Santhanam's Biography

Biography of Santhanam

. Name: Santhanam
. Profession: comedian and an actor
. First Film: Manmadhan in 2004
. Born Place: Pozhichalur in Pallavaram, Chennai,
. Comedy Troupe: Nungambakkam Boys Kondaatam
. Mother Tonge: Tamil
. Colour: White
. Eye Colour: Black
. Hair Colour: Black
. Languages Acted: Tamil, Telugu
. Awards: Won Vijay award for best comedian for movie named "Siva Manasula Sakthi Background.


            Santhanam began his career in the popular comedy troupe "Nungambakkam Boys Kondaatam" who did comedy shows particularly during Diwali. The troupe included M. S. Bhaskar who occasionally assisted them with his performances. He moved to television shows such as Chinna Papa Periya Papa in 1999 and in Kovai Anuradha's Costly Maapillai. He became well known in a number of small time serials on STAR Vijay such as Sagalai vs.Ragalai and Lollu Sabha; the latter had turned Santhanam into a notable television personality.


            He began acting in films, debuting in Manmathan alongside Silambarasan Rajendar and later acted alongside the Tamil film industry's top stars, including Rajinikanth, Vijay, Ajith, Surya Sivakumar, Dhanush, Jayam Ravi, Arya, and countless others, as well as multiple films with Silambarasan. He played the lead role in Arai Enn 305-il Kadavul, along with Prakash Raj.

          Unlike veteran comedians like Vadivelu and Vivek, who usually act in a comedy track separate from the main plot, Santhanam plays the role of the hero's friend (and sometimes, foil), contributing more to the actual story. He won the Vijay Award for Best Comedian in 2010 for his role in Siva Manasula Sakthi (SMS). He received wide praise for his roles in films directed by Rajesh, such as SMS and Boss Engira Bhaskaran.Now he is one of the top comedy actors of tamil cinema.

         Santhanam refuses directors’ requests,Santhanam is being flooded with offers to play the comedian in various films and several of them either have a top star or an ace director.
But the comedian says that he is being approached by new generation directors with a request to go for separate track comedy.

         Sources close to Santhanam say that he is comfortable doing what he does now and feels that the time is not yet ripe for the separate track comedy.
His upcoming films include 'V' Special - Vaanam, Vettai Mannan, Vandhan Vendraan and Velayutham with Simbu, Jiiva and Vijay.

           Small screen fame Santhanam is now doing well as comedian in Kollywood. Santhanam was performed comedy shows like ‘Lollu sabha’ and ‘Idhu eppadi iruku’ in Star Vijay.He was made his debut as comedian in Simbhu’s ‘Manmadhan’. After Manmadhan, he worked with Bharath and Arya in ‘Feb 14' and ‘Oru Kalluriyin Kadhai’ repectively.

             Now he is now working in Simbhu’s ‘Vallavan’, he is also working as full length comedian in Jeyam Ravi’s ‘Idhaya Thirudan’. Sources in kollywood says soon he will picks up the place of senior comedians. Well going Santhanam
.
            The actor is now working along with Vijay in Velyudham, Jeeva in Singam Puli and Karthi in Siruthai. Apart from this, he will be seen teaming up with Vikram and Udayanidhi Stalin in their forthcoming films too. Santhanam says that offers, especially to star alongside top heroes, are a boon to him at this point of his career. And all these films offer ample scope to demonstrate his skills.

             His recent release 'Siruthai' is also winning appreciations from the audience and reviewers. Surya praised him for his work in 'Siruthai' and also assured Santhanam that he will be getting the best comedian award for the year.

             His speedy growth has also made a drastic increase in his rate card. His latest demand is Rs. 2 lakh per day. His pay per film is Rs 30 lakhs for just 15 days of his work. If more dates are needed he will be paid Rs 5 lakh per day.

            Comedian Goundamani, who rarely talks to the press or makes public appearances, was speaking to a close journalist-friend of him recently.  When the scribe asked him if Goundar had noticed the fact that comedian Santhanam was doing nothing but aping his brand of comedy, Gounder replied in the affirmative and said that he was helpless in this regard.

            Gounder, who had rubbed shoulders with all the top heroes during the past 30 years including Rajnikanth, Kamal Haasan, Sathyaraj, Vijaykanth, Prabhu, Karthick and Arjun (to name a few) and had successfully held his own in their films, reportedly regretted that those who don’t possess a ‘unique style’ of their own shouldn’t enter the film industry in any capacity.

           When asked about his response, Santhanam candidly admitted that he was indeed aping the dialogue-delivery style of the veteran comedian and said that “All throughout my life, I had been a great fan of Goundamani Sir.  I can’t help it if my acting reflects his brand of comedy; it’s only inevitable.

         “Just like no other actor can avoid picking up traces of the late Sivaji Ganesan’s style of acting, I can’t do without aping my mentors.  I don’t think there is anything wrong with it.  Of late, though, I have been trying hard to create my own ‘unique’ style of acting,” says Santhanam who says that he didn’t ‘raise’ his fee but it’s the producers who are offering him more than what he had been paid earlier.

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