Kalaipuli S. Thanu

Kalaipuli S. Thanu
Kalaipuli S. Thanu
Born	25 June 1958 (age 67); North Arcot, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupations	Producer; distributor; director;
Years active	1985–present
Spouse	Kala
Children	3
Honours	Kalaimamani 2020
	Show more

Kalaipuli S. Thanu (pronounced [ðaːnu]) 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).^[2] Thanu also has a daughter Kavitha.^[3]

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.^[4]^[5] 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.^[6] 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.^[7] 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).^[8]

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.^[9]^[10]

Filmography

As actor

Year	Film	Role
1994	Magalir Mattum	Tailor who is fond of Tamil

As producer

Year	Film	Director(s)	Notes	Ref.
1985	Yaar?	Sakthi-Kannan		^[11]
1987	Cooliekkaran	Rajasekhar		^[12]
1988	Nallavan	S. P. Muthuraman		^[13]
1990	Pudhu Padagan	S. Thanu	Also director, writer and music composer	^[14]
1991	Thaiyalkaran	S. P. Muthuraman		^[15]
1992	Vanna Vanna Pookkal	Balu Mahendra		^[16]
1993	Kizhakku Cheemayile	Bharathiraja		^[17]
1997	V. I. P.	Sabapathy Dekshinamurthy		^[18]
1999	Mannavaru Chinnavaru	P. N. Ramachandra Rao		^[19]
1999	Mugam	Gnana Rajasekaran		^[20]
2000	Kandukondain Kandukondain	Rajiv Menon		^[21]
2001	Aalavandhan	Suresh Krissna		^[22]
2003	Punnagai Poove	Sabapathy Dekshinamurthy		^[23]
2003	Kaakha Kaakha	Gautham Vasudev Menon		^[24]
2005	Maayavi	Singampuli		^[25]
	Sachein	John Mahendran		^[26]
	Thotti Jaya	V. Z. Durai		^[27]
2006	Chennai Kadhal	Vikraman		^[28]
2007	Thirumagan	M. Rathnakumar		^[29]
2008	Sakkarakatti	Kala Prabhu		^[30]
2009	Kanthaswamy	Susi Ganesan		^[31]
2012	Thuppakki	AR Murugadoss		^[32]
2014	Arima Nambi	Anand Shankar		^[33]
2016	Kanithan	T. N. Santosh		^[34]
	Theri	Atlee Kumar		^[35]
	Kabali	Pa. Ranjith		^[36]
2017	Velaiilla Pattadhari 2	Soundarya Rajinikanth		^[37]
2017	Indrajith	Kala Prabhu		^[38]
2018	Sketch	Vijay Chandar		^[39]
	60 Vayadu Maaniram	Radha Mohan		^[40]
	Thuppakki Munai	Dinesh Selvaraj		^[41]
2019	Hippi	Krishna	Telugu film	^[42]
2019	Asuran	Vetrimaaran		^[43]
2021	Karnan	Mari Selvaraj		^[44]
2021	Naarappa	Srikanth Addala	Telugu film	^[45]
2022	Naane Varuvean	Selvaraghavan		^[46]
2024	Max	Vijay Karthikeyaa	Kannada film
TBA	Train †	Mysskin
TBA	Vaadivaasal †	Vetrimaaran		^[47]

As distributor

1996 - Delhi Diary (Tamil dubbed)
1996 - Siraichaalai (Tamil dubbed)
2004 - Gharshana (Telugu)
2010 - Milaga
2010 - Thottupaar
2011 - Pathinaaru^[48]
2011 - Maaveeran (Tamil dubbed)
2011 - Urumi
2014 - Ner Ethir^[49]
2014 - Yennamo Yedho
2015 - Thakka Thakka^[50]
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)

References

^ "T.N. Govt. Announces Kalaimamani awards for 2019, 2020". The Hindu. 20 February 2021. Archived from the original on 16 January 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
^ "Thanu: Senior talks about junior". Behindwoods. Archived from the original on 6 September 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
^ "I go happily in torn jeans, rubber chapal and dirty T shirt to see Rahman". Behindwoods. Archived from the original on 6 September 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
^ Nettv4u Tamil (30 November 2015). "Interview with Kalaipuli G Sekaran - I took a movie for 600Rs - Nettv4u". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2017 – via YouTube.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ Shivakumar, S. (3 April 1987). "Everything's well with the industry". The Indian Express. p. 14. Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
^ Pillai, Sreedhar (4 June 2016). "The bigger, the better". The Hindu. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
^ "Kollywood Producer Kalaipuli S Thanu Biography, News, Photos, Videos". Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
^ "4 years of super hit 'Kabali': Kalaipuli S Thanu feels proud to have produced Rajinikanth's film". The Times of India. 22 July 2020. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
^ "KALAIPULI FILMS PRIVATE LIMITED". Zauba Corp. Archived from the original on 6 September 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
^ Parameswaran, Prathibha (19 July 2016). "Meet producer Kalaippuli S Thanu, the power behind the 'Kabali' throne". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 6 September 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
^ "Yaar (1985)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
^ "Cooliekkaran (1987)".
^ "Nallavan (1988)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
^ "Puthuppadagan (1990)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
^ "Thaiyalkaran (1991)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
^ "Vanna Vanna Pookkal (1992)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
^ "Kizhakku Seemayile - IMDb". IMDb. Archived from the original on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
^ "V.I.P (1997)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
^ "Mannavaru Chinnavaru (1999)". Archived from the original on 16 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
^ "Mugam (1999)".
^ "Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
^ "Aalavandaan (2001)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
^ "Punnagai Poove (2003) - IMDb". IMDb.
^ "FANTASTIKINDIA : Kaakha Kaakha". Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
^ "Maayavi (2005)".
^ "Sachein (2005)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
^ "Thotti Jaya (2005) | Thotti Jaya Tamil Movie | Movie Reviews, Showtimes". 5 August 2005. Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
^ "Chennai Kadhal (2006)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
^ "Thirumagan (2007) | Thirumagan Tamil Movie | Movie Reviews, Showtimes". 13 August 2006. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
^ "Ram Gopal Verma to Thanu to A R Rahman - Behindwoods.com Sakkarakatti Kala Prabhu Kalaipuli S Thanu Shantanu K Bhagyaraj Vedhika Taxi Taxi Benny Dayal Blaze Javed Ali Viviane Chaix Bollywood tamil movie news images picture gallery images". Behindwoods.com. Archived from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
^ "Kanthasamy (2009)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
^ "Thuppakki (2012)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
^ "Arima Nambi (2014)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
^ "Kanithan (2016)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
^ "Theri (2016)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
^ "4 years of super hit 'Kabali': Kalaipuli S Thanu feels proud to have produced Rajinikanth's film". The Times of India. 22 July 2020. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
^ "Vellai Illa Pattathari 2 (2017)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
^ "Indrajith (2017)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
^ "Sketch (2018)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
^ "60 Vayathu Maaniram (2018)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
^ "Thuppakki Munai (2018)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
^ "Hippi (2019)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
^ "Asuran (2019)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
^ "Dhanush's film with Mari Selvaraj is titled Karnan. Sivaji Ganesan's fans are not happy". 9 January 2020. Archived from the original on 14 February 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
^ The Hindu Net Desk (22 January 2020). "Telugu remake of 'Asuran' titled 'Naarappa' starring Venkatesh". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 27 January 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
^ "Dhanush's 'Naane Varuven' to hit screens on September 29". The Hindu. 20 September 2022. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
^ "Test shoot of Suriya Vetrimaaran movie Vaadivaasal happened". Times Of India. 20 March 2022. Archived from the original on 20 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
^ "Kalaipuli Thanu to release Pathinaru!". Sify. Archived from the original on 25 January 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
^ "Thanu procures world distribution rights of 'Ner Ethir'". Sify. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
^ "Producer Kalaipuli Thanu will release Vikranth's next film Thaakka Thaakka". behindwoods.com. 13 June 2015. Archived from the original on 8 December 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2017.

External links

Kalaipuli S. Thanu at IMDb
S. Thanu's channel on YouTube

[1] "T.N. Govt. Announces Kalaimamani awards for 2019, 2020". The Hindu. 20 February 2021. Archived from the original on 16 January 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2022.

[2] "Thanu: Senior talks about junior". Behindwoods. Archived from the original on 6 September 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.

[3] "I go happily in torn jeans, rubber chapal and dirty T shirt to see Rahman". Behindwoods. Archived from the original on 6 September 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.

[4] Nettv4u Tamil (30 November 2015). "Interview with Kalaipuli G Sekaran - I took a movie for 600Rs - Nettv4u". Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2017 – via YouTube.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

[5] Shivakumar, S. (3 April 1987). "Everything's well with the industry". The Indian Express. p. 14. Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2022.

[6] Pillai, Sreedhar (4 June 2016). "The bigger, the better". The Hindu. Retrieved 8 December 2017.

[7] "Kollywood Producer Kalaipuli S Thanu Biography, News, Photos, Videos". Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.

[8] "4 years of super hit 'Kabali': Kalaipuli S Thanu feels proud to have produced Rajinikanth's film". The Times of India. 22 July 2020. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.

[9] "KALAIPULI FILMS PRIVATE LIMITED". Zauba Corp. Archived from the original on 6 September 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.

[10] Parameswaran, Prathibha (19 July 2016). "Meet producer Kalaippuli S Thanu, the power behind the 'Kabali' throne". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 6 September 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.

[11] "Yaar (1985)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.

[12] "Cooliekkaran (1987)".

[13] "Nallavan (1988)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.

[14] "Puthuppadagan (1990)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.

[15] "Thaiyalkaran (1991)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.

[16] "Vanna Vanna Pookkal (1992)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.

[17] "Kizhakku Seemayile - IMDb". IMDb. Archived from the original on 30 August 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2021.

[18] "V.I.P (1997)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.

[19] "Mannavaru Chinnavaru (1999)". Archived from the original on 16 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2021.

[20] "Mugam (1999)".

[21] "Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.

[22] "Aalavandaan (2001)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.

[23] "Punnagai Poove (2003) - IMDb". IMDb.

[24] "FANTASTIKINDIA : Kaakha Kaakha". Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.

[25] "Maayavi (2005)".

[26] "Sachein (2005)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.

[27] "Thotti Jaya (2005) | Thotti Jaya Tamil Movie | Movie Reviews, Showtimes". 5 August 2005. Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2021.

[28] "Chennai Kadhal (2006)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.

[29] "Thirumagan (2007) | Thirumagan Tamil Movie | Movie Reviews, Showtimes". 13 August 2006. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.

[30] "Ram Gopal Verma to Thanu to A R Rahman - Behindwoods.com Sakkarakatti Kala Prabhu Kalaipuli S Thanu Shantanu K Bhagyaraj Vedhika Taxi Taxi Benny Dayal Blaze Javed Ali Viviane Chaix Bollywood tamil movie news images picture gallery images". Behindwoods.com. Archived from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2022.

[31] "Kanthasamy (2009)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.

[32] "Thuppakki (2012)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.

[33] "Arima Nambi (2014)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.

[34] "Kanithan (2016)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.

[35] "Theri (2016)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.

[36] "4 years of super hit 'Kabali': Kalaipuli S Thanu feels proud to have produced Rajinikanth's film". The Times of India. 22 July 2020. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.

[37] "Vellai Illa Pattathari 2 (2017)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.

[38] "Indrajith (2017)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.

[39] "Sketch (2018)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.

[40] "60 Vayathu Maaniram (2018)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.

[41] "Thuppakki Munai (2018)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.

[42] "Hippi (2019)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.

[43] "Asuran (2019)". MovieBuff. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 3 November 2019.

[44] "Dhanush's film with Mari Selvaraj is titled Karnan. Sivaji Ganesan's fans are not happy". 9 January 2020. Archived from the original on 14 February 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2020.

[45] The Hindu Net Desk (22 January 2020). "Telugu remake of 'Asuran' titled 'Naarappa' starring Venkatesh". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 27 January 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.

[46] "Dhanush's 'Naane Varuven' to hit screens on September 29". The Hindu. 20 September 2022. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.

[47] "Test shoot of Suriya Vetrimaaran movie Vaadivaasal happened". Times Of India. 20 March 2022. Archived from the original on 20 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.

[48] "Kalaipuli Thanu to release Pathinaru!". Sify. Archived from the original on 25 January 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2017.

[49] "Thanu procures world distribution rights of 'Ner Ethir'". Sify. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2017.

[50] "Producer Kalaipuli Thanu will release Vikranth's next film Thaakka Thaakka". behindwoods.com. 13 June 2015. Archived from the original on 8 December 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2017.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]

[29]

[30]

[31]

[32]

[33]

[34]

[35]

[36]

[37]

[38]

[39]

[40]

[41]

[42]

[43]

[44]

[45]

[46]

[47]

[48]

[49]

[50]

Kalaipuli S. Thanu

Hub talks

Kalaipuli S. Thanu

Kalaipuli S. Thanu

Kalaipuli S. Thanu

Hub overview

Add your contribution

Inside this hub

Media Collections

Timelines

Articles

Notes collections

Notes

Days in Chronicle

Root Wikipedia Article

Kalaipuli S. Thanu

Key Information

Personal life

Career

Companies

Filmography

As actor

As producer

As distributor

Awards and honours

References

External links

Add your contribution

Related Hubs

Kalaipuli S. Thanu

Born	(1958-06-25) 25 June 1958 (age 67) North Arcot, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupations	Producer distributor director
Years active	1985–present
Spouse	Kala
Children	3
Honours	Kalaimamani 2020^[1]