Tamil Movie Review Andhagan - Cast & Crew

Simran was born on 4th April’1976 in Mumbai. Her original name is Rishibala Naval. Her father’s name is Ashok Naval and her mother’s name is Sharda. She has one brother and two sisters named, Sumith, Jyothi and Monal. She married Deepak Bagga in 2003 and she has two children named Aadit and Adheep. She has done her schooling at St.Antony’s High School, Versova and she has finished B.Com from Mumbai. She has done modeling along with her graduation. She is a Salsa dancer and a trained Bharatanatyam dancer. Simran can speak Punjabi, English, Hindi, Telugu and Tamil languages.                                                                                                                    

Simran is a film and TV actress who has acted in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam films. She has entered the film industry with the Hindi film Sanam Harjai which was directed by the director Sawan Kumar in 1995. After doing some Hindi films, she has shifted to South film industry. She debuted with the film V.I.P in Tamil and with the film Abbai Gari Pelli in Telugu. She became a very successful actress with her powerful acting skills. Some of her Tamil films are- Vaali, Parthen Rasithen, Priyamanavale, Kannathil Muthamittal, Pammal K.Sambandham, Panchathanthiram etc. and some her Telugu films are- Samarasimha Reddy, Narasimha Naidu, Daddy, Kalisundam Raa etc. These films were block buster hits.                                                                            

For her best acting skills, Simran won 3 Filmfare Awards South, Kalaimamani Award twice and Tamilnadu State Film Award for Best Actress for the film Thulladha Manamum Thullum. 

After her marriage, Simran moved to small screen and has acted in the Tamil serial Simran Thiraj for Jaya TV. She has acted in a Telugu serial Sundarakanda for Gemini TV wherein she played the role of a lawyer. This serial had highest TRP rating. Later on she has hosted a game show Jackpot in Jaya TV and she has also hosted some dance shows in Telugu (Dee) and Tamil (Dance Tamizha Dance) channels.

Urvashi is the stage name of Kavitha Ranjini, a producer, film actress, TV anchor and a script writer from India. She was born on 1970 at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. Her father is Chavara V. P. Nair and her mother is Vijayalakshmi. Her siblings are actress and classical dancer, Kalaranjini, Malayalam actress and comedian, Kalpana Priyadarshini, Kamal Roy and Prince who is also a Malayalam actor. Urvashi has been married twice. Her first marriage was held on October 11, 2000 with actor Manoj K. Jayan but they got separated in year 2008 because of some differences. They have been divorced in Chennai and later separated by an order from the court. Urvashi’s daughter, Tejalakshmi or better known as Kunjatta now lives with his father Manoj. Then Urvashi was married again to a Civil Engineer in November 2013. Urvashi and Shivaprasad’s marriage was held through a private ceremony in Chennai. The two later announced that Urvashi was pregnant on her second child and subsequently gave birth to a baby boy on August 8, 2014.

Vanitha Vijayakumar is a Tamil actress and the daughter of yesteryear actors Vijayakumar and Manjula. She appeared only in a very few films in her career. She made her debut with a film ‘Manikkam’ opposite Raj Kiran in 1996. This actress even acted in a Malayalam film ‘Hitler Brothers’ (1997) and a Telugu film ‘Devi’ (1999) essaying the supporting role. She rose to prominence with a Tamil film ‘Chandralekha’ (1995), where she played the love interest of actor Vijay. Although her mother and father had made a prominent place in the industry by appearing over 100-200 films in their career, their daughter remained in limelight for her multiple marriages in her life. Recently, she is into a relationship with a choreographer Robert and their partnership had taken a new off-screen turn too. Vanitha had become a producer, and her future fiancée Robert has become a director for a Tamil film ‘MGR Sivaji Rajini Kamal’. In this film, the actress had even penned the script of the film.

Leela Samson is an Indian classical dancer, author, actor, and a choreographer. She was born on May 6, 1951 at Coonoor taluk in Tamil Nadu.She is the daughter of Laila Samson and Vice-Admiral (Retd.) Benjamin Abraham Samson.

Lakshmi Pradeep is an Indian playback singer. She was one of the finalists in the show Airtel Super Singer 5, telecasted on Vijay Tv. She came fourth in the show and was awarded a cash prize of three lakh rupees. Lakshmi was born and brought up in Kochi, Kerala, India. Lakshmi completed her schooling at Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Vaduthala. She pursued her graduation from the Indian Institute of Technology in Karnataka. She is famous for her facial expression during her singing. She participated in Amrita TV’s Super Star Junior 3, became the runner-up, and won a cash prize of 3 Lakh Rupees. Now she is a live performer and playback singer. She also travels worldwide to participate in various events.

Rekha Suresh was born on 27th September, 1972 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. She is a well-known Indian television and film actress, known for films like Thegedi (2014), which is a Tamil crime thriller produced by C. V. Kumar and directed by P. Ramesh under the streamer Thirukumaran Entertainment. She has also acted in Kalam (2016) and Kolanji (2017) which is a Tamil comedy drama film co-written and directed by Dhanaram Saravanan. The film features actors like Samuthirakani, Rajaji, Sanghavi and Naina Sarwar in the lead roles. Naveen produced this movie, and it was released on 24 February 2017. She is currently working in Tamil Film and Television industry.

Samuthirakani has carved a niche for himself in the Tamil cine industry not only as a director but also as an actor. He has tried his luck in screenwriting and voice-over too. One of his earlier films, Nadodigal, was a huge hit at the box office. It was released in the year 2009. Later, this movie was remade in three different languages. Samuthirakani has acted in numerous movies and is best known for his performance in the movies like ‘Sattai’, ‘Easan’, ‘Visaranai’, and ‘Subramaniapuram’.

Yogi Babu is one of the famous actors in Indian films. His appearance is there in only Tamil movies. At present, he is a regular comedy actor in Tamil films. Babu was born in Chennai, Tamilnadu. His acting career started from 2009 onwards. He was famous for his outstanding movie called Maan Karate (2014); a fantasy oriented Tamil film under the direction of Thirukumaran. There are some prominent stars in this movie namely Sathish, Vamsi Krishna, Soori, Hansika Motwani and Sivakarthikeyan. Famous writer Murugadoss wrote the entire script for this movie and went on to screens under the production of Escape Artists Motion Pictures. Anirudh Ravichander gave an outstanding music for this movie. Mr. Babu was also notable for his famous film Yaamirukka Bayamey (2014), a comedy horror movie under the direction of debutant Deekay. It was under the production of Elred Kumar with casting by Anaswara Kumar, Oviya, Kreshna and Rupa Manjari.

Director KS Ravikumar(KSR), started his career in Tamil cinema as an assistant director to Bharathiraja for sometime before becoming an independent director. He has made 40 movies, out of which six films are re-makes. 

KSR has made the most number of movies with actor Sarath Kumar (10) and actresses Simran and Ramya Krishnan. Interestingly enough to know that his stunt choreographer Kanal Kannan had collaborated with KSR in 16 films so far. 

His first project in Tamil film world was in the year 1990, when he made a genre-breaking film Puriyaadha Pudhir which was a re-make of the Kannada movie Tarka. The Kannada versions was itself an adaptation of an Agastha Christie novel called ‘The Unexpected Guest’. After success of Puriyaadha Pudhir, he had never looked back. 

He has directed Rajinikanth and Sivaji Ganesan too in his career. He also had directed Sanjay Dutt in Police Giri (2014) with Prachi Desai and Lingaa(2014) with Rajinikanth, Anushka Shetty and Sonakshi Sinha. Both the films did not fare well in the box office. He also has appeared in a small role in the movies he directs which added to his popularity, as a cameo actor(21 films). 

He is well known for bringing Rajinikanth and Sivaji Ganesan in Padayappa (1999), the film was a success in box-office. He also directed Kamal Haasan in Avvai Shanmugi (1996), which was a straight adaptation of the American comedy film, Mrs. Doubtfire. Kamal Haasan’s performance in the film was truly appreciated and the film was made in Hindi too as Chachi 420(1997) by Kamal Haasan ( director and producer). Although both the Hindi and Tamil versions are considered to be Indian remake of Mrs. Doubtfire, there are many plot differences between the original and the Indian version. 

Many of his assistant directors went to make a big name for themselves in Tamil cinema in their own right, one example is Director Cheran. The latest is director Gaurav to join the feat. 

KSR will be remembered for his punctuality and dedication to his works, he used to concentrate a lot on the budget of his movie and tried to complete the film as early as possible.

Comedy is the forte of Manobala (Manobala Mahadevan), who is also a director. He was born on 4th June 1953 and acts in supporting roles too. His primary region of interest is Tamil. He has over 40 movies and 16 television serials to his credit. Having worked in 3 telefilms too, he has over 200 movies to his credit. He has worked under director Bharathiraja. 

Hailing from Sulur, Manobala forayed into the Tamil industry with the 1994 flick Thaaimaaman. Doing trivial roles initially, he switched to comedy later. He was appreciated for his comedy, and his skinny appearance added to the laughter of the audience. His rapport with Kamal Haasan, though commendable in the initial stages, was not good after some problems with the Directors Union. But later Manobala confessed that, he doesn’t hold any grudges with Kamal Haasan. The Sun TV program Asathapovathu Yaaru has Manobala’s presence frequently. He had a brief stint with production through the film Sathuranga Vettai. 

Oor Kavalan, Aagaya Gangai, Sirai Paravai, Moodu Manthiram, Pillai Nila, Moondrezhuthil En Moochirukkum, Karuppu Vellai and Nandini are a few flicks of his direction. As an actor his works are Natpukkaga, Taj Mahal, Annai, Minsara Kanna, Perazhagan, Priyasakhi, Samudhiram, Ghajini, Varalaaru, Thambi, Azhagiya Thamizh Magan, Santhosh Subramaniam, Polladhavan, Dindigul Sarathy, Abhiyum Naanum etc. Manobala is active in the industry from 1982 to till date. Manobala is credited to have done projects with three generations. He is a simple person and doesn’t like publicity. 

On his personal front Manobala is wedded to Usha. 

Manobala stated that people asked him to direct films like Pillai Nila. KS Ravikumar tapped his comical streak and his life changed a lot due to him. Manobala is grateful to K S Ravikumar for that. He feels that directing 40 films is indeed a commendable one.  

On 3rd May 2023, Manobala died in Chennai. He was suffering from illness related to pancreas. His sudden death saddened the film industry and fans.

Besant Nagar Ravi is known for his negative performances in movies in South Indian film Industry. He was initially a stunt man before he turned into an actor in movies. Ravi was always into fights and action. He is a trained boxer and martial artist.

One fine day, there was shooting that was taking place near his house in Besant Nagar which fascinated to such an extent that he decided to enter into the film industry using his capabilities and training in action and, therefore, leave his mark in films. It was because of his undying faith in himself and a wild passion for this inclination of his, he started taking Pandian training in fighting from a master. He made his debut appearance in a film called Lucky Man, but he gained his share of fame and success only after doing a film named Madhulavan.

Ravi is extremely talented and has approximately 170 films to his name which don’t limit itself to just one language but are in all the south Indian languages. He has been in headlines for his stunts that he does for movies which are more often than not extremely fatal and death defying. He does stunts that can make you hold your breath or can make you question the entire law of gravity as a whole. He, however, says that the safety measures that were taken in his initial days weren’t as good as they are now which has reduced the risk to a great extent and this makes him feel proud of the progress of his film industry.

He also has to his name the record of doing fight sequences in Tamil movies which are believed to be the longest so far. Apart from making his presence known in south Indian movies, he has also been successful and known in Hindi films too because of his role in a remake named Singham. It was a replica of Singam which was a Tamil movie. He also plays a recurring role of Deepika’s ruffian cousin in the movie Chennai Express which had Shah Rukh Khan as one of the leads.

Mohan Vaidya is a popular serial actor, cinema actor and above them all, he is a good violinist. Mohan Vaidya was born on 29^th November 1959 to KM Vaidyanathan and Vasantha. He is the elder brother of violinist Rajesh Vaidya. Mohan Vaidya was unable to speak till his fourth age. He is an extraordinary singer too. He used to sing in female voices too. His favorite female voice is the cuckoo voice of playback singer Vani Jayaram. Mohan Vaidya used to sing Vani’s songs during his school days. He has won prizes by singing Nadhamenum Kovilile, Megame Megmae, Aezhu Swarangalukkul, Malligai En Mannan Mayangum and many more songs. He has got many fans for his voice. His father is Gadam Vaidyanathan and mother Vasantha. His mother is a singer in radio. Mohan’s brother Ravi is a drummer. His third brother Ashok is a singer. His family is a musical family with vocal, violin and Gadam. His favorite raga is Shanmuga Priya. Mohan Vaidya is doing many concerts in India as well as outside India. He has also performed concerts for Atul Bihari Vajpayee. He is the owner of Anusham Academy. It is a musical school which teaches vocal music, classical music, violin and keyboard. The students are also taught voice culture and voice modulation in his academy. His plan is to do a great show, which nobody had done yet. He wants to do a colorful show that comprises of classical and light music. He wants to entertain people with varieties of music. He has also sung in films. His favorite musician is Maestro Ilayaraja. He has received an award Isai Vendhan in Sri Lanka. He is also awarded as Kala Sevaga ratna in Bangalore and Shreshta Kala Prachar by Dr. Saroja Vaidyanathan in Delhi.

Poovaiyar started his journey as a contestant in "Super Singer Junior 6" in 2019. He accomplished his journey when he became the second runner-up of the show. His path as a playback singer started in 2019 when he sang a song with Hiphop Tamizha Adhi. This song is for the movie Natpe Thunai. Apart from this, he also performed with Vijay and Sangeetha Rajeshwaran for the song Verithanam. This song is a part of the movie "Bigil." Poovaiyar has got many chances to showcase his talent and never looked back. Kolamav Kokkila is one of his famous songs which, he had recorded for the movie 50/50. In 2021, he appeared in the film "Master" as Undiyal. 

Thiagarajan was born on 21st June 1945 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He is a very important figure in the Tamil film industry as well as other South Indian Film industries like Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu and has contributed to their boom and modernization in many ways. Initially, Thiagarajan started his career as an actor and later progressed to become a tycoon of filmmaking, having worked in most of the fields associated with film making such as writing, directing, producing, artwork, costume, and production managing. His first film was ‘Alaigal Oivathillai’ in 1981. He plays as an important supporting character and his realistic portrayal of the character gained him another chance in ‘Malaiyoor Mambattiyan’ in which he plays the character of a forest bandit.