Santhana Bharathi

Santhana Bharathi
Santhana Bharathi
	Santhana Bharathi in 2014
Occupations	Film director; actor; screenwriter;
Years active	1981–present
Notable credits	Mahanadhi; Gunaa;
Father	M. R. Santhanam
Family	R. S. Shivaji (brother)

Santhana Bharathi is an Indian film director and actor who has primarily worked in Tamil cinema. He directed Gunaa (1991), which won third prize for the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film.^[1] He also directed Mahanadhi (1994), which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil^[2] and the Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize.^[3]

Personal life

Bharathi's father M. R. Santhanam was an actor and producer, one of the earliest members of the Nadigar Sangam. His brother R. S. Shivaji was also an actor. Bharathi's son Sanjay Bharathi is also a director.^[4]^[5]

Career

Santhana Bharathi joined director C. V. Sridhar as an assistant. Bharathi started his career with P. Vasu as a co-director and made films such as Panneer Pushpangal (1981), Madhu Malar (1981), Mella Pesungal (1983), Sahasame Jeevitham (1984) and Needhiyin Nizhal (1985). According to Vasu, "We compromised on certain things as we had different approaches to the subject. That's the reason why some of our other movies failed to make a big impression in the box office, prompting us to take our own paths".^[6]

Filmography

As actor

List of Santhana Bharathi film credits as actor
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	En Uyir Kannamma	Velayudham
1988	Ullathil Nalla Ullam	Father
1988	En Jeevan Paduthu
1989	Karagattakaran	Chinnarasu
1990	Aarathi Edungadi
	Ethir Kaatru	Minister Azhagesan
	Velai Kidaichuduchu	Speaker
1991	Onnum Theriyatha Papa	Jana
	Thambikku Oru Pattu	Ponnusaamy
	Michael Madana Kama Rajan	Alex
1992	Ele, My Friend	Kallar Village Chief	English film
1994	Nammavar	Sakthivel
1994	Magalir Mattum	Father of the groom
1995	Mr. Madras	Guest appearance
1995	Seethanam
1996	Love Birds
	Amman Kovil Vaasalile	Guest appearance
	Tamizh Selvan
1997	Vivasaayi Magan
1998	Velai
	Veera Thalattu
	Poonthottam	Suresh's father
	Guru Paarvai	Priya's father
1999	En Swasa Kaatre
	Unnaruge Naan Irundhal
	Aasaiyil Oru Kaditham	Chandini's father
2000	Mugavaree	RK Ram
	Budget Padmanabhan
	Vaanavil
	Penngal
2001	Friends	Sethupathi
	Ullam Kollai Poguthae	Doctor
	Dosth	Judge
	Samudhiram	Lakshmi's father
	Dubai	Karnataka Home Minister Bhadrappa	Malayalam
	Kadal Pookkal
2002	Alli Arjuna	House owner
	Panchatanthiram	Bharathi
	Pammal K. Sambandam	Sambandam's uncle
	King	Dr. Cheenu
	Villain	Father Karunakaran
2003	Anbe Sivam	Padayatchi's assistant
	Nala Damayanthi	Flight Passenger
	Winner	Neelaveni's uncle
2004	Vasool Raja MBBS	Gangadharan
2005	Aayudham
	Sukran	Judge
	Mumbai Xpress	Chettiar
	Amudhey	Nancy's father
	Kaatrullavarai	Peethambharan
	White Rainbow	Priest	Hindi film
	Anbe Aaruyire	College Chairman
2006	Aathi	Pottabhi
	Jerry	Jerry's father
	Aran	Sandhya's father
	Paramasivan	Malar's father
	Varalaru	Gayathri's servant
	Kizhakku Kadarkarai Salai	Politician
2007	Nam Naadu	Political member
	Puli Varudhu	Shenbagam's father
	Marudhamalai
2008	Thotta
	Dasavathaaram	Ragavendra's brother-in-law
	Satyam	Minister Malarmannan
	Kuselan	Kuppusamy's assistant
2009	Padikkadavan	Ramalingam
	Rajadhi Raja
	Ragavan
	Maasilamani	Councillor
	Madurai Sambavam	Caroline's father
	Unnaipol Oruvan	Karamchand Lala	Bilingual film
2010	Porkkalam	Sadha
	Kattradhu Kalavu	Vaikavardhan
	Ochayee	Aandi Thevar
	Virudhagiri	Police commissioner
2011	Siruthai	Home Minister
	Ponnar Shankar
	Eththan	Selvi's father
	Marudhavelu	Judge
2012	Maasi	Maasilamani's Corrupt Senior Officer
2012	Kadhal Pisase	Businessman
2013	Alex Pandian	Home Minister
	Chennaiyil Oru Naal
	Oruvar Meethu Iruvar Sainthu
	All in All Azhagu Raja	Khader Bhai
	Jannal Oram	Senior Bus Repair Mechanic
2014	Vallinam	Puzhaldasan
	Tenaliraman	Ex Chettiar/Man
	Aranmanai	Chairman
	Poojai	Annathandavam's lawyer
	Pagadai Pagadai	Priya's father
2015	Aambala	Thalaivar
	Sandamarutham	Magistrate
	Eli	Jail Warden Ezhumalai
	Kathirvel Kakka
	Thoongaa Vanam	Thandapani
2016	Thozha	Police officer
	Oopiri (Telugu)	Police officer
	Meen Kuzhambum Mann Paanaiyum	Pavithra's grandfather
	Kadavul Irukaan Kumaru	Church Priest
	Chennai 600028 II	Chellaiya
2017	Shivalinga	Abdullah
	7 Naatkal	Chief Minister
	Yaanum Theeyavan	Sethuramalingam
2018	Kalakalappu 2	Ganesh's foster father
	Diya	Chief Minister
	Kanam (Telugu)	Chief Minister
	Tamizh Padam 2	Nakul
2019	Goko Mako	Yamagundan
	LKG	Politician
	Ayogya	Home Minister
	Gorilla	Ramaiya
	Thavam
	RK Nagar	Chairman Sundaramoorthy
2020	Dagaalty	Malli's father
2020	Indha Nilai Maarum
2021	Operation JuJuPi	Politician
2021	Plan Panni Pannanum	Karikalan
2022	Vikram	Agent Uppiliappan
	Rivet
	Dha Dha
2023	Ghosty
2024	Sooriyanum Sooriyagandhiyum
	Nirangal Moondru	Minister Iyyappan
	Sorgavaasal	Minister
2025	Otha Votu Muthaiya	Minister
	Jenma Natchathiram	Film producer
	Gangers	Agasalingam
	Madharaasi	Raghu's grandfather
	Aaromaley	Xavier

Television

List of Santhana Bharathi television credits
Year	Title	Role	Platform
1998	Sakthi		Sun TV
2006–2008	Lakshmi		Sun TV
2013	Ponnunjal		Sun TV
2019	Pondati		Roadside Romeos
2021	Kuruthi Kalam	Paneerselvam	MX Player
2022	Suzhal: The Vortex	Kodandaraman	Amazon Prime Video
2022–2024	Iniya	Tiruvasagam	Sun TV
2024	Thalaimai Seyalagam	Minister Selvapuviarasan	ZEE5
2024	Veera	Special Appearance	Zee Tamil

As director

All works in Tamil unless noted otherwise

List of Santhana Bharathi film credits as director
Year	Film	Notes
1981	Panneer Pushpangal	Co-directed with P. Vasu
1981	Madhu Malar	Co-directed with P. Vasu
1983	Mella Pesungal	Co-directed with P. Vasu
1984	Sahasame Jeevitham	Telugu film; Co-directed with P. Vasu
1985	Needhiyin Nizhal	Co-directed with P. Vasu
1987	Kadamai Kanniyam Kattupaadu	remake of Aavanazhi
1988	En Thamizh En Makkal
1988	Poovizhi Raja
1990	Kavalukku Kettikaran	remake of Nandi Veendum Varika
1991	Guna	3rd prize – Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film^[1]
1993	Chinna Mapillai
1994	Mahanadhi	Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize^[3] National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil^[2]
1994	Vietnam Colony	remake of Malayalam film of same name
1995	Engirundho Vandhan	remake of Malayalam film Chithram

As writer

Raja Paarvai (1981)

References

1 2 "'Chinnathambi' bags six awards". The Indian Express. Madras. Express News Service. 30 October 1992. p. 3. Retrieved 9 March 2021. 'En Raasaavin Manasile' was declared the second best film for 1991. 'Guna' won the third prize and 'Cheran Pandiyan' the special prize.
1 2 S, Srivatsan (21 August 2019). "Madras through the eyes of filmmaker Santhana Bharathi". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 7 February 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2022. Santhana Bharathi has won a National Award for directing Mahanadi (1994).
1 2 Dhananjayan, G. (2014). Pride of Tamil Cinema: 1931–2013. Blue Ocean Publishers. OCLC 898765509.
↑ Rajendran, Gopinath (11 December 2019). "Sanjay Bharathi: I hope to do a film like Guna some day". Cinema Express. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
↑ Raman, Mohan V. (14 November 2015). "A brief history of Nadigar Sangam". The Hindu. Retrieved 19 July 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
↑ "In the right direction". The Hindu. 9 September 2006. Archived from the original on 8 December 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2023.

External links

Santhana Bharathi at IMDb

[ie.1992.10.30-1] 1 2 "'Chinnathambi' bags six awards". The Indian Express. Madras. Express News Service. 30 October 1992. p. 3. Retrieved 9 March 2021. 'En Raasaavin Manasile' was declared the second best film for 1991. 'Guna' won the third prize and 'Cheran Pandiyan' the special prize.

[hindu.srivatsan.s.2019.08.21-2] 1 2 S, Srivatsan (21 August 2019). "Madras through the eyes of filmmaker Santhana Bharathi". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 7 February 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2022. Santhana Bharathi has won a National Award for directing Mahanadi (1994).

[pride.dhananjayan.2014-3] 1 2 Dhananjayan, G. (2014). Pride of Tamil Cinema: 1931–2013. Blue Ocean Publishers. OCLC 898765509.

[4] Rajendran, Gopinath (11 December 2019). "Sanjay Bharathi: I hope to do a film like Guna some day". Cinema Express. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2022.

[5] Raman, Mohan V. (14 November 2015). "A brief history of Nadigar Sangam". The Hindu. Retrieved 19 July 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)

[6] "In the right direction". The Hindu. 9 September 2006. Archived from the original on 8 December 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2023.

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