Sivakumar Ananth

Siva Ananth (also credited as A. Sivakumar) is an Indian film writer, producer, lyricist, director and actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Siva made his directorial debut with the Telugu film Chukkallo Chandrudu. He later pursued career as a screenwriter, lyricist, executive producer and actor.

His role as executive producer in Ponniyin Selvan: I and Ponniyin Selvan: II, as well as the screenplay collaboration with Mani Ratnam on Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (2018) and with director James Erskine on the sports docudrama Sachin: A Billion Dreams (2017) are some of his notable works.

Early life and education Siva Ananth was born in Sivagangai, Tamil Nadu and did his schooling in Tamil medium at O. V. C School (till SSLC), Manamadurai and Ramakrishna Mission (higher secondary), Salem. Then he enrolled for Industrial Engineering at BITS Pilani, Rajasthan in 1991 and graduated by 1995.

Career He joined Mani Ratnam's team halfway through the shoot of Dil Se.. (1998). His first day was spent working on the production of the song Chaiyya Chaiyya, and he was also assigned to help oversee the film's sound effects. His first film as an assistant director was Alai Payuthey (2000) and he worked alongside fellow apprentice Shaad Ali, in helping Madras Talkies complete the venture. However Singh's financial problems meant that the film was called off 20 days into shoot, despite the team holding a schedule in Syria. Siva moved on to assist V. Priya in writing the dialogues for Kannamoochi Yenada (2007), while also working with Mani Ratnam in Guru (2007). In 2010, it was reported that Siva would make a return to directing with a Hindi project titled Bloody Paki featuring Vivek Oberoi and Genelia D'Souza, but the film eventually did not materialise.

In 2015, he appeared in a full-fledged acting role as Dulquer Salmaan's brother in Mani Ratnam's O Kadhal Kanmani. Alongside his commitments as an actor, Siva was also credited to be the head of post-production works and in the soundtrack, as an additional vocalist.

From 2017 he started focusing more on screenwriting and film production. He is one of the writers of Sachin: A Billion Dreams, a 2017 Indian documentary sports film directed by James Erskine, and co-writer of the Tamil-language crime drama film Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (2018) directed by Mani Ratnam. Siva was co-writer, executive producer and played the role of Chezhiyan in Chekka Chivantha Vaanam. He is also co-writer and executive producer of Soorma (2018), a Hindi-language biographical sports drama film based on the life of hockey player Sandeep Singh, directed by Shaad Ali.

For the film Vaanam Kottattum (2020) directed by Dhana Sekaran, Siva ventured into writing lyrics. He wrote the lyrics to the film soundtrack in collaboration with musician Sid Sriram.

Between 2019 and 2023, Siva was the "master mind behind Mani Ratnam" as executive producer of Ponniyin Selvan: I and Ponniyin Selvan: II, the screen adaption of the Tamil language historical fiction novel by Kalki Krishnamurthy Ponniyin Selvan. The first film was released in theatres worldwide on 30 September 2022. Part two was released on 28 April 2023. Creatively, he contributed the lyrics of two songs in collaboration with A. R. Rahman. Siva has called PS his most challenging film to date. His work as executive producer in this project was much acclaimed. Co-writer B. Jeyamohan dedicated his latest book to Siva, saying that “A great film like Ponniyin Selvan would not have been made without him. He was Mani Ratnam's principal assistant and the film's process producer. It is a business that normally requires a hundred hands and a thousand eyes.”

Siva is one of the producers of Thug Life (2025 film) with Kamal Haasan and Mani Ratnam.

Filmography As a director, writer, and producer Year Title Director Writer Producer Language Notes 2006 Chukkallo Chandrudu Telugu 2007 Kannamoochi Yenada Tamil Credited as A. Sivakumar 2017 Kaatru Veliyidai Tamil Sachin: A Billion Dreams MarathiHindiEnglish 2018 Chekka Chivantha Vaanam Tamil Soorma Hindi 2020 Vaanam Kottatum Tamil 2022 Ponniyin Selvan: I Tamil Mister Mummy Hindi 2023 Ponniyin Selvan: II Tamil 2025 Thug Life Tamil

As an actor Year Title Role Language Notes 2015 O Kadhal Kanmani Vasudevan Varadarajan Tamil As A. Sivakumar 2017 Kaatru Veliyidai Girish Reddy 2018 Chekka Chivantha Vaanam Chezhiyan

As a lyricist Year Film Song Language 2020 Vaanam Kottatum All songs Tamil 2022 Ponniyin Selvan: I "Chola Chola" & "Alaikadal" 2023 Ponniyin Selvan: II "PS Anthem" & "Veera Raja Veera" 2024 Pon Ondru Kanden "Kavidhai Kottudhu" 2025Thug Life"Sugar Baby","Mutha Mazhai","Engeyo", "Mutha Mazhai (Reprise)"

Television Year Title Director Writer Producer Language Notes 2020 Addham Telugu Segment: The Unwhisperable Secret 2023 Sweet Kaaram Coffee Tamil Kaala Hindi Disney+ Hotstar series; as an actor 2024 Killer Soup Hindi Tamil