Manikandan M

M. Manikandan is a Tamil film director, writer, and cinematographer from India. He began his career as a junior cinematographer for Tamil films.In the 2010 short film Wind, the filmmaker made his directorial debut. In 2015, he broke in with Kaaka Muttai, which received the National Film Award for Best Children's Film.

Personal Life

Manikandan was born in Usilampatti, Madurai district, Tamil Nadu, into a family of police officers. Due to his father's many moves, he attended school in various towns. He earned his automotive engineering diploma after completing his education. He became interested in photography and launched an event shooting business. Additionally, he worked odd jobs like developing student and young adult ID cards. In a later interview, he stated that he had done all of these things to save cash for a digital shooting programme at the Rajiv Menon-run mindscreen film academy.

Career

He began working as an assistant cinematographer in Tamil movies in the middle of the 2000s. He co-wrote a number of short film scripts at this time. With his first short film as a director, Wind (2010), he received his big break. He received favourable reviews for the movie, which was shown at various film festivals. Vetrimaran, a Tamil movie director, supported him to produce Kaaka Muttai, his first feature film.

The movie had its world premiere at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival before going on general release in June 2015. It received two awards at the 62nd National Film Awards: Best Children's Film and Best Child Artist. At the 13th Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, the movie received the audience choice award for best feature.

He also wrote the story and script for the movie Kirumi the same year after Kakka Muttai. Then, in 2016, Manikandan wrote and directed his next movie, "Kutrame Thandanai," which gained more notoriety for its original plot. Following this one, he partnered with Vijay Sethupathi on two films in 2016 and 2022, Aandavan Kattalai and Kadaisi Vivasayi. The movie ignited both the crowd and the general public. In doing so, Kadasi Vivasayi garnered positive feedback from a global audience and established his reputation as an effective filmmaker.