{{short description|American actor}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Arun Vaidyanathan | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = Arunachalam | birth_date = | birth_place = Sirkazhi, Tamil Nadu, India | death_place = | other_names = | occupation = {{hlist|Film director|Film producer|Screenwriter}} | years_active = 2009{{endash}}present | spouse = | website = | footnotes = }}
'''Arun Vaidyanathan''' is an Indian-American film director who works predominantly in Tamil-language films. He directed his first full-length feature film in Tamil, ''Achchamundu! Achchamundu!'', which released in July 2009. He produced a Tamil romantic-comedy film, ''Kalyana Samayal Saadham'' in 2013.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rediff.com/movies/report/a-big-fat-indian-wedding-in-tamil-cinema/20121127.htm|title=A big fat Indian wedding in Tamil cinema|first=Shobha|last=Warrier|work=Rediff.com}}</ref> In 2014, he directed Mohanlal in a Malayalam-language political satire film, ''Peruchazhi''.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/underbelly-of-politics/article6217112.ece | title=Underbelly of politics | newspaper=The Hindu | date=17 July 2014 }}</ref>
==Early life and career== In 2008, he began working on his debut Tamil feature film, ''Achchamundu! Achchamundu!'' is a bilingual social thriller starring Prasanna, Sneha and John Shea. The film was shot in New Jersey and New York during early 2008 and subsequently released in 2009. The film premiered in New Jersey's Garden State Film Festival, and shared 'Best Homegrown Feature Film' award with Dorothy Lyman's ''Split Ends'' Ethaya Rajan along with Ananth Govindan produced an Indian Tamil romantic-comedy film written and directed by RS Prasanna, ''Kalyana Samayal Saadham''. It features Prasanna and Lekha Washington in lead roles, Krishnan Vasant and Arora as the cinematographer and music composer respectively. The film was covered as part of the TV series ''Born to Explore with'' Richard Wiese. Richard Wiese, who features in the show, in his interview with ''KSS'' director RS Prasanna, focused on two points – Indian weddings, their universal appeal, and the growing interest in stories and movies based in India<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.bollywoodlife.com/south-gossip/tamil-movie-kalyana-samayal-saadham-to-feature-in-us-tv-show/|title = Bollywood Life|date = 11 March 2013}}</ref>
He then directed ''Nibunan'' / ''Vismaya'', a bilingual film starring Arjun Sarja, Varalakshmi Sarathkumar, Prasanna, Sruthi Hariharan, Vaibhav Reddy, Suhasini Maniratnam and Suman.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/arun-vaidhyanathan-on-nibunanvismaya/article19159563.ece|title=Hit and (A)run|first=Subha J.|last=Rao|newspaper=The Hindu |date=28 June 2017}}</ref> Along with Anand Raghav, he has penned the dialogues and screenplay for the film which is being produced by Passion Film Factory who also produced ''Kappal'' (2014).<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/tamil/Arun-Vaidyanathan-Gears-Up-for-a-Tamil-Thriller/2015/10/27/article3098577.ece|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151107190551/http://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/tamil/Arun-Vaidyanathan-Gears-Up-for-a-Tamil-Thriller/2015/10/27/article3098577.ece|url-status = dead|archive-date = 7 November 2015|title = Vaidyanathan Cop Thriller}}</ref>
==Filmography== ===As a film director=== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! rowspan="2" style="width:35px;"| Year ! rowspan="2" style="width:200px;"| Film ! colspan="3" style="width:195px;"| Credited as ! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center; width:50px;"| Language ! rowspan="2" style="text-align:center; width:420px;" class="unsortable"|Notes |- ! style="width:65px;" | Director ! width=65 | Writer ! width=65 | Producer |- | 2009 || ''Achchamundu! Achchamundu!'' || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || Tamil<br />English || Shanghai International Film Festival- Official Selection <br />Garden State Film Festival – Best Homegrown Film <br />Chennai International Film Festival – Best Film <br />32nd Moscow International Film Festival – Official Selection <br />17th Minsk International Film Festival "Listapad" – Official Selection <br />33rd Cairo International Film Festival – Official Selection <br />International Film Festival of India- Official Selection <br />Asia-Pacific Film Festival – Official Selection |- | 2013 || ''Kalyana Samayal Saadham'' || {{no}} ||{{partial|Dialogues}} || {{yes}} || Tamil | Additional dialogues only |- | 2014 || ''Peruchazhi''|| {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{no}} || Malayalam || |- | rowspan="2" |2017 || ''Nibunan''|| {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || Tamil || rowspan="2" |Bilingual film |- | ''Vismaya'' || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || Kannada |- |2023 | ''Shot Boot Three'' || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} |Tamil||Also actor<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/calling-the-shots-director-arunachalam-vaidyanathan-on-shot-boot-three/article67372854.ece|title=Calling the shots: Director Arunachalam Vaidyanathan on 'Shot Boot Three'|first=Gopinath|last=Rajendran|newspaper=The Hindu |date=3 October 2023}}</ref> |- |}
=== As an actor === {| class="wikitable sortable" !Year !Title !Role !Notes |- | rowspan="3"| 2023 || ''Aneethi'' || || |- | ''Takkar'' || Vaidy || |- | ''Shot Boot Three'' || Dr. Shekar || |} ===Frequent collaborators=== {| class="wikitable sortable" ! scope="col" | Collaborator ! scope="col" | {{Ubl | ''Achchamundu! Achchamundu!'' | (2009)}} ! scope="col" | {{Ubl | ''Kalyana Samayal Saadham'' | (2013)}} ! scope="col" | {{Ubl | ''Peruchazhi'' | (2014)}} ! scope="col" | {{Ubl | ''Nibunan'' | (2017)}} ! scope="col" | {{Ubl | ''Shot Boot Three'' | (2023)}} |- | Prasanna | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | | {{ya}} | |- | Navin | | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | {{ya}} | |- | Delhi Ganesh | | {{ya}} | {{ya}} (Cameo) | | {{ya}} |- | Sneha | {{ya}} | | | | {{ya}} |- |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|2082582}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaidyanathan, Arun}} Category:Living people Category:American film directors of Indian descent Category:Tamil film directors Category:Tamil-language film directors Category:Tamil screenwriters Category:American male film actors Category:American Hindus Category:Malayalam film directors Category:Kannada film directors Category:English-language film directors Category:Indian emigrants to the United States Category:21st-century Indian people Category:People from Mayiladuthurai district Category:Screenwriters from Tamil Nadu Category:Film directors from Tamil Nadu Category:Year of birth missing (living people)