Perarasu

Perarasu (born 8 January 1967) is an Indian film director who works primarily in Tamil cinema and is best known for masala films with Vijay and Bharath. Perarasu has also been credited as an actor, music director, singer and lyricist in some of his ventures.

Perarasu, was born on 8 January 1967 in Natarasankottai in Sivaganga district, Tamil Nadu.

Perarasu married Shanthi at Nattarasankottai on June 11, 2000 and a girl child Viruthika was born to them in July 2001. When Shanthi conceived a second time, she was given abortion pills and fell ill, where she was sent by Perarasu to her parents. A panchayat was summoned and they started living together. However, Perarasu insisted Shanthi in moving to Nattarasankottai. During this time, Perarasu received an explicit divorce decree without Shanthi's knowledge. Shanthi took steps to have the decree rescinded and moved the JM court to Bhavani, who asked Perarasu to pay child support. Though Perarasu had filed a petition challenging the order, neither he and his counsel appeared in court when the matter was called on five occasions. On September 12, 2007, a judicial magistrate court in Bhavani in Erode district, directed Perarasu to pay alimony of ₹ 10,000 a month to Shanthi and ₹ 5,000 a month to their daughter. Perarasu later married Krishnaveni.

Perarasu tried for 7 to 8 years to make it big in cinema industry and had some off-beat stories. When Perarasu was new to Chennai, he used to frequent AVM Productions and stand in front of the studios longing to visit the place, where he also bribed a production in charge ₹ 10 rupees one day and got himself into the studios. Perarasu's 15–16 years experience in the industry taught him to analyse the pulse of the audience and give them what they want. He honed his skills under Rama Narayanan and N. Maharajan. Apart from assisting, Perarasu appeared in few films doing small uncredited roles.

Perarasu made his directorial debut with Thirupaachi starring Vijay in the lead role as his 40th film. The film was released on the eve of Pongal and received positive reviews from critics claiming that "you may strive hard to find anything new in Tirupachi, which is old wine served in a new bottle, with a different label".[10][11] Thirupaachi became a commercial success by completing 100 days among 112 screens and 200 days in more than 25 centres.[12]

After the success of Thirupaachi, Perarasu collaborated with Vijay again for Sivakasi, which also marks Vijay's third collaboration with A. M. Rathnam after Kushi and Ghilli.[13][14] The film was released on Diwali to positive reviews from critics and eventually became a successful venture claiming that ""This formula had worked well for director Perarasu and Vijay in Thirupaachi and now the team has re-worked it. This time, however, it will test your patience as it is not meant for the class audience or those seeking quality entertainment. Perarasu and Vijay believe only in catering to the mass audience who want their dose of unpretentious masala mix"[15]

During the making of Sivakasi, representatives from AVM Productions approached Perarasu to make a film with Ajith Kumar in the lead role.[16] The director immediately accepted the offer and told the producer the story of the film during the meeting and the film was announced publicly two days later.[17] In August 2005, it became clear that the film would begin in November and that Riyaz Khan would play the lead antagonist role in the project.[18] Sadha was signed on to play the lead role after early reports suggested that either Nayanthara, Renuka Menon or Gopika would play the lead female role. The film was named Thirupathi and was launched officially on 15 September 2005 with Vijay attending the opening ceremony.[19] The film was critically panned with critics claiming that the film drew too much resemblance to Perarasu's previous projects, but became a commercial success.[20]

After the success of Thirupathi, Perarasu announced a project called "Pandigai" with S. J. Suryah, but the project was cancelled and he announced his next project Dharmapuri with Vijayakanth in 2006 since Rathnam expressed his desire of Perarasu directing a film for him again after Sivakasi.[21][22] When Rathnam and Vijayakanth heard the ‘one liner’ of the film, they both liked it instantly and thus Dharmapuri was created without even a heroine.[23] Indiaglitz wrote "Perarasu has dished out a movie that would certainly appease front-benchers. A commercial pot-boiler, the movie will be lapped by Vijayakanth's fans. Sure to make it big in rural centres, the movie also has enough stunt sequences for action-lovers".[24]

Perarasu's next film was Pazhani, starring Bharath and Kajal Aggarwal, but became an above average venture at the box office. He then directed films like Thiruvannamalai and Thiruthani. Thiruvannamalai was a commercial success, but Thiruthani became a box-office bomb. Later, Perarasu made his directorial debut in Malayalam with Samrajyam 2, which was also partially reshot in Tamil as Tihar. Samrajyam 2 was the sequel of Samrajyam which starred Mammootty in the lead role. The Malayalam and Tamil versions received negative reviews from critics and became a box-office bomb.[25][26]

Perarasu primarily directs films he claims are "aimed at the common man who looks at pure entertainment" rather than critics. He also wants his films to be packed with mind-blowing soundtrack, fast-paced script and punch dialogues inserted along with sentiments, humour, twists and turns. Due to his films being named after towns and cities, Perarasu has been nicknamed "Oorarasu" by the media, the term being a portmanteau of "oor" (meaning town or city) and his name Perarasu.[27][28][29][30]