# Kalaipuli S. Thanu

Kalaipuli S. Thanu (pronounced) is an Indian film producer, director 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). Thanu also has a daughter Kavitha.

## 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. 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. 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. 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).
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.

## Filmography
### As actor

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

### As producer

| Year | Film | Director(s) | Notes |
| 1985 | Yaar? | Sakthi-Kannan | |
| 1987 | Cooliekkaran | Rajasekhar | |
| 1988 | Nallavan | S. P. Muthuraman | |
| 1990 | Pudhu Padagan | S. Thanu | Also Director |
| 1991 | Thaiyalkaran | S. P. Muthuraman | |
| 1992 | Vanna Vanna Pookkal | Balu Mahendra | |
| 1993 | Kizhakku Cheemayile | Bharathiraja | |
| 1997 | V. I. P. | Sabapathy Dekshinamurthy | |
| 1999 | Mannavaru Chinnavaru | P. N. Ramachandra Rao | |
| 1999 | Mugam | Gnana Rajasekaran | |
| 2000 | Kandukondain Kandukondain | Rajiv Menon | |
| 2001 | Aalavandhan | Suresh Krissna | |
| 2003 | Punnagai Poove | Sabapathy Dekshinamurthy | |
| 2003 | Kaakha Kaakha | Gautham Vasudev Menon | |
| 2005 | Maayavi | Singampuli | |
| 2005 | Sachein | John Mahendran | |
| 2005 | Thotti Jaya | V. Z. Durai | |
| 2006 | Chennai Kadhal | Vikraman | |
| 2007 | Thirumagan | M. Rathnakumar | |
| 2008 | Sakkarakatti | Kala Prabhu | |
| 2009 | Kanthaswamy | Susi Ganesan | |
| 2012 | Thuppakki | AR Murugadoss | |
| 2014 | Arima Nambi | Anand Shankar | |
| 2016 | Kanithan | T. N. Santosh | |
| 2016 | Theri | Atlee Kumar | |
| 2016 | Kabali | Pa. Ranjith | |
| 2017 | Velaiilla Pattadhari 2 | Soundarya Rajinikanth | |
| 2017 | Indrajith | Kala Prabhu | |
| 2018 | Sketch | Vijay Chandar | |
| 2018 | 60 Vayadu Maaniram | Radha Mohan | |
| 2018 | Thuppakki Munai | Dinesh Selvaraj | |
| 2019 | Hippi | Krishna | Telugu film |
| 2019 | Asuran | Vetrimaaran | |
| 2021 | Karnan | Mari Selvaraj | |
| 2021 | Naarappa | Srikanth Addala | Telugu film |
| 2022 | Naane Varuvean | Selvaraghavan | |
| 2024 | Max | Vijay Karthikeyaa | Kannada film |
| TBA | Train † | Mysskin | |
| TBA | Vaadivaasal † | Vetrimaaran | |

### As distributor

* 1996 - Delhi Diary (Tamil dubbed)
* 1996 - Siraichaalai (Tamil dubbed)
* 2004 - Gharshana (Telugu)
* 2010 - Milaga
* 2010 - Thottupaar
* 2011 - Pathinaaru
* 2011 - Maaveeran (Tamil dubbed)
* 2012 - Urumi
* 2014 - Ner Ethir
* 2014 - Yennamo Yedho
* 2015 - Thakka Thakka
* 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)