Shanthanu Bhagyaraj

Career

1998-2008

Shanthanu made his acting debut as a child artist in his father Bhagyaraj's film Vettiya Madichu Kattu (1998), and then worked as assistant director to his father in his sister Saranya Bhagyaraj's debut project Parijatham (2006).

Shanthanu appeared in his first lead role in the college-based romantic comedy Sakkarakatti (2008), appearing alongside actresses Ishita Sharma and Vedhika. His performance received mixed reviews with Behindwoods.com stating: "Shanthanu has to play a thinly sketched hero, but he puts energy and charm into everything he does" and that "he is more than promising- he's star material, and he'll survive this wreck". Another critic at Sify.com stated that he "has that star quality to him which is so rare to find these days, but is wasted in a role in which he just romances his heroines and dances". Despite having a popular soundtrack composed by A. R. Rahman, the film received largely negative reviews and became a box office failure. Despite the negative reception to the film, Shanthanu was recognised with the Best Male Debut Actor award at the Filmfare Awards and the Vijay Awards.

2009-2017

After Sakkarakatti, Shanthanu appeared in the Malayalam film Angel John (2009), starring alongside Mohanlal and Nithya Menen, as a suicidal youth who is rescued by an angel. Despite the high-profile cast, the film and Shanthanu's performance received mixed reviews and it did not perform well commercially. The failure of his initial films meant that his next projects had significantly smaller budgets and lower profile releases. His next release was his father's bilingual directorial venture Siddu +2 (2010), with the failure of the Tamil version causing the Telugu version Love in Hyderabad, to be shelved. Though the romantic comedy Kandaen (2011) received positive reviews and took a good opening, his subsequent films including the action drama Aayiram Vilakku (2011) and Thangar Bachan's Ammavin Kaipesi (2012).

The courtroom drama Vaaimai (2016) received average reviews. In an interview in 2016, Shanthanu revealed that challenging career choices had plagued his film career and he would subsequently not take advice from his father regarding film offers. He mentioned his regret at missing out on potential projects he had been offered including Boys (2003), Kaadhal (2004) Subramaniapuram (2008) and Kalavani (2010).

Shanthanu was then cast by Parthiban to play the lead role in Koditta Idangalai Nirappuga (2017), with the director suggesting that he was keen to portray tribute to his mentor K. Bhagyaraj, by casting his son in a film. The actor called the film his "re-launch in Tamil cinema" and underwent a makeover to portray the lead role of a non-resident Indian who falls in love with a married woman played by Parvathy Nair. Shanthanu won positive reviews for his performance, with a critic from The New Indian Express stating: "Shanthnu is a revelation here" and "with controlled, mature take on his role, Shanthnu displays subtle nuances of expression as Kevin travels from uncertainty and confusion, to guilt and regret". In 2017, he also acted in Adhiroopan's drama Mupparimanam, where he portrayed a medical student.

2020-present

In 2020, he played a main role in the family drama Vaanam Kottattum, which was co-written by Mani Ratnam. He also starred in Master (2021), starring Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi. After Chimbu Deven's Kasada Thapara, he starred in an adult comedy, Murungakkai Chips. Shanthanu acted later in the drama films Raavana Kottam (2023), Blue Star (2024) and Balti (2025).

Personal life

He married Keerthi "Kiki", the daughter of Jayanthi, in 2015. He also has a YouTube channel with his wife called With Love Shanthnu Kiki.

Filmography

• All films are in Tamil, unless otherwise noted. ;As actor

Web series

Short films

;

• KoCoNaKa (2020)

Songs

• Lipstick (2015) from the album Glassmates
• Oru Chance Kudu (2020)
• Enga Pora De (2020)
• Gundumalli (2021)

Television

As singer

References

References

1. (5 December 2007). "Sakkarakatti movie review".
2. "Movie Review:Sakkarakatti".
3. (28 September 2008). "Sakkara Katti Review - Tamil Movie Review by PVS". Nowrunning.com.
4. (2009-09-11). "Meet Mohanlal, the angel - Rediff.com Movies". Movies.rediff.com.
5. (2009-10-23). "Review: Angel John is no Bruce Almighty - Rediff.com Movies". Movies.rediff.com.
6. (2009-10-22). "Review : (2009)".
7. (9 September 2016). "Shanthnu on Bhagyaraj and Vaaimai". The Hindu.
8. Friday Review. (8 January 2010). "Return of Raj - MADS". The Hindu.
9. "Shanthanu gets a make-over in 'Kodita Idangalai Nirappuga'".
10. (2017-01-14). "Review : Kodita Idangalai Nirappuga review- Tedious watch (2017)".
11. (16 January 2017). "The story draws a lot of blanks". The New Indian Express.
12. (12 January 2017). "A significant film for Shanthanu". Deccanchronicle.com.
13. The Hindu Net Desk. (19 July 2019). "Shanthanu Bhagyaraj joins the cast of Mani Ratnam's 'Vaanam Kottatum'". The Hindu.
14. "Shanthnu reveals about Thalapathy Vijay's Master trailer".
15. "Murungakkai Chips review : An adult comedy that falls flat!".
16. (24 August 2021). "On actor Shanthanu Bhagyaraj's birthday, take a look at his happy photos with wife Keerthi".
17. (March 2017). "You can give a hit today and fall tomorrow: Shanthanu". The Hindu.
18. "Sakkarakkatti is anything but sweet". Rediff.
19. "Angel John is no Bruce Almighty". Rediff.
20. "New movie, Parthiban style". The Hindu.
21. "Vaaimai Movie Review". The Times of India.
22. "Review: Koditta Idangalai Niruppuga is Parthiepan's show all the way".
23. "Mupparimanam Movie Review". The Times of India.
24. "‘Vaanam Kottattum’ movie review: A warm family drama with a weak revenge parallel". The Hindu.
25. (23 December 2020). "'I wanted actors without a set image for my short in Paava Kadhaigal'".
26. "‘Master’ movie review: An in-form Vijay takes a backseat to have fun. But is that enough?". The Hindu.
27. "‘Kasada Tabara’ movie review: A broken hyperlink affair". The Hindu.
28. "Murungaikkai Chips Movie Review: Plenty of wasted potential". Cinema Express.
29. (2023-12-20). "Shanthanu loses over 10 kilos; shares his transformation video". The Times of India.
30. (15 August 2022). "Ashok Selvan, Shanthnu Bhagyaraj, and Keerthi Pandian in Pa Ranjith's cricket-based film".
31. (2025-07-18). "Shane Nigam's Balti gets a release date".
32. (2022-12-27). "SonyLIV's Tamil anthology series Story of Things gets release date".
33. (22 August 2023). "'MY3': First look of Hansika, Shanthnu, Mugen's web series out".
34. "Arya and Aishwarya Rajesh release Enga Pora De teaser".