Career
Vasanthabalan began his film career as an editing assistant and later became an assistant director to S.Shankar in the latter's directorial debut, Gentleman (1993). He continued to work under Shankar in three more films Kaadhalan (1994), Indian (1996) and Jeans (1998) before making his break as an independent director with the movie Album (2002). His second film, produced by Shankar's S Pictures, Veyil (2006) was both critically acclaimed and commercially successful. It was shown as the Indian representative at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. His next release, Angadi Theru (2010), showcased a romantic tale set in the famous Ranganathan Street in the city of Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The film won critical acclaim and was a commercial success as well. It was shortlisted for India's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 2012, he released Aravaan, a period film based on the novel Kaaval Kottam that reflects the life of people of South Tamil Nadu in the 18th century. Following that, he made the period drama Kaaviya Thalaivan (2014), which won critical acclaim.