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.

Personal life

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, that 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.

Career

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 the 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.Rathnam produced the Tamil romance film ''Kushi'', starring Vijay and its same-titled Telugu remake the following year, starring Pawan Kalyan, both of which were directed by S. J. Surya and became highly successful.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 the 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.Rathnam produced the Tamil romance film ''Kushi'', starring Vijay and its same-titled Telugu remake the following year, starring Pawan Kalyan, both of which were directed by S. J. Surya and became highly successful. Later, he produced two more films, ''Ghilli'' and ''Sivakasi'' starring Vijay. Both Ghilli and Sivakasi were highly successful at the box office. During the early 1990s, he directed two films ''Peddarikam'' and ''Sankalpam'' in Telugu. He has also written the screenplay for the film ''Naaga''. Later, he changed the name of his production company from Sri Surya Movies Entertainment to Shri Sai Raam Creations, which is now headed by S. Aishwarya. He had done three films with Ajith Kumar such as ''Arrambam'', ''Yennai Arindhaal'' and ''Vedalam'', all of which were huge success.