K. Selvaraghavan

Selvaraghavan is an Indian movie director, actor, and screenwriter who predominantly works in the Tamil film industry. He has directed numerous genre films, from romantic to science fiction and fantasy; he has done it all. He also owns a production company named White Elephants, along with Yuvan Shankar Raja and Arvind Krishna.

His brother Dhanush is an acclaimed actor, and his sisters are doctors.

He completed his Bachelor of Engineering in mechanical engineering before he began working in the Tamil film industry since his family insisted that he complete his education before joining the film industry. He also worked several part-time jobs while in college until he found satisfaction as a writer.

Selvaraghavan’s debut work as a screenwriter and director was in the Tamil film Thulluvadho Ilamai (2002), which also starred his brother Dhanush and marked his first role.

He also wrote the lyrics of the song Kann Munnae Eththanai Nilavu in the film. Selvaraghavan and his family invested all their savings in this venture. The movie started slowly but picked up pace later and became a sleeper hit at the box office.

He went on to direct films like Kaadhal Konden (2003), which was a romantic thriller and starred Sonia Agarwal, and veteran comedian Nagesh. The film became a blockbuster, giving Dhanush and his career a breakthrough in the Tamil Film Industry. The film was remade across the country in several languages. He directed several movies, including 7/G Rainbow Colony (2004), a juvenile love story, and Pudhu Pettai (2006), featuring Dhanush as the main lead alongside Sonia Agarwal once again.

He then ventured into Telugu films. His first Telugu film as a writer and director is Aadavari Matalaku Ardhalu Verule (2007). The film starring Venkatesh Daggubati and Trisha Krishnan explores the themes of romance and drama. He took experiences from friends who were unemployed graduates like the film’s protagonist. The film opened with positive reviews and eventually became one of the biggest successes of the Telugu Film Industry that year.

He wrote Yaaradi Nee Mohini (2008) in 2008. Then he went on to direct and wrote Ayirathil Oruvan (2010), where he wrote the lyrics of all the songs except Thai Thindra Mannae and Pemmanae, Mayakkam Enna (2011), which he coproduced with Gemini Film Circuit, Irandam Ulagam (2013), which amounted to Rs. 60 crores was his costliest production, Maalai Nerathu Mayakkam (2016), NGK (2019), where he wrote the song Pothachaalum, Nenjam Marappathillai (2021), and Naane Varuvean (2022).

He started working as an actor in 2022 with the film Beast (2022). And then he went on to act in other films like Saani Kaayidham (2022), which was released on the OTT Platform Amazon Prime Video, Naane Varuvean (2022), which was a cameo appearance, Bakasuran (2023).

Selvaraghavan was nominated for the best director award at Filmfare South Awards in 2004 for Kaadhal Konden (2003), in 2005 for 7/G Rainbow Colony (2004), in 2007 for Pudhu Pettai (2006) and in 2010 for Ayirathil Oruvan (2010). Furthermore, he won the world record film at the Edison Award for the movie Ayirathil Oruvan (2010). He was also nominated at the SIMA Awards in the best film category for the movie Mayakkam Enna (2011).