M. Manikandan

M. Manikandan Biography

M. Manikandan is a film director, screenwriter and cinematographer associated with Tamil cine industry. As a film director and cinematographer, he is best known for the critically acclaimed movie, Kaaka Muttai in 2015 which got numerous awards and honours at different award functions. It went on to win two National Film Awards at the 2015 ceremony - Best Children's Film and Best Child Artist (Ramesh and Vignesh). It was his first film as a director, and also earned him a nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Director – Tamil. Kuttrame Thandanai and Aandavan Kattalai are the movies which he directed later. Kadaisi Vivasaayi is his upcoming release.

M. Manikandan was born in Usilampatti, Madurai district, Tamil Nadu. He was born into a family of police officers. As his father was a police officer, he spent his childhood at different towns, where he did his education. After completing a diploma in automobile engineering, he got drawn towards the art of photography. Initially he worked as a wedding photographer. He also designed ID cards for school and college children to save money to pursue a course in digital photography at the Mindscreen Film Institute.

He joined as an assistant cinematographer in Tamil films in the mid-2000s. He also worked in short films at the same time. In 2010 he directed one short film, Wind. As a film director, he marked his debut with Kaaka Muttai.  He hogged the limelight since his debut movie got released, after it won two national awards. It was screened at many international film festivals too. The movie was adapted to Marathi titled Half Ticket in 2016. In 2015, he scripted the film Kirumi.

Published: October 30, 2018

Updated: October 30, 2018