C. Prem Kumar

Premkumar Chandran is an Indian film director, screenwriter and cinematographer who primarily works in Tamil cinema. He is widely known for his critically acclaimed directorial debut '96 as well as Meiyazhagan.

Career Before making his mark in the film industry as a director, Prem Kumar was established as a cinematographer, working on several Tamil films including Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom (2012), which was based on an incident in which he fell during a cricket match and lost his memory during his own wedding.

Prem Kumar's first film as a director was the reunion film '96, which was well received. The film was noted for having a strong female lead character, which was lacking in most Tamil films. He subsequently directed Jaanu (2020), the Telugu remake of '96. His third film as a director was Meiyazhagan, which was based on the bromance between its lead characters. Meiyazhagan also released to positive reviews. In July 2025, Vels Film International officially announced that Prem Kumar's next movie with Vikram and the film is touted to be action thriller film.

Filmography As director Note: all films are in Tamil, unless otherwise noted.

Year Film Notes 2018 '96 2020 Jaanu Telugu film WonGollapudi Srinivas Award 2024 Meiyazhagan TBA Thriller with Fahadh Faasil TBD Chiyaan 64 TBD '96 Part 2 Sequel of '96

As cinematographer Year Film Notes 2009 Pasanga 2011 Varnam 2012 Sundarapandian Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom 2014 Rummy 2017 Yeidhavan 2020 Oru Pakka Kathai

Frequent collaborators + List of C. Prem Kumar frequent collaborators Film Govind Vasantha Mahendiran Jayaraju R. Govindaraj Varsha Bollamma Gouri G. Kishan Devadarshini Rajkumar Chinmayi Sripada '96 (2018) Jaanu (2020) Meiyazhagan (2024) 96 Part 2