A. M. Rathnam
Biography
A. M. Rathnam is an Indian film producer, lyricist, screenwriter, and director known for his works in Telugu and Tamil cinema.
Under the gamut of Sri Surya Movies Entertainment, Hyderabad, a movie production house owned by him, he has produced blockbusters in Telugu such as Karthavyam (1990), Peddarikam (1992), Sneham Kosam (1999), and Kushi (2001).
He ventured into Tamil cinema in 1996 with the blockbuster Indian, which was India's Official Entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards.
He then produced films such as Kushi, Run, Boys, Enakku 20 Unakku 18, Dhool, Ghilli, 7G Rainbow Colony, Arrambam, Yennai Arindhaal, and Vedalam.
Rathnam was born in Buchireddypalem of Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh. Rathnam has two sons, director and actor Jyothi Krishna and actor Ravi Krishna.
Jyothi Krishna's directorial debut Enakku 20 Unakku 18 and its Telugu version, as well as Ravi Krishna's first four films, which also include Jyothi Krishna's second directorial venture Kedi, were all produced by Rathnam himself.
In 2012, he built a temple for Shirdi Sai Baba at his office in Valasaravakkam.
Ratnam started his career as a make-up man for superstar actress Vijayashanti. Being the Executive Producer for the actress, he produced his first film Karthavyam, in 1990. Vijayashanti won the National Award for Best Actress for this film.
He made films with Kamal Haasan, Vijay, Ajith Kumar, Chiranjeevi, Vikram, and many other actors. He later began producing films in Tamil and Hindi as well, dubbing and releasing several films in other languages.
He went on to finance Shankar's Indian, which earned him the Filmfare Award for Best Film – Tamil and was later submitted by India for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Nayak: The Real Hero and Sneham Kosam starring Chiranjeevi.
