Kalaipuli S. Thanu

Kalaipuli S. Thanu is an Indian film producer and distributor, known for his films in Tamil cinema. He has produced several films through his two companies, V Creations and Kalaipuli Films International. Many of his films have been commercially successful, three of which are among the top-ten highest grossing Tamil films. He has won two National Film Awards, two Cinema Express Awards and one Filmfare Awards South.

Personal life Thanu is married to Kala. Their son Kalaprabhu made his directorial debut with Sakkarakatti (2008). Thanu also has a daughter Kavitha.

Career S. Thanu began his career as a film financier and distributor, before becoming a producer and a partner at Kalaipuli Films with S. Thanu and Soori with Yaar? (1985), being their debut film as producers. He initially started as a publicity designer being responsible for christening Rajinikanth as "Superstar" and creating a 35 feet cutout of him in a theatre. He started his own company V. Creations and went on to produce commercially successful films with Vijayakanth in Cooliekkaran (1987), Nallavan (1988) and Pudhu Padagan (1990). His Vanna Vanna Pookkal (1992) directed by Balu Mahendra won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil. He also did in a cameo appearance for a film Magalir Mattum in 1994. Kizhakku Cheemayile (1993) and Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000) won the Cinema Express Award for Best Film – Tamil. He has also produced films with Suriya in Kaakha Kaakha (2003), Maayavi (2005) and with Vijay in Sachein (2005), Thuppakki (2012) and Theri (2016). He collaborated with Rajinikanth for the first time for Kabali (2016).

He has produced four films for Dhanush such as Velaiilla Pattadhari 2 (2017), Asuran (2019), Karnan (2021) and Naane Varuvean (2022).

Companies

Thanu owns Kalaipuli Films and V Creations. The former company was registered as a private company on 8 March 2004, and the CEO of the latter is Thanu's other son Paranthaman.

Filmography As actor

Year Film Role 1994 Magalir Mattum Thamizhavan

As producer Year Film Director(s) Notes 1985 Yaar? Sakthi-Kannan 1987 Cooliekkaran Rajasekhar 1988 Nallavan S. P. Muthuraman 1990 Pudhu Padagan S. Thanu Also director, writer and music composer 1991 Thaiyalkaran S. P. Muthuraman 1992 Vanna Vanna Pookkal Balu Mahendra 1993 Kizhakku Cheemayile Bharathiraja 1997 V. I. P. Sabapathy Dekshinamurthy 1999 Mannavaru Chinnavaru P. N. Ramachandra Rao Mugam Gnana Rajasekaran 2000 Kandukondain Kandukondain Rajiv Menon 2001 Aalavandhan Suresh Krissna 2003 Punnagai Poove Sabapathy Dekshinamurthy Kaakha Kaakha Gautham Vasudev Menon 2005 Maayavi Singampuli Sachein John Mahendran Thotti Jaya V. Z. Durai 2006 Chennai Kadhal Vikraman 2007 Thirumagan M. Rathnakumar 2008 Sakkarakatti Kala Prabhu 2009 Kanthaswamy Susi Ganesan 2012 Thuppakki AR Murugadoss 2014 Arima Nambi Anand Shankar 2016 Kanithan T. N. Santosh Theri Atlee Kumar Kabali Pa. Ranjith 2017 Velaiilla Pattadhari 2 Soundarya Rajinikanth Indrajith Kala Prabhu 2018 Sketch Vijay Chandar 60 Vayadu Maaniram Radha Mohan Thuppakki Munai Dinesh Selvaraj 2019 Hippi Krishna Telugu film Asuran Vetrimaaran 2021 KarnanMari Selvaraj Naarappa Srikanth Addala Telugu film 2022 Naane Varuvean Selvaraghavan 2024MaxVijay KarthikeyaaKannada film2026Vetrimaaran TBAMysskin

As distributor 1996 - Delhi Diary (Tamil dubbed) 1996 - Siraichaalai (Tamil dubbed) 2004 - Gharshana (Telugu) 2010 - Milaga 2010 - Thottupaar 2011 - Pathinaaru 2011 - Maaveeran (Tamil dubbed) 2011 - Urumi 2014 - Ner Ethir 2014 - Yennamo Yedho 2015 - Thakka Thakka 2015 - Vellaiya Irukiravan Poi Solla Maatan 2016 - Meendum Oru Kadhal Kadhai 2016 - Parandhu Sella Vaa 2017 - Velaiilla Pattadhari 2 2019 - Lucifer (Tamil dubbed) 2019 - Kurukshetra (Tamil dubbed) 2021 - Maraikayar: Arabikadalin Singam (Tamil version) 2022 - Andhagan 2022 - Iravin Nizhal

Awards and honours

National Film Awards Won, Best Feature Film in Tamil for Vanna Vanna Pookkal (1992) Won, Best Feature Film in Tamil for Asuran (2019)

Cinema Express Awards Won, Best Film for Kizhakku Cheemayile (1993) Won, Best Film for Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000)

Filmfare Awards South Won, Best Film for Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000) Nominated, Best Film for Kaakha Kaakha (2003) Nominated, Best Film for Thuppakki (2012) Nominated, Best Film for Theri (2016) Nominated, Best Film for Kabali (2016) Nominated, Best Film for Karnan (2021)

South Indian International Movie Awards Nominated, Best Film for Thuppakki (2012) Nominated, Best Film for Theri (2016) Nominated, Best Film for Asuran (2019) Nominated, Best Film for Karnan (2021)

Vijay Awards Won, Favourite Film for Thuppakki (2012)

Edison Awards Won, Best Film for Kabali (2016)

Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards Won, Most Popular Movie for Kabali (2016)

IIFA Utsavam Nominated, Best Film for Kabali (2016)

Norway Tamil Film Festival Awards Won, Best Film for Asuran (2019)