Mysskin

Mysskin
In 2007
Born	Shanmugha Raja (1971-09-20) September 20, 1971 India
Occupation	Film director, Actor
Years active	2006–present

Mysskin (Tamil: மிஷ்கின்; born Shanmugha Raja on 20 September 1971) is an Indian film director and screenwriter. He made his directorial debut in 2006 with Chithiram Pesuthadi. His other directorials Anjathe and Nandalala received high critical acclaim. He has also proved his acting skills by starring as a mentally challenged person in Nandalala.

Career

He chose Mysskin as his pen name inspired by Prince Myshkin, the protagonist in Dostoevsky's novel The Idiot. He was working at Landmark when director Kathir first asked him to join him. He was with him for nearly 8 months but did not work on any movie. It was under Vincent Selva that he did his first movie, Youth followed by Jithan, again under Vincent Selva. Mysskin made his directorial debut with the low-budget film Chithiram Pesuthadi which went to become one of the biggest hits of the year. A simple love story, it became a hit owing to the unique style the film was written in. Narain and Bhavana debuting as leads in the film became popular faces. He then moved on to Anjathe which became one of the biggest blockbusters in Tamil Cinema. The film received critical acclaim for all departments of filmmaking involved in the film. It starred Narain, Prasanna, Vijayalakshmi Ahathian and yesteryear actor Pandiarajan in a never before seen role. Interestingly both his films have item songs which have become big hits and has captured the hearts of the young and old alike.

Anjathe catapulted Mysskin into the big league. He is touted to be one of the best young directors in Tamil cinema. Two years after this, he came back with Nandalala a film loosely based on Takeshi Kitano's Kikujiro was completely different from his first two ventures. A film which dealt with a young boy and a mentally challenged person going in search of their respective mothers. He chose to play the mentally challenged character after the script was turned down by many actors in kollywood. The film went on to become his most critically acclaimed film with some critics calling it one of the best Tamil films ever made. Nandalala won the people's choice award at the Norway Film Festival. His latest film, Yuddham Sei, a dark thriller was a huge hit at the box office as well. His visual style and directing prowess was appreciated and talked about by everybody. His recent film, Mugamoodi has received mixed responses from the public and media.

Filmography

As director

Year	Film	Language	Notes
2006	Chithiram Pesuthadi	Tamil
2008	Anjathe	Tamil	Nominated, Filmfare Award for Best Director – Tamil Nominated, Vijay Award for Best Director
2010	Nandalala	Tamil	Nominated, Vijay Award for Best Debut Actor
2011	Yuddham Sei	Tamil
2012	Mugamoodi	Tamil
2013	Onaayum Aattukkuttiyum	Tamil	Filming

As singer

Year	Song(s)	Film
2006	"Aaahayam Aaahayam", "Mazhai Mazhai" & "Idhu Enna Pudhu Kanavo (M)"	Chithiram Pesuthadi
2008	Kannadhasan Karaikudi	Anjathe
2012	Bar Anthem	Mugamoodi