M. Sasikumar

Sasikumar Mahalingam is an Indian actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter and playback singer. He worked as an assistant director for director Bala in Sethu, also worked for director Ameer in his first two films Mounam Pesiyadhe and Raam.
He is best known in the Tamil film industry for his debut film Subramaniapuram, which became a blockbuster. 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.

Early life

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

Career

1999-2018

Sasikumar began working in films through his uncle A Kandasamy, who produced Bala’s Sethu. The actor worked as an assistant director in the film, where he met director Ameer, who was also assisting director Bala. He later assisted Ameer in Mounam Pesiyadhe and Raam.
Sasikumar's directorial debut Subramaniapuram, despite being made on a low-budget, opened to high critical acclaim and became one of the highest grossing films of the year. After the success of Subramaniapuram, Sasikumar produced Pasanga, directed by debutant Pandiraj. The action drama film Naadodigal was directed by Samuthrakani. He later directed the drama film Easan. He also acted and produced Poraali followed by the Malayalam film, Masters alongside Prithviraj. Masters was followed by the drama film, Sundarapandian. The cast included Lakshmi Menon and Vijay Sethupathi. In 2013, he acted in Kutti Puli, with his previous movie pair Lakshmi Menon. The film released to positive reviews. He produced Thalaimuraigal directed by Balu Mahendra who acted alongside Sasikumar for the first time in his career. In 2014, Sasikumar starred in the romantic action film Bramman.
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. The soundtrack was composed by Ilaiyaraaja. The film garnered a lot of expectations as it was promoted as being the 1000th film score of Ilaiyaraaja. The soundtrack consisted of seven tracks: five songs and two theme scores. The film was released on 14 January 2016 to mostly positive reviews. Vetrivel, Appa, Kidaari and Balle Vellaiyathevaa follow up. In 2017, he acted in Kodiveeran. This was Sasikumar and M.Muthiah's second collaboration after Kutti Puli. Kodiveeran was produced by M. Sasikumar's Company Productions. In 2018, Sasikumar starred in Asuravadham. The film received mixed reviews from critics and audience.

2019-present

Sasikumar started the year with Rajinikanth's' Petta directed by Karthik Subbaraj. The next project was Suseenthiran's Kennedy Club. In their review, Sify wrote that "Sasikumar is not at all convincing as a Kabbadi player and maintains the same age-old". The film was an average sports drama. Sasikumar was roped in to star in Gautham Vasudev Menon's Enai Noki Paayum Thota, which stars Dhanush and Megha Akash. In the film, Sasikumar acted as Dhanush's elder brother. After Naadodigal 2, he starred in family films like Udanpirappe, MGR Magan and Raajavamsam. The subsequent year, he was seen in three action films, Kombu Vatcha Singamda, Naan Mirugamaai Maara and Kaari. In 2023, Sasikumar was praised for his performance in the drama film Ayothi. In 2024, Garudan and Nandhan were released to positive reviews. Sasikumar starred in Tourist Family, a comedy-drama directed by debutant Abishan Jeevinth which became his highest-grossing release.

Filmography

As a film director

All films are in Tamil, unless otherwise noted.

Year	Film	Notes
2008	Subramaniapuram	Also producer Filmfare Award for Best Film – Tamil Filmfare Best Tamil Director Award Vijay Award for Best Director Nominated, Vijay Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated, Vijay Award for Best Debut Actor
2010	Easan	Also producer

As an actor

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1999	Sethu	Sethu's friend	Uncredited role; also assistant director
2008	Subramaniapuram	Paraman	Also producer
2009	Naadodigal	Karunakaran Natraj	Nominated, Vijay Award for Favourite Hero
2010	Shambo Shiva Shambo	A lover's friend	Telugu film; special appearance
2011	Ko	Himself	Special appearance in "Aga Naga" song
2011	Poraali	Ilankumaran	Also producer; Norway Tamil Film Festival Award for Best Actor
2012	Masters	Milan Paul	Malayalam film
2012	Sundarapandian	Sundarapandian	Also producer
2013	Kutti Puli	Kutti Puli
2013	Thalaimuraigal	Dr. Adithya	Also producer; guest appearance
2014	Bramman	Siva
2016	Tharai Thappattai	Sannasi	Also producer
2016	Vetrivel	Vetrivel
2016	Appa	Kumaran	Also producer; guest appearance
2016	Kidaari	Kidaari	Also producer
2016	Balle Vellaiyathevaa	Vellaiyathevan	Also producer
2017	Kodiveeran	Kodiveeran	Also producer
2018	Asuravadham	Saravanan
2019	Petta	Malik
2019	Kennedy Club	Muruganadham
2019	Adutha Saattai	Himself	Cameo appearance
2019	Enai Noki Paayum Thota	Thiru
2020	Naadodigal 2	Jeeva
2021	Udanpirappe	Vairavan
2021	MGR Magan	Anbalipu Ravi
2021	Raajavamsam	Kannan
2022	Kombu Vatcha Singamda	Thaman
2022	Naan Mirugamaai Maara	Bhoominathan
2022	Kaari	Sethu
2023	Ayothi	Abdul Malik
2024	Garudan	Aadhi
2024	Nandhan	Ambedkumar aka Koozhpaana
2025	Tourist Family	Dharmadas "Das"
2025	Freedom	Maaran	Unreleased Film