S. Sashikanth

S. Sashikanth is an Indian film producer, architect and entrepreneur from Chennai, India.

S. Sashikanttha
Born
Sashikanth Shivaji

Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
OccupationFilm producer, architect
Years active2010–present
Spouse(s)Rajani Sashikanth (2002—present)

After studying architecture at university, Sashikanth established the Chennai-based design firm Space Scape in 2002, which became involved in major projects such as the British Council and other residential and corporate building designs. Sashikanth later shifted to film production through the establishment of a production studio, Y NOT Studios, and the 2010 release of his first film, Thamizh Padam.

Sashikanth's stated goal has been to see himself as having a creative role; Behindwoods has characterized him as a producer of "gutsy new-wave cinema",[1] while The Hindu acknowledged his films Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi, Thamizh Padam, and Va as being "three of the most creative films in recent times".[2]

Career

Architecture

Alongside University of Sydney graduate Manoj Kumar, Sashikanth helped co-found the website StudentConcepts.com, which offered a suite of services for students, including loyalty programmes and job search tools.[2][3][4][5] Sashikanth then continued as a student of architecture, but took an extended break from the subject after failing his first thesis. As a result of his interest in filmmaking, he was selected to assist art director Thotta Tharani with his sets on the production of Shankar's political thriller Mudhalvan (1999). After working on the sets for three months, he briefly dabbled in mango farming, before choosing to continue his studies in architecture, which he then passed as the university topper.[2]

Sashikanth subsequently set up an architectural company, Space Scape, with his wife Rajani in 2002. The couple moved into a 400-square-foot (37 m2) apartment in Chennai and spent ₹80,000 to renovate it into a penthouse studio. Sashikanth set up an office in the basement of the apartment building. Their work was awarded the Best Young Architect of the Year award by Indian Architects and Builders magazine. In a short span of time, Space Scape developed into one of Chennai's leading firms and won national recognition for their work on projects including the British Council in Chennai during 2004.[6][7] Within five years of its establishment, the company grew from five architects to 30 architects working in two cities, and accepted commissions from around India. Sashikanth's clients included Max Müller Bhavan; corporate projects such as Cognizant; and residential projects such as the homes of actors Suriya and Udhayanidhi Stalin, VGP House, and Chettinad House.[2]

Filmmaking career

After following the production of Dharani's Kuruvi (2008), Sashikanth experienced a renewed interest in filmmaking; he considered starting his own studio, as he was "too old to be an assistant director and never good at taking instructions". Sashikanth expressed interest in the "Hollywood model" of filmmaking, where film producers are seen as those who pitch film projects, as opposed to India, where producers were seen as being the financial backers of projects. He explained that he wanted to be seen as an entrepreneur who can "[create] projects that are able to generate their own money".[2] C. S. Amudhan, a past client of Sashikanth, submitted three pitches in different genres for his consideration. Out of the three pitches, Sashikanth went ahead with Thamizh Padam, a satire of Tamil cinema, and founded Y NOT Studios to produce the film—which was sold to the distributor Cloud Nine Movies and premiered in 2010.[2]

After discovering Balaji Mohan's short film Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi on YouTube, Sashikanth expressed interest in producing a full-length version, which starred Siddharth and was released in 2012 as a multilingual with Tamil and Telugu versions. Y NOT Studios handled both production and distribution for the film; Sashikanth argued that there were too many "middlemen" in the film industry, and believed that "the closer the producer is to the audience, the much better the money."[2][8][9]

In 2014, Sashikanth partnered with several other Tamil film producers to form a distribution company known as Dream Factory.[10][11]

In early 2015, Sashikanth revealed that he was writing a script for a sport-themed thriller entitled Test, and that he was considering becoming a director in the future. He also revealed plans of taking Y NOT Studios into Bollywood with the release of Sudha Kongara's Saala Khadoos (2016) and a remake of Thiagarajan Kumararaja's Aaranya Kaandam (2011), but the latter did not materialise.[12] Despite the relative failure of Y NOT's high-cost production Kaaviya Thalaivan (2014), Sashikanth's work since 2016 has been profitable.[13][14]

References
  1. "An interview with producer S.Sashikanth of Y NOT Studios". Behindwoods.com. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  2. "Why Not?". The Hindu. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  3. "Where students can 'Net'work". The Hindu. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  4. "Glory of the geeks". The Hindu. 20 December 2000. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  5. "Rocking beyond the hometown". The Hindu. 21 March 2002. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  6. "Space Scape". Spacescape.in. 15 September 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  7. "Bricks and mortar : Woman - India Today 21012008". Indiatoday.intoday.in. 10 January 2008. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  8. "Future Stock". The Hindu. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  9. "Short, succinct & successful". The Hindu. 4 August 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  10. "Dream Factory - a new film distribution & marketing company". Behindwoods. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  11. "Top Producers to launch Dream Factory". Sify. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  12. "Tamil cinema goes national". The Hindu. 10 January 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  13. "I appeal to all with a voice, specially the stars among us: Sashikanth". Sify. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  14. "Producer Sashikanth's statement regarding municipal tax issue". Behindwoods.com. 4 July 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
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