Selvaraghavan is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor who has directed and acted predominantly Tamil films. His directorial debut had with Thulluvadho Ilamai (2002) but his father is credited for business reasons, which stars his brother Dhanush K. Raja, Selvaraghavan went on to make a series of romantic drama films with Kadhal Kondein (2003) (also starring Dhanush) and 7G Rainbow Colony (2004) before also venturing into coming-of-age films Pudhupettai (2006) and Mayakkam Enna (2011), both starring Dhanush. He has also ventured into making science fiction and fantasy films, such as depicting a fantasy Chola kingdom in Aayirathil Oruvan (2010) and a parallel universe in Irandam Ulagam (2013). He has been critically acclaimed for his directorial skills. He made his film acting debut in the hit film Beast. Early life Selvaraghavan was born to film director Kasthuri Raja and Vijayalakshmi. He has a brother, Dhanush, who is an actor, and two sisters, who are both doctors. In his youth, one of his eyes was removed after he developed retinal cancer. Personal life On 15 December 2006, he married actress Sonia Agarwal, with whom he had previously worked with on three films. After their two-year marriage, Sonia Agarwal and Selvaraghavan filed for divorce with mutual consent in a Chennai family court on 9 August 2009. Selvaraghavan married Gitanjali Raman on 19 June 2011, daughter of former Advocate General of Tamil Nadu P. S. Raman. Gitanjali had worked as his assistant director in Mayakkam Enna. The couple have a daughter named Leelavathi born on 20 January 2012, and a son born on 7 October 2013 named Omkar. The couple were blessed with their third child, a baby boy on 7 January 2021 who they named Rishikesh Career 2002–2004 Despite coming from a family from the film industry, Selvaraghavan and his sisters were persuaded by their parents to seek a career with an academic background. He subsequently went on to attain a BEng. in Mechanical Engineering, though his exam performances were unremarkable and he acknowledges he was "never going to become one of the best". During his studies, he engaged part-time in different career paths in a process he describes as "soul-searching", before finding satisfaction as a writer. After he graduated in 1997, he approached producers to fund his screenplay writing, but was unsuccessful and often remained at home as an unemployed graduate. His family faced financial pressures in the early 2000s with