S. Sashikanth

Shivaji Sashikanth is an Indian film producer, architect, film director, and entrepreneur from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. After studying architecture at university, Sashikanth established the Chennai-based design firm Space Scape in 2002, which became involved in major projects such as the British Council and other residential and corporate building designs. Sashikanth later shifted to film production through the establishment of a production studio, YNOT Studios, and the 2010 release of his first film, Tamizh Padam.

Sashikanth's stated goal has been to see himself as having a creative role; Behindwoods has characterised him as a producer of "gutsy new-wave cinema", while The Hindu acknowledged his films Tamizh Padam, Va and Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi as being "three of the most creative films.

Career Architectures Alongside University of Sydney graduate Manoj Kumar, Sashikanth helped co-found the website StudentConcepts.com, which offered a suite of services for students, including loyalty programmes and job search tools. Sashikanth then continued as a student of architecture, but took an extended break from the subject after failing his first thesis. As a result of his interest in filmmaking, he was selected to assist art director Thotta Tharani with his sets on the production of Shankar's political thriller Mudhalvan (1999). After working on the sets for three months, he briefly dabbled in mango farming, before choosing to continue his studies in architecture, which he then passed as the university topper. Within five years of its establishment, the company grew from five architects to 30 architects working in two cities, and accepted commissions from around India. Sashikanth's clients included Max Müller Bhavan; corporate projects such as Cognizant; and residential projects such as the homes of actors Suriya and Udhayanidhi Stalin, VGP House, and Chettinad House.

In 2014, Sashikanth partnered with several other Tamil film producers to form a distribution company known as Dream Factory.

He also revealed plans of taking YNOT Studios into Hindi cinema with the release of Saala Khadoos (2016) and the remake of Thiagarajan Kumararaja's Aaranya Kaandam (2011), but the latter did not materialise. He later produced the remake of Vikram Vedha starring Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan, with T-Series Films, Neeraj Pandey, and JioCinema.

Despite the relative failure of Kaaviya Thalaivan (2014), his productions since 2016 have been profitable.

Sashikanth revealed that he was writing a script for a sport-themed thriller entitled Test, and that he was considering becoming a director in the future. Subsequently, in 2023, he turned director with the same film starring Madhavan, Nayanthara, Siddharth, and Meera Jasmine. The film was release in 2025.

Filmography Director Year Title Language Notes Ref 2025 Test Tamil Also producer

As Producer Year Title Language Notes 2010 Tamizh Padam Tamil Va 2012 Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi 2014 Vaayai Moodi Pesavum Kaaviya Thalaivan 2016 Irudhi Suttru Guru Telugu 2017 Vikram Vedha Tamil Shubh Mangal Saavdhan Hindi 2018 Tamizh Padam 2 Tamil 2019 Game Over TamilTelugu 2021 Aelay Tamil Mandela Jagame Thandhiram Kadaseela Biriyani 2022 Vikram Vedha Hindi co-produced with Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Chakravarthy Ramachandra, Vivek B. Agrawal, Neeraj Pandey 2023 Thalaikoothal Tamil Martin Luther King Telugu 2024 Bramayugam Malayalam 2025 Test Tamil Diés Iraé Malayalam