Ram | |
|---|---|
 Ram at theAruvi, Tamil Movie Premiere | |
| Born | Ram Subramaniam (1974-10-11)11 October 1974 (age 51) Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Alma mater | American College, Madurai,Madras Christian College |
| Occupations | Filmmaker, Actor |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Spouse | Sumathi |
| Children | 2 |
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Ram is an Indian film director and actor, who works in Tamil cinema.[1] After assisting Hindi directorRajkumar Santoshi and working underBalu Mahendra, he made his directorial debut withKattradhu Thamizh (2007), which fetched him strong critical acclaim. His second filmThanga Meengal (2013) also won critical praise and threeNational Film Awards. He released his next film,Taramani, in August 2017 to critically acclaim and it eventually became a box-office success, evidently the biggest commercial success of his career.
His next three films,Peranbu (2018),Yezhu Kadal Yezhu Malai (2024), andParanthu Po (2025), premiered at theInternational Film Festival Rotterdam. In addition to mentoring a new generation of filmmakers such asMari Selvaraj andS. U. Arun Kumar, Ram's unique approaches to art, craft, and philosophy make him an important figure in Tamil cinema.
Ram, completed his Bachelor of Arts inAmerican College in Madurai, while he was pursuing aMaster of Arts postgraduate degree inTamil literature at theMadras Christian College, began writingshort stories in Tamil language.[2] He worked with directorThangar Bachan in a few films, then Thangar Bachan recommended Ram to meet Hindi film directorRajkumar Santoshi. Since he was unaware aboutHindi films, and Rajkumar Santoshi, he was initially reluctant, but eventually decided to meet him and joined him as ascript writer, travelling toMumbai subsequently.[2] Ram worked together with Santoshi in several Hindi films, includingPukar (2000) andLajja (2001),[3] and helped him in shaping the story of Lajja.[2]
Ram had first planned to make a "cross-over English film on man-woman relationship" and approachedBalu Mahendra to handle the cinematography, since he felt Mahendra's style suited his script best.[2] The project failed to take off, but Ram continued working with Mahendra. Though he did not assist him in any of his films, Ram considers Balu Mahendra as his teacher, who, he says, "converted" him "from being a film maniac to a film student" as he also learned aboutcinematic techniques from him, particularly aboutcinematography.[2]
By mid-2006, Ram began working on his directorial debut, initially being titled asTamil M.A.,[4] which was later changed toKattradhu Thamizh to get exempted from the entertainment taxation.[5] The film revolves around a young man, who gets into trouble because of his education,[6][7] quoting that it would show the "pathetic state of our mother tongueTamil in today's society".[4] He selectedJeeva as the lead character in his film, after he sawRaam (2005) and been impressed by the actor's performance.[3] while a newcomer Anupama from Mumbai was tipped to play the lead female character of Anandhi first,[8] however she was later replaced byAnjali, who debuted in Tamil cinema with this film.[9] The film was shot for nearly a year acrossMaharashtra, Andhra Pradesh,Kerala andChennai,[10] and gained high anticipation in its finishing stage, mainly due to Jeeva's looks in the promotional stills,[2][11] and Ram's controversial statements at the film's soundtrack release.[12][13]
Kattradhu Thamizh followed the journey of a lower middle class post-graduate degree holder inTamil literature, who struggles to find a job and gradually turns asociopath, frustrated by theinequality in thesocial stratification. Following its release in October 2007, the film received high critical praise,[14] becoming termed as a "cult classic".[15]Behindwoods in its review called the film a "kurinji flower in Indian cinema", citing that "once in a while a movie re-writes Tamil cinema history" and thatKattradhu Thamizh was "one such precious gem", further adding that Ram deserved a "standing ovation for not bowing down to commercial format and sticking to his theme with strong conviction".[16] Ram denied that the film was his autobiography, clarifying that, unlike the protagonist in the film, he went on to work as amedia consultant and that the film was an autobiography of a fictional character named Prabhakar.[2]
Shortly after the film's release, Ram was expected to commence his second project, which was tentatively titledSaddam Hussain featuringDhanush andBhavana.[17] The project was shelved and Ram took asabbatical, beginning to pen a new story titledThanga Meenkal instead. By mid-2009, Touch Stone agreed to produce the film,[18] with Karunas being signed to play the lead role,[19][20] however the studio opted out the following year after facing financial troubles.[15] Director-producerGautham Vasudev Menon eventually accepted to produce it, asking Ram to enact the protagonist's role,[21] which he agreed to after shooting rehearsal scenes with cinematographer P. G. Muthiah and being "thoroughly convinced".[22]Thanga Meenkal discusses how a common man's life is twisted and turned by globalization and today's educational system.[22] The film was a critical success,[23] winning threeNational Film Awards including theBest Tamil Feature Film Award[24] and three awards at theChennai International Film Festival.[25] It was also screened in the International Children's Film Festival, India in the Children's World section which screens the finest movies of the last decade,[26] and was the only Tamil film selected to Indian Panorama inIFFI, Goa.[27]
In 2014, Ram started filming his next projectTaramani that deals with contemporary relationships. The movie was released on 11 August 2017 garnering rave reviews from both audiences and critics and becoming a box-office hit. The movie was a box office hit and was re-released later.Taramani was also screened at theInternational film festival Rotterdam in their House on Fire section.[28]
In 2016, Ram started shooting for the next film titledPeranbu starringMammootty andThanga Meengal fame, Sadhana. The movie had its world premiere at47th International film festival Rotterdam. It was recommended as one of must watch 20 films at IFFR 2018 by VPRO, a Netherlands-based leading publication company. Peranbu was nominated for the NETPAC Award and also for the Audience award. The film secured 20th position based on the voting of the audience among 187 films competing for the Audience Award category at IFFR 2018. It was the only Indian film to be in the top 20 in the Audience Award category at Rotterdam.Peranbu was officially selected for and will have its Asian premiere at the 21st Shanghai International Film Festival 2018. The movie is slotted to release in August 2018.[29]
Ram was also part of a panel discussion atInternational film festival Rotterdam on Tamil cinema.[30]
He also acted in the protagonist's role inMysskin's production,Savarakathi (2018).[31]
After recently having its screening at the famed Rotterdam and Moscow Film Festivals, critically-acclaimed director Ram's upcoming filmYezhu Kadal Yezhu Malai (2024), starringNivin Pauly,Anjali andSoori in primary roles, has been selected to be screened at the Transilvania Film Festival.[32]
He later on directedParanthu Po (2025). Director Ram orchestrates this comedy of paternal compliance with a light touch and seamless musical accompaniment.[33]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Thanga Meenkal | Kalyani | |
| 2018 | Savarakathi | Pitchai Moorthy | |
| Seethakaathi | Himself | Special appearance | |
| 2020 | Psycho | Muthu |
| Film | Yuvan Shankar Raja | A. Sreekar Prasad | Anjali | Lizzie Antony | J. Satish Kumar | Azhagam Perumal | Sadhana | Aruldoss | Theni Eswar | Andrea Jeremiah | Siddharth (singer) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kattradhu Thamizh | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||||||
| Thanga Meenkal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||||
| Taramani | Yes | Yes | Cameo | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Peranbu | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cameo | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||||
| Yezhu Kadal Yezhu Malai | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||||||||
| Paranthu Po | Score | Yes | Singer | Yes |
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