Agathiyan

Agathiyan, a director in his late forties entered films a decade back and struggled as an assistant to various directors. Hailing from a agriculturist family, he spent a happy-go-lucky time in college, and when he decided to pack his bags and come to Chennai to try his luck in films as a director, he lost his family's support. Struggling with no money, he did odd jobs in film companies and became an assistant to anyone who offered him food and shelter.[4]

He initially directed movie in 1991 and was credited as Ravi Thasan but it was unsuccessful. Anbalaya Prabhakaran, who acted in that movie and also produces small budgeted films with new directors, gave Ahahtian his second break as a director with Madhumathi, a teenage love story with new faces. The film was a big hit. He was back to where he started, but again fate had bigger things in store for him. Sivasakthi Pandian, a film distributor turned producer, produced Vaanmathi with Ajith and Swathi. The film was a hit. Next came Kadhal Kottai from the same banner and Ahahtian became the toast of the industry. Offers poured in for films.[5]

In late 2014, he began work on an untitled project produced by Bharathiraja starring Santhosh Prathap, Oviya, Vijayalakshmi and Manoj Bharathiraja, but the film was later shelved.[6] He have served as jury member at 57th National Film Awards.[7]

He married Radha in 1978.[1] His elder daughter Kani (Karthika), host of Makkal TV, is married to film director Thiru.[8] Kani Thiru is a winner of Vijay TV's Cook With Comali (Season 2). His second daughter Vijayalakshmi Agathiyan is an actress and is married to film director Feroz. His younger daughter Niranjani Ahathian is a costume designer and actress who is married to director Desingh Periyasamy.

Films

Year	Film	Language	Credited as				Role	Notes
			Director	Writer	Producer	Actor
1989	Manasukketha Maharasa	Tamil	N	Y	N	N		Credited as Karunanidhi Santharam in the film
1991	Mangalyam Thanthunane	Tamil	Y	Y	N	N		Credited as Ravi Thasan in the film
1992	Pondatti Rajyam	Tamil	N	Y	N	N
1993	Madhumathi	Tamil	Y	Y	N	N
1996	Vaanmathi	Tamil	Y	Y	N	N
1996	Kadhal Kottai	Tamil	Y	Y	N	Y	Cameo	Remade in Kannada as Yaare Neenu Cheluve Remade in Hindi as Sirf Tum Dubbed in Telugu as Premalekha
1996	Gokulathil Seethai	Tamil	Y	Y	N	Y	Cameo	Remade in Hindi as Hum Ho Gaye Aapke Remade in Kannada as Krishna Leele
1997	Vidukathai	Tamil	Y	Y
1998	Santhosham	Tamil		Y	N	N
1998	Kaadhal Kavithai	Tamil	Y	Y	N	N
1999	Sirf Tum	Hindi	Y	Y	N	N
2001	Hum Ho Gaye Aapke	Hindi	Y	Y	N	N
1999	Poovellam Kettuppar	Tamil	N	N	N	Y	Himself
2001	Vinnukkum Mannukkum	Tamil	N	N	N	Y	Cameo
2002	Kadhal Samrajyam	Tamil	Y	Y	N	N		Unreleased film
2004	Ramakrishna	Tamil	Y	Y	N	N
2004	Ee Abbai Chala Manchodu	Telugu	Y	Y	N	N		credited as Agastyan
2005	Selvam	Tamil	Y	Y	Y	N
2007	Agaram	Tamil	N	N	N	Y	Thiru's father
2008	Nenjathai Killadhe	Tamil	Y	Y	N	N
2011	Avargalum Ivargalum	Tamil	N	N	N	Y
2011	Maithanam	Tamil	N	N	N	Y
2018	Mr. Chandramouli	Tamil	N	N	N	Y

As lyricist

National Film Awards

• 1997 – Best Direction – Kadhal Kottai
• 1997 – Best Screenplay – Kadhal Kottai
• 1997 – National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil – Kadhal Kottai

Filmfare Awards South

• 1997 – Best Director – Kadhal Kottai

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards

• 1996 – Best Director – Kadhal Kottai

• Agathiyan at IMDb