Rajesh M Selva

Rajesh M Selva is an Indian film director and screenwriter, primarily working in Tamil cinema. Rajesh began his career in entertainment by being a part of the band, Shenanigans, which was formed in 1999. He subsequently went on to make a feature film with new technicians, titled Kaalaippani (2008), and shot for the project throughout 2007. Featuring Vasundhara and Nassar alongside several newcomers, Kaalaipani was a murder mystery film which had a low-key release, but received positive reviews. In 2008, Rajesh decided to join Raaj Kamal Films International on the advice of his friend, director Sri Krishna. He subsequently joined Kamal Haasan for the pre-production works of Marmayogi and served as the film's third assistant director. He worked on gathering information to help script portions set in the 6th century and spent nearly forty five days with the researchers at archaeological department to know the scriptures of sixth century Tamil that existed in Pandiya kingdom. The film was shelved soon after but he continued to work with Raaj Kamal Films through the productions of both parts to Vishwaroopam (2013) and Uttama Villain (2015), playing cameo roles as an actor in both films. After gaining offers to direct films in 2014 after the completion of Vishwaroopam II (2016), Rajesh left Kamal Haasan's team, but the films which were being planned failed to materialise. Kamal Haasan subsequently called him back to the company in April 2015 and requested that he direct the official remake of Sleepless Night (2011), which Raaj Kamal Films had purchased. Titled Thoongaa Vanam (2015) in Tamil and Cheekati Rajyam (2015) in Telugu, Rajesh completed both version of the film within sixty days of shoot. Featuring an ensemble cast headed by Kamal Haasan, he worked with the actor on adapting the original script into the Tamil and Telugu languages, and wrote in new characters to be played by Trisha and Madhu Shalini. Rajesh was also in charge of gathering and selecting the members of the cast and crew. The films opened in November 2015 to critical acclaim and had a good performance at the box office.

Born in: Tamil Nadu, India