M. Sasikumar

M.Sasikumar
Born	Sasikumar Mahalingam (1974-09-28) 28 September 1974 (age 50)[1] Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
Other names	Sasi
Alma mater	Vellaichamy Nadar College, Madurai
Occupations	Actor Film director Film producer Screenwriter Playback singer
Years active	2008–present
Children	2

Sasikumar Mahalingam (born 28 September 1974) is an Indian actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter and playback singer. He worked as an assistant director for director Bala in Sethu (1999), also worked for director Ameer in his first two films Mounam Pesiyadhe (2002) and Raam (2005).^[2]

He is best known in the Tamil film industry for his debut film Subramaniapuram (2008), which became a blockbuster.^[3] He has won several accolades including a National Film Award, two Norway Tamil Film Festival Awards, two Filmfare Awards South and one Tamil Nadu State Film Award.

Sasikumar studied at St. Peters School Kodaikanal and then went on to study business administration in Vellaichamy Nadar College, Madurai.^[4]

For his debut Sasikumar, who had his initial training under Bala and Ameer has followed their path in choosing a different plot for his first film Subramaniapuram (2008) and succeeds in delivering a slick product.^[5] After the success of Subramaniapuram, Sasikumar produced Pasanga (2009), directed by debutant Pandiraj. The action drama film Naadodigal (2009) was directed by himself.^[6] Among the actors Sasikumar is the pick of the lot, he is hero material and has given an amazingly candid performance.^[7] He later directed the drama film Easan (2010). He also acted and produced Poraali (2011).^[8] Followed by Malayalam film, Masters (2012) alongside Prithviraj. Masters is somewhat different from the usual crime thriller, but it leaves us with a feeling that it could have been better.^[9] It was followed by drama film, Sundarapandian (2012). The cast includes Lakshmi Menon and Vijay Sethupathi.^[10] In 2013, he acted in Kutti Puli, with his previous movie pair Lakshmi Menon. The film is released to positive reviews.^[11] He produced Thalaimuraigal directed by Balu Mahendra who acts along with Sasikumar for the first time in his career. In 2014, a romantic action film Bramman.^[12]

Sasikumar acted in Bala's Tharai Thappattai and portrayed Sannasi, a nadaswaram player who heads a Karagattam troupe. To look the part, he had to train for a month with folk singers and dancers brought in by Bala, while he also grew long hair for the role. The film's production progressed over two years, while the team were forced to have a three-month break in 2015 after Sasikumar had dislocated his hand while shooting for the film's climax.^[13] The soundtrack has been composed by Ilaiyaraaja. The film has garnered a lot of expectations in being promoted as the 1000th film score of Ilaiyaraaja. The soundtrack consists of seven tracks: five songs and two theme scores. The film is released on 14 January 2016 to mostly positive reviews.^[14] Vetrivel, Appa, Kidaari and Balle Vellaiyathevaa follow up. In 2017, he acted in Kodiveeran.^{[15][16][17][18][19]} This is the second time that this actor and director joining hands after Kutti Puli. Kodi Veeran is produced by M. Sasikumar's Company Productions.^[20] In 2018, Asuravadham. After a series of underwhelming films, the film has received mixed reviews from critics and audience.^[21][22]

He starts the year with Rajinikanth's' Petta (2019) directed by Karthik Subbaraj.^[23] The next project is Suseenthiran's Kennedy Club. Sify relieves: "Sasikumar is not at all convincing as a Kabbadi player and maintains the same age-old". The film is an average sports drama.^[24] Sasikumar was roped in to star in Gautham Vasudev Menon's Enai Noki Paayum Thota (2019), which stars Dhanush and Megha Akash . In the film, Sasikumar acted as Dhanush's elder brother.^[25] After Naadodigal 2 (2020), he starred in family films like Udanpirappe (2021), MGR Magan (2021) and Raajavamsam (2021).

• All films are in Tamil, unless otherwise noted.