R. K. Selvamani
| R. K. Selvamani | |
|---|---|
| Native name | ஆர். கே. செல்வமணி (Tamil) |
| Born | October 21, 1965 Thirumukkadal, Chingleput, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Occupation | film director, film producer |
| Years active | 1990–2017 |
| Spouse(s) | Roja |
| Parent(s) | Kalyanasundaram Shenbagam |
R. K. Selvamani is a Indian film director. He was known to make films in the police or whodunit genres.
R K Selvamani, an erstwhile assistant of Manivannan, narrated a storyline to Vijayakanth who then insisted Selvamani narrate the story to his friend, film producer Ibrahim Rowther. After being told that the actor was busy, Selvamani with the help of his friend Jothi decided to narrate the story through drawn pictures by having Hollywood films as reference and was given the opportunity to make the film. The action thriller Pulan Visaranai (1990) was partly based on a real life confession by criminal Auto Shankar that he had kidnapped many girls at the behest of some political bigwigs and featured Vijayakanth alongside Rupini, Anandaraj, Radha Ravi and Sarathkumar in his first major role. Selvamani initially imposed many rules and conditions which led to the cancelling of shooting for 6 months after the actor became displeased, but with the help of Manivannan, shooting was continued. The film was released in January 1990 and became successful film at the box-office, also going on to win critical acclaim by reviewers. The success of the film prompted Rowther to offer the actor and director another venture, with Selvamani making Captain Prabhakaran (1991). The title of the film was named as a homage to Prabhakaran, the LTTE leader, while the plotline was based on the forest brigand Veerappan. It marked the hundredth project of Vijayakanth and featured Rupini and Sarath Kumar again in pivotal roles. The film also became a large commercial success and Selvamani began to gain plaudits for his ability as a film director in the action genre.
Selvamani agreed to work on a film produced by Ravi Yadav with music scored by Ilaiyaraaja, having late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination and the Sri Lankan civil war as its backdrop. Production work for the film, Kuttrapathirikai began in 1991 and it would feature Ramki, Rahman, Ramya Krishnan and Roja, in her second film, in the leading roles. The film was launched in July 1991 and completed after short delays during December 1992. The film was stuck for fourteen years as the censor board refused to allow such a film with a drastic political message to be released, with Selvamani having no option but to move on to direct other films. In December 2006, in a landmark judgement, the Madras High Court dismissed a petition filed on behalf of the Central Board of Censors against an earlier verdict by the court, allowing the screening of the film with an 'A' certificate after certain cuts. The court subsequently directed the board to award an 'A' certificate to the film within four weeks of their judgement. The petition had initially alleged that the film supported the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), while sections of the Tamil Nadu Congress had also taken exception to some scenes in the film. Selvamani revealed that the court had actually said there is no need to delete the portions, which the earlier verdict wanted to be cut. The scenes, which the censors wanted to cut, included the Tigers' training and police officers fleeing the venue, where Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated. The film won positive reviews after release in March 2007 with a critic stating "it is an interesting attempt to thread reality and some wonderful domestic drama. The style of the narration and the camera angles are slightly dated. But you cannot hold the director responsible for that." Other critics also questioned the ban, citing it was just "another run of the mill action film", with lookalikes used to represent real life characters.
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