Dharani (director)
Dharani (born V. C. Ramani) is an Indian film director, who primarily directs Tamil and Telugu action films. He is best known for directing super hit Tamil action films "Dhill", "Dhool" and "Ghilli". Career. He first directed the film "Ethirum Pudhirum", loosely based on forest brigand Veerappan and his younger brother's death, starring Mammootty. Political controversies ensured its delayed release in 1999. It received critical acclaim and was awarded second place in the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film. The film's producer T. Ajay kumar made Dharani the director of his next production, starring  Vikram, "Dhill". The film was a box-office success and his next film "Dhool", produced by A. M. Rathnam in 2003, again with Vikram along with Jyothika and Reemma Sen, was a box office success. He worked with A. M. Rathnam again for the film "Ghilli" starring Vijay and Trisha, that was a blockbuster movie and a comeback movie in Vijay's career. It was followed by Telugu film "Bangaram", featuring Pawan Kalyan in the lead. In 2008, he directed "Kuruvi", rejoining the lead cast of "Ghilli". Unlike the previous success in "Ghilli", "Kuruvi" was an average hit at the  box office and was panned by critics. In 2011, he remade the 2010 Hindi film "Dabangg" in Tamil as "Osthe", with Silambarasan in the lead role, which was again a critical and was declared an average hit. Dharani announced that he would make a Telugu film titled "Merupu" with Ram Charan Teja and Kajal Aggarwal, and the film had an official launch in late April 2010. The film progressed slowly throughout 2010 and was later shelved by 2011. .