Festival Members
Senthil Kumaran Shanmugam (Program Director)
Senthil Kumaran Shanmugam is a filmmaker and cinematographer. He is primarily working in Independent films and Documentary films.
He has curated the films for the 14th Social Justice Film Festival 2022. He has made a documentary film (Parai – the untouchable music instrument) about South India’s oldest percussion drum and the issues faced by the people who are treated as “untouchables” by society for many centuries.
He has also worked as a sound designer for the film “Insha Allah” which won many international awards. Apart from these, he has worked as a cinematographer for many short films and documentary films.
Nikkil Murugan (Public Relation Director)
Nikkil Murugan is a leading publicist / public relations officer (PRO) based in Chennai and working predominantly in the Tamil film industry (referred to as Kollywood too!) that forms a bulk of the Cinema of South India and Cinema of India too. He has worked on more than 275 films in a short span and is noteworthy for his pioneering usage of technology in PR communications. With a strong presence on all social media platforms and a dedicated app of his own, his orchestration of publicity for his clients across all Indian media – Print, TV, and the Internet is extraordinary.
Nikkil is notable for his associations with superstars Kamal Hassan and Rajinikanth apart from all the big personalities and films in the Southern Industry since 1997. He has been conferred with ‘Best in the Industry by the weekly magazine India Today.
His first independent professional assignment as a publicist was Ullaasam, recommended by the director J.D. Jerry with whom he had worked with earlier in serials. Following the success, he worked on many other movies which include many Rajini hits too like Sivaji and Endhiran.
His association with filmmakers like Kamal Hassan, Shankar, and Mani Ratnam gave him nationwide recognition.