M. Sasikumar

Also known as Sasi, Mahalingam Sasikumar is primarily known for his contribution to the Tamil film industry. He is an actor, director, producer, and singer. Sasikumar completed his early education at St. Peter's Boarding School in Kodaikanal and his graduation in business administration at Vellaichamy Nadar College in Madurai. Sasikumar began his career in the entertainment industry as an assistant director for Sethu (1999). He got his big break with the Tamil period-action film Subramaniapuram (2008). He was the producer, director, writer, and actor for the movie. Despite a low budget, the film was a huge commercial and critical success. Sasikumar's success continued with his next action thriller, Poraali (2011), for which he was the producer and lead actor. The film received positive reviews and was even remade in Kannada. His next venture was the Malayalam crime thriller film Masters (2012). Sasikumar's subsequent two releases, Sundarapandian (2012) and Kutti Puli (2013), were with co-star Lakshmi Menon. He was also the producer for Sundarapandian. His next film, Tharai Thappattai (2016), had him training with folk singers and dancers for a month. The movie took more than two years to produce, and Sasikumar played the role of the head of a Karagattam troupe. The film didn't disappoint and received mostly positive reviews. Some of Sasikumar's most notable works in the next few years included Vetrivel (2016), Kidaari (2016), Balle Vellaiyathevaa (2016), Petta (2019), Udanpirappe (2021), and Raja Vamsam (2021). He also produced several films, including Pasanga (2009), Kidaari, Balle Vellaiyathevaa, and Kodiveeran (2017). Sasikumar won the Best Film and Best Director accolades for Subramaniapuram (2008) at the 2009 Tamil Filmfare Awards. He also won the Best Film and Best Feature Film awards for Pasanga (2009) at the Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards and National Film Awards, respectively.