Thirupathisamy

{{Infobox person

|image = Thirupathisamy(1).jpg

| caption =

| name = Thirupathisamy

| birth_date = 1966

| birth_place = Chennai, Tamil Nadu

| birth_name =

| death_date = {{death date and age|2001|6|11|1969|df=yes}}

| death_place = Chennai, Tamil Nadu

| other names =

| occupation = Film director

| spouse =

| yearsactive = 1998 - 2001

| website = |

}}

Thirupathisamy was an Indian film director, known for his works in Telugu cinema and Tamil cinema. After making his debut in 1998 with the successful Ganesh, he has gone on to make other box office hits including Azad and Narasimha. He died in a car accident in Chennai in June 2001 at the age of 32.{{cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/2001/07/20/stories/09200222.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101126123150/http://www.hindu.com/2001/07/20/stories/09200222.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2010-11-26 |title=Film Review: Narasimha |date=2001-07-20 |work=The Hindu |access-date=2014-04-24}}{{cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/entertai/2001/aug/01nar.htm |title=rediff.com, Movies: The Rediff Review: Narasimha |work=Rediff.com |date=2001-08-01 |access-date=2014-04-24}}

Early life

Tirupathisami, hailed from an ordinary family in Vannarpet, Chennai. He graduated with master of law from the Ambethkar College.{{cite web |url=http://www.chennaionline.com/entertainment/filmplus/tswami.asp |title=No place for sentiments |website=Chennai Online |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011224134436/http://www.chennaionline.com/entertainment/filmplus/tswami.asp |archive-date=24 December 2001 |url-status=dead}} He began his career as a journalist with Ananda Vikatan.{{cite web |url=http://movies.indiainfo.com/tamil/interviews/tiru.html |title=Indiainfo: Tamil: Interviews - Tirupathi Swami: Home coming |website=movies.indiainfo.com |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011121064038/http://movies.indiainfo.com/tamil/interviews/tiru.html |archive-date=21 November 2001 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.screenindia.com/20010504/rtamil.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010709075834/http://www.screenindia.com/20010504/rtamil.html|archive-date=9 July 2001|title=Entertainment News: Latest Bollywood & Hollywood News, Today's Entertainment News Headlines}}

Career

Thirupathisamy started his film career assisting Suresh Krissna in films Veera (1994) and Baashha (1995). He made his directorial debut with Ganesh (1998), a Telugu language action film starring Venkatesh, which went on to win five Nandi Awards. Thirupathiswamy made Azad, another successful Telugu action film, starring Nagarjuna, Soundarya and Shilpa Shetty in 2000 and won positive reviews for his work. He was then signed up to direct a Tamil film, Narasimha, after director N. Maharajan had opted out of making the Vijayakanth-starrer.{{cite web|url=http://cinematoday2.itgo.com/666Hot%20News%20Just%20for%20U.htm |title=TAMIL CINEMA 2000 |publisher=cinematoday2.itgo.com |access-date=2014-04-24 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160319072600/http://cinematoday2.itgo.com/666Hot%20News%20Just%20for%20U.htm |archive-date=19 March 2016 }} Due to the success of his previous two films and his work in Narasimha, the director was also signed up to direct Velan with Vijay and Priyanka Chopra in the lead roles, which would have been a remake of his Telugu film Azad.{{cite web|url=http://www.oocities.org/hollywood/lot/2330/may2001.html |title=Gokul's Tamil Cinema News |publisher=Oocities.org |date=2001-05-04 |access-date=2014-04-24}} However the director died before the release of the film after being a part of a car crash while returning home from an editing session - the producers of Narasimha later dedicated the film to him.{{cite web|url=http://cinematoday2.itgo.com/Hot%20News-22062001.htm |title=Cinema |publisher=Cinematoday2.itgo.com |date= |access-date=2014-04-24}}

Legacy

The story of the planned film, Velan, was later used by M. Raja when he made Velayudham (2011) with Vijay.{{cite web|author= |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movies/news-interviews/Velayudham-inspired-by-Azad/articleshow/10529995.cms |title=Velayudham inspired by Azad! - The Times of India |publisher=Timesofindia.indiatimes.com |date=2011-10-29 |access-date=2014-04-24}} Actor Srikanth's character in the film Sadhurangam (2011) was named after Thirupathisamy, who was the director Karu Pazhaniappan's close friend.[https://web.archive.org/web/20041024165406/http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/trailer/7014.html Videos – Azhagu Kutti Chellam] Similarly, AR Murugadoss noted that the story of his production Engaeyum Eppothum (2011) reminded him of the tragic incident of Thirupathisamy's death.{{cite news|author=S. R. Ashok Kumar |url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/a-film-to-look-out-for/article2439232.ece |title=A film to look out for |work=The Hindu |date=2011-09-09 |access-date=2014-04-24}}

Filmography

= As a director =

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;" ! Year !! Film !! Language !! Notes
1998	Ganesh	rowspan="2" \| Telugu	Nandi Award for Best Feature Film (Bronze)
2000	Azad	Nandi Award for Best Feature Film (Silver) Nandi Award for Best Story Writer{{Cite web \|url=http://ipr.ap.nic.in/New_Links/Film.pdf\|title=నంది అవార్డు విజేతల పరంపర (1964–2008)\|trans-title=A series of Nandi Award Winners (1964–2008)\|publisher=Information & Public Relations of Andhra Pradesh\|access-date=21 August 2020}}(in Telugu)
2001	Narasimha	Tamil	Posthumous release