S. Shankar
Shankar in 2018
Born	Shankar Shanmugam (1963-08-17)17 August 1963 (age 61) Kumbakonam,Madras State (present-day Tamil Nadu), India
Alma mater	Central Polytechnic College
Occupation(s)	Film director, film producer, screenwriter
Years active	1993–present
Spouse	Easwari Shankar
Children	3, includingAditi[1]

Shankar Shanmugam (born 17 August 1963) is an Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter, primarily known for his work inTamil cinema. Known as one of the most prominent directors in the History of Indian Cinema , he has also worked inTelugu andHindi films. Shankar's films are known for addressing contemporarysocial issues,vigilante themes, and incorporating state-of-the-art technology andvisual effects (VFX) with magnificence. Throughout his career, he has won several awards, including oneNational Film Award, fourFilmfare Award South, and sixTamil Nadu State Film Awards. Additionally, six of his films have won theNational Film Award for Best Special Effects.

Shankar made his debut as a director in the filmGentleman (1993), for which he won theFilmfare Best Director Award and theTamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Director. He usually collaborates with composerA. R. Rahman, both having done over 11 films together. Some of his films likeIndian (1996) andJeans (1998) were commercially very successful and were submitted byIndia for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but neither earned a nomination. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by M. G. R. University.

Shankar'spsychological thrillerAnniyan was released in 2005 with highly critical and commercial success. After Anniyan, Shankar teamed up withRajinikanth onSivaji (2007), the most expensive Indian film at that time.^[2] He again collaborated with Rajinikanth for thescience fiction filmEnthiran (2010), which again turned out to behighest grossing Tamil film at that time and also its sequel2.0 (2018), is theseventh highest-grossing film in India and thetenth highest-grossing Indian film worldwide.^[3][4] It is alsothe highest-grossing Indian film of 2018.

Shankar was born on 17 August 1963 inKumbakonam,Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu to Muthulakshmi and Shanmugam. He completed his diploma inmechanical engineering fromCentral Polytechnic College and worked in an typewriting company before entering the film industry.^[5] He was roped into the film industry as a screenwriter byS. 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.^[5][6]

Shankar was a wannabe actor who, after small and unnoticed roles in two films suchVesham (1985) andPoovum Puyalum (1986), eventually grabbed the opportunity to assist directorsS. A. Chandrasekhar andPavithran.^[6] He began his career as an actor in the filmsVasantha Raagam (1986),Neethikku Thandanai (1987) andSeetha (1990).

In 1993, Shankar made his directional debut throughGentleman, starringArjun Sarja in the lead role. The film was made with a higher-than-average budget inTamil cinema during that time. It received a positive response and became ablockbuster.^[7]A. R. Rahman, the film's music composer, continued to work with Shankar in his next six directorial ventures.

Shankar's second film,Kadhalan, a romantic thriller film, released the following year and featuredPrabhu Deva in the lead role. In 1996, he collaborated withKamal Haasan forIndian. It was dubbed in Hindi asHindustani andTelugu asBharateeyudu. The film was selected as the country's submission for theAcademy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. FollowingIndian, Shankar began work onJeans, 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 throughMudhalvan (1999), where he collaborated withArjun Sarja for the second time as lead actor. The film was a hit at the box office.

Shankar opted to remakeMudhalvan inHindi asNayak, thus making hisBollywood debut.Nayak released in September 2001 and was declared aflop byBox Office India due to its poor marketing, high budget, and distribution price. It went on to gain cult status despite not doing well at the box office.^[8][9][10] Shankar started work on his next film, which was supposed to be ascience fiction film titledRobot that was slated to haveKamal 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.^[11]

Shankar's coming-of-age musical filmBoys 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 ofBoys was a hit inAndhra Pradesh.^[12]

Shankar'spsychological thrillerAnniyan, featuringVikram in three distinct characters (Ambi, Remo and Anniyan), was released in 2005. Shankar collaborated with composerHarris Jayaraj for the first time.Anniyan turned out to become the second-highest grossing Tamil film of 2005.

Shortly after the release ofAnniyan, it was reported that Shankar had teamed up with Rajinikanth andAVM Productions for a film. He renewed his association withA. R. Rahman for the film.Sivaji was made at a budget of₹ 600million,^[2] themost 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.

FollowingSivaji, Shankar revisited the possibilities of opinion regarding the script ofRobot. He later decided to make the project inTamil withRajinikanth andAishwarya Rai. The film was produced by South Indianmedia proprietor,Kalanithi Maran, was renamedEnthiran, and was made on a budget of₹1.32billion, 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.^[13][14]

Shankar started to work onNanban, the Tamil remake of the 2009 Hindi film3 Idiots starringVijay,Jiiva andSrikanth. The film opened in January 2012. AfterNanban, it was wrongly reported that Shankar's next film would be calledTherdal.^[15]

On 21 June 2012, Shankar announced his next film titledI.^[16] A romantic thriller,Vikram essayed the roles of a bodybuilder, fashion model, and hunchback. It was his second collaboration with Shankar afterAnniyan.Amy Jackson was the female lead, collaborating with Vikram for the second time afterThaandavam. 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.^[17]

Shankar then started working on2.0, a sequel toEnthiran, which released on 29 November 2018 and received positive to mixed reviews. It went on to become thehighest-grossing Indian film of 2018 as well as theseventh highest-grossing Indian film of all time at release. To date, the film is still thehighest-grossing Tamil film of all time.

Shankar then began work onIndian 2, the sequel toIndian, reuniting with Kamal Haasan. It was produced by Lyca Productions, marking the production company's second collaboration with Shankar after2.0. However, due to Haasan contesting the2019 Indian general election, an accident on the sets,^[18] and the COVID-19 pandemic, production was stalled.

In February 2021, Shankar announced his debut in Telugu cinema,Game Changer, starringRam Charan andKiara Advani; with the story written byKarthik Subbaraj.^[19] It was produced byDil Raju underSri Venkateswara Creations.

In April 2021, he also announced his return toHindi cinema withRanveer Singh, a remake ofAnniyan. It was to be produced byJayantilal Gada underPen Studios.^[20] However, Shankar faced legal difficulties regarding rights to remake the film, and the production never commenced.^[21]

Production onGame Changer began, and after Haasan became available following the release ofVikram, Shankar stated that he will work on and direct bothGame Changer andIndian 2 simultaneously.^[22] During filming ofIndian 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.^[23]Indian 2 was released on 12 July 2024. It was panned by critics and audiences alike,^[24] and was abox-office bomb.^[25] It also included a teaser forIndian 3, which was better received.^[26]

Game Changer was released on 10 January 2025, coinciding withSankranti.^[27] It opened to mixed reviews from critics and audience and emerged as Shankar's second consecutivebox-office bomb.^[28][29]

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

Shankar is married to Easwari Shankar. The couple has two daughters and a son. Their younger daughter,Aditi Shankar, made her acting debut withViruman (2022).^[1] In April 2024, Shankar's older daughter Aishwarya's second marriage was with Tarun Karthikeyan, after her divorce from cricketerDamodaran Rohit.^[30][31][32] Shankar's son Arjith Shankar is also an actor.^[33]

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• Film directors from Tamil Nadu
• Tamil film directors
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• Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners
• People from Thanjavur district
• Filmfare Awards South winners
• Indian science fiction film directors
• Screenwriters from Tamil Nadu
• 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights
• 21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights
• Indian film directors

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