Rajendran Ravikumar (born 13 May^[1] 1984) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works primarily in Tamil films. He is best known for his science fiction films Indru Netru Naalai (2015) and Ayalaan (2024).^[2]

Career

Ravikumar is a native of Tiruppur. He was not initially passionate about cinema until a friend from Dubai gave him an amateur camera in the early 2000s. With that camera, Ravikumar taught himself filmmaking and made several short films from 2004 to the remainder of the decade. Some of his shorts were later shortlisted for the reality show Naalaya Iyakunar, where he finished at third. After his stint at Naalaya Iyakunar, Ravikumar began to take cinema as his career, and became an assistant director under Nalan Kumarasamy during Soodhu Kavvum (2013). He later made his feature directorial debut with the science fiction film Indru Netru Naalai (2015),^[3][4][5] for which he won the Behindwoods Gold Medal for Best Screenplay Writer.^[6] Ravikumar's second directorial feature was announced in 2016.^[7] The science fiction film, later titled Ayalaan, began production in 2018,^[8] languished in production hell and was released only in 2024, but was well received.^[9] Shortly after the film's success, he was signed on to direct it's sequel.^[10]

Filmmaking style

An avid reader of Tamil literature, Ravikumar noted that such novels influence his thinking style.^[3]

Personal life

Ravikumar married Priya Ganesan in 2016.^[11] They have a daughter born in 2018,^[12][13][14] and a son born in 2024.^[15] Ravikumar's mother died in March 2021.^[16]

Filmography