Saran (director)

Saran
Born	K. V. Saravanan Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupation	Director, producer
Years active	1998 – present

Saran is an Indian film director active mainly in Tamil cinema. He was once an assistant to K. Balachander. He now owns a production houses called Gemini Productions and Saran movie factory.

Saran's father T. Kulandaivelayudam worked with the directorate of examinations and many of his relatives are teachers. He finished diploma in visual communications from the College of Arts And Crafts and became an instructor in textile designing. But, even as a child, the only thing he wanted to do was direct films.

When he decided to take up the job as an instructor, his father couldn't make sense of it—he was earning about Rs 600, whereas others from his class went into advertising and made big money.

But Saran had a purpose. The institute he taught at was in Kodambakkam, where all the films happen, he wanted to be there, to breathe in that air, that atmosphere.

Saran worked as instructor for a year and, during this time, he did some work with a lady called Mohana who was art director for K. Balachander. KB was the director whom Saran admired above all others. Saran hoped this relationship would be the key to get to him.

At the time, KB was making Unnal Mudiyum Thambi with Gemini Ganeshan and Kamal Haasan. Saran went over to meet him and KB told him that he was too raw. He said he could work with his television company if he liked. Saran turned that offer down, said he only wanted to work on movies, that too with him.

From then on, Saran kept sending him cartoons based on the theme of my asking him for a chance. Then he sent to KB a letter in drama form, as if Saran was the accused and the judge pleads with KB on his behalf, asking him to take him on not for his sake but because it was his first case! Saran took this to KB's house and handed it over to the gardener. Then, he went over to Mohana's house.

Saran told that his life is intuition-guided. As he reached Mohana's house, the phone rang and his intuition told him it was a call from KB. It was and he asked him to come over. That was how he joined him and got into films.

By then, Saran was also a cartoonist for Ananda Viketan. He would do this work at two in the morning, sleep for a bit and get back to work with KB by 7 am. Finally, Saran gave up working as a cartoonist because assisting KB was too demanding. And then, Saran's first film happened.

Saran describes that he "was wondering what would happen if a girl, who is engaged to a particular person, falls in love with someone else" and this formed the basis of his plot for his first film "Kaadhal Mannan".

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