Kadhal Sukumar

Sukumar, the son of a farmer from Alanganallur near Madurai, came to Chennai in 1997, searching for an opportunity to star in Tamil films. His first on screen appearance was in Sakthi (1997), where he featured as a dancer alongside Vadivelu in a song, with several critics remarking about his resemblance to the actor. Sukumar then first worked as an actor in Kasthuri Raja's unreleased film Kaadhal Jaathi, before working on a television show titled Oorvambu on Raj TV, which garnered attention for him in the film industry. Sukumar received a breakthrough after featuring as Bharath's friend in Balaji Sakthivel's coming-of-age, love story Kaadhal (2004). The success of the film prompted the actor to place the film's title as a prefix to his name. In the same year, he worked on two films starring Kamal Haasan - the village drama Virumaandi and the comedy Vasool Raja MBBS.[1]

In 2008, Sukumar received an opportunity to play the leading role in a film titled Saamipulla opposite actresses Karthika and Saranya Mohan. Despite a launch event, the film failed to progress and was consequently shelved.[2]

Sukumar began his career as a director in late 2012 through the production of Thirukkural, but the film was later shelved after a few schedules.[3] His first release was consequently Thiruttu VCD (2015) featuring himself in a key role. The film had a low key release and did not perform well commercially.[4] Sukumar next made Summave Aaduvom (2016), focusing on street artistes, featuring athlete Arun Balaji and Leema Babu in the lead roles.[5] The film opened to positive reviews, with a critic from The New Indian Express stating "after his disastrous directorial debut in Thiruttu VCD, Summave Aaduvom comes as a redemption of sorts for the actor-turned-maker".[6]