Thiagarajan Sivanandam (born 21 June 1946) is an Indian actor, film director and film producer inTamil cinema. BesidesTamil, he has acted in severalMalayalam,Kannada,Telugu andHindi films. He is the father of Tamil actorPrashanth, son-in-law of actor-directorPeketi Sivaram and the maternal uncle of Tamil actorVikram.^[2][3]

Originally a businessman, Thiagarajan made his acting debut withAlaigal Oivathillai (1981), appearing as the elder brother of the film's lead actress Radha.^[4] The film became successful and offers poured in for him.^[5]

His portrayal of a jungle bandit inMalaiyoor Mambattiyan (1982) provided him a major breakthrough in his career. He was part of such successful films asKomberi Mookan (1984) andNeengal Kettavai (1984).

He acted in the Malayalam filmNew Delhi, which became successful and his portrayal of a goon received acclaim. The success of the film prompted Thiagarajan to make his directorial debut titledSalem Vishnu (1990), based on the character which he had played in that film. He then directedAanazhagan (1995), with his sonPrashanth in the leading role. According to Prashanth, the film was an average grosser.^[6]

Thiagarajan then stayed away from the limelight, paving the way for his son. He later returned to acting, appearing in a small role as a father to his son inJai.^[7] Thiagarajan then directedShock, remake of the Hindi filmBhoot in 2004. Apart from directing and producing the film, Thiagarajan handled the art and costumes department and also appeared in the film as police inspector. The film's shoot was completed in twenty-six days, with meticulous pre-planning arranged by Thiagarajan.^[8] The film received positive reviews citing that the makers "deserve an appreciation for his honest and sincere attempt on the screen".^[9]

In September 2004, Thiagarajan launchedPolice, a remake of the Hindi filmKhakee and the film received coverage from the media after producers had approachedAmitabh Bachchan andAishwarya Rai for key roles. In interviews during the period, Thiagarajan mentioned the grand scale of the project, citing that schedules would also be shot abroad; however the film failed to progress.^[10] He then returned to acting with the filmsBodyguard (2010) andDrohi (2010).^[11]

In early 2007, Thiagarajan approachedM. Karunanidhi with the intention of making a film on his adaptation of thePonnar Shankar epic that he had written in the late 1970s. The latter accepted Thiagarajan's offer and approved of his decision to cast his son Prashanth, in the dual lead role.^[12] The film was released in 2011 to mixed reviews and did average business.^[13] He directedMambattiyan (2011), a remake of his successful1983 film in which he had acted. His son played the title role. The film received mixed reviews by critics, it took a good opening at the box office, but petered out to do average business commercially and due to its big budget, it failed to recover costs.^[14]

In 2014, he revealed that he would direct the remakes of Hindi filmsSpecial 26 andQueen in four south Indian languages; although he did not remake those films.^[15]

He later starred in supporting roles such asVaaimai (2016),Yaman (2018),Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (2018) andPonmagal Vandhal (2020).^{[16][17][18][19]}

He is a producer of his son's filmsSaagasam (2016),Johnny (2018) andAndhagan (2024).^[20][21][22]

• Thiagarajan atIMDb

• Tamil film directors
• Living people
• Tamil male actors
• Male actors in Malayalam cinema
• Indian male film actors
• Male actors in Kannada cinema
• 1945 births
• Male actors from Chennai
• Male actors in Tamil cinema
• 21st-century Indian people
• Film producers from Chennai
• Tamil film producers
• 20th-century Indian male actors
• 21st-century Indian male actors

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