets, and the COVID-19 pandemic, production was stalled.

In February 2021, Shankar announced his debut in Telugu cinema, Game Changer, starring Ram Charan and Kiara Advani; with the story written by Karthik Subbaraj. It was produced by Dil Raju under Sri Venkateswara Creations.

In April 2021, he also announced his return to Hindi cinema with Ranveer Singh, a remake of Anniyan. It was to be produced by Jayantilal Gada under Pen Studios. However, Shankar faced legal difficulties regarding rights to remake the film, and the production never commenced.

Production on Game Changer began, and after Haasan became available following the release of Vikram, Shankar stated that he will work on and direct both Game Changer and Indian 2 simultaneously. During filming of Indian 2, it was decided that the film would be split into two parts due to the length of the material. Both parts were simultaneously shot. Indian 2 was released on 12 July 2024. It was panned by critics and audiences alike, and was a box-office bomb. It also included a teaser for Indian 3, which was better received.

Game Changer was released on 10 January 2025, coinciding with Sankranti. It opened to mixed reviews from critics and audience and emerged as Shankar's second consecutive box-office bomb.

Indian 3 was scheduled to be released on 24 January 2025, but is currently undergoing reshoots due to the panning of its predecessor.

Personal life

Shankar is married to Easwari Shankar. The couple has two daughters and a son. Their younger daughter, Aditi Shankar, made her acting debut with Viruman (2022). In April 2024, Shankar's older daughter Aishwarya's second marriage was with Tarun Karthikeyan, after her divorce from cricketer Damodaran Rohit. Shankar's son Arjith Shankar is also an aspiring actor.

Filmography

• Note: all films are in Tamil, unless otherwise noted.

As director

• Note: He is credited in films as Shankar.

As producer

As an actor

Awards and nominations

National Film Awards

Filmfare Awards South

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards

Vijay Awards

Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards

References

References

1. (6 September 2021). "Shankar's daughter Aditi Shankar to make her silver screen debut with Viruman".
2. (18 June 2007). "Sivaji – The Boss (Now Playing)". [[Indiatimes]].
3. "Top All Time India Grossers All Formats – 2.0 Second".
4. "2.0 All India Update – Crosses 400 Crore NETT".
5. (4 December 1994). "Take it easy? Not for Me!".
6. Pavithra Srinivasan. (4 April 1997). "Rediff On The Net, Movies:An interview with Shankar". [[Rediff.com]].
7. (20 January 2005). "Director Shankar's Interview".
8. "Nayak – Movie – Box Office India". Box Office India.
9. Devika Sahni. (7 September 2016). "15 Years On, Nayak Remains As Relevant To India's Political Scenario As It Was Back Then". scoopwhoop.com.
10. (5 August 2017). "Baahubali writer gets busy with Nayak sequel". [[The New Indian Express]].
11. Rajitha. (5 November 2001). "Movies:Shankar and Rajnikanth team up". Rediff.com.
12. "Shankar now wants sci-fi with Vikram".
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14. (31 January 2011). "Rajinikanth adds 30% to Kalanithi Maran's Sun TV Network revenue". [[The Economic Times]].
15. (16 June 2012). "Samantha bags Shankar's next Therdal". Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd..
16. (26 June 2012). "'I' will be produced on a mega scale". [[The Times of India]].
17. (3 February 2015). "'I' Box Office Collection: Vikram's Flick Grosses ₹200 crore worldwide in 19 days". [[IB Times]].
18. (20 February 2020). "3 killed during 'Indian 2' film shoot". [[The Hindu]].
19. Bhasin, Shriya. (8 September 2021). "Shankar's 'SVC 50' starring Kiara Advani, Ram Charan goes on floor".
20. (14 April 2021). "Ranveer Singh and S. Shankar Team For 'Anniyan' Bollywood Remake (EXCLUSIVE)". [[Variety (magazine).
21. (24 August 2021). "Ranveer Singh's Anniyan Remake in Legal Trouble, Producer Ravichandran to Move Court".
22. (26 August 2022). "Shankar gears up to resume Ram Charan's 'RC15' shooting".
23. (26 July 2023). "EXCLUSIVE: Kamal Haasan's Indian is now a trilogy– Shankar simultaneously shoots part 2 and 3".
24. (2024-07-14). "Kamal Haasan's 'Indian 2' Gets Trimmed By 20 Minutes After Negative Reviews".
25. Singh, Jatinder. (13 August 2024). "Indian 2 worldwide closing box office collections: Kamal Haasan, Shankar film is a colossal DISASTER".
26. Seta, Fenil. (July 12, 2024). "Exclusive: Kamal Haasan-starrer Indian 3's exciting glimpse to appear as mid-credit scene in Indian 2; is 2 minutes and 30 seconds long". [[Bollywood Hungama]].
27. (2025-01-21). "Game Changer (Hindi) Final Worldwide Box Office: Ram Charan and Kiara Advani's political drama to end run with JUST Rs 39 crore globally".
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30. "Director Shankar's daughter Aishwarya marries Tarun Karthikeyan; Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan, Suriya, and Vikram attend the wedding".
31. (27 June 2021). "Director Shankar's daughter Aishwarya to tie the knot with cricketer Rohit Damodharan today".
32. (17 April 2024). "Shankar's son-in-law Tarun: 'Didn't work with him as assistant director'".
33. "Director Shankar's son Arjith expected to make his acting debut with a Tamil film".
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