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Sattanathapuram Venkataraman Shekher (born 26 December 1950) is an Indian actor, film director, screenwriter, politician and also a playwright in Tamil-language plays. In 2006, he was elected as an MLA for the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) from Mylapore. He is the founder of Federation of Brahmin associations of South India (FEBAS).

Personal life

Shekher was born in a tamil family to Sattanathapuram Venkataraman on 26 December 1950. He completed his diploma in Mechanical Engineering and post diploma in Air Conditioning and Refrigeration.

Shekher is married to Uma, who is the granddaughter of G. Ramanathan, a renowned Tamil film music director during 1950s. The couple have a daughter named Anuradha and a son named Ashwin who debuted in the Tamil movie Vegam.

Career

Shekher's stage career began in 1974 when he acted in his first stage play. He entered Kollywood as a still photographer for the film Mogham. Then, was spotted by director K. Balachander who provided him a role in the film Ninaithale Inikkum and later gave him a full-fledged role in his movie Varumayin Niram Sivappu.

Back in 1973, having been inspired by his journey, when part of the Singapore drama team and also part of a popular drama team by the name 'Mylapore Boys' which were in stiff competition with the Crazy troupe, led by Crazy Mohan, went on to start his troupe, Natakhapriya, that has staged about 24 plays. His drama troupe went on to perform around the globe; Europe, UAE, Singapore, Malaysia, United States of America and South America. He went on to feature in the Limca book of Records for having produced plays throughout the day, right from the morning, 7:47 A.M until the next morning, 1.49 A.M, which accounted for eight plays altogether, in the month of April, the year 1985. His play Adhirshtakaaran went on to be directed and produced into a film, Krishna Krishna, with him playing the lead himself. Shekhar did not just curtail himself to acting and performing but went on to write as well. He has released 32 books to date that contain his story and dialogue of all his stage plays. These books also include his jokes, his views; and answers to social topics put forth to him by his fans, which caused him to once again be mentioned in the Limca Book of Records. Shekhar went on to receive a doctorate for his Theatrical and Social services by the American Tamil University. Today he stands as one of those legendary playwrights who stand along with the members of drama troupes in the United States of America. After all the hard work he invested in his passion for theater, he went on to bag the 'Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram's Kalai Maamani Award' and the 'Best Drama Troupe' Award. Shekhar also won the Best All India Programme producer award for four consecutive years from the Radio and Television Advertisers and Producers Association – RAPA. He has not been acclaimed to be the 'Best Comedian' by just the Mylapore Academy, but also by celebrities such as Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth and A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. He was also acclaimed to be the same by Wisdom magazine. Shekhar has also bagged the award of Tamil Nadu's prestigious Kalaivanar Award.

In 2015, S. Ve. Shekher got appointed as one of the members of Central Board of Film Certification.

Politics

In 2006, he made an entry into politics by contesting and winning the Legislative Assembly Elections as an All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) candidate from Mylapore. He was expelled from AIADMK on 30 July 2009. He later joined the Indian National Congress. Shekher was also expelled from the party for working against the party's interests. He later joined the BJP.

He founded the Federation of Brahmin Associations of South India on 2009.

Accusations on journalists which led to protests

S Ve Shekher shared a post on Facebook in April 2018 which allegedly accused all women journalists in Tamil Nadu of sleeping around with the top bosses to get their jobs, when a female journalist complained against Banwarilal Purohit for patting her cheek at a press conference. The cyber-crime wing of the police filed a case under 'section 4' of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Women Harassment on the basis of a complaint from the journalists association.

A large number of journalists protested outside the BJP office, urging that the party to take action against Shekher. Later, a small number of journalists went to Shekhar's house and proceeded to protest, some were also arrested for throwing stones at his house. Various political leaders and journalists condemned his statements.

In May 2018, the High Court of Madras denied him anticipatory bail. The police had, however, stayed away from detaining Shekher, and even after the high court had refused the bail. He has been spotted in different functions with police security. He was later granted bail in June 2018.

2020 Case for controversial speech

On 3 August 2020, a complaint was registered against Shekher of trying to incite communal violence by making provocative statements in his Youtube channel, insulting the Indian national flag by giving it religious association and spreading misinformation against Chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami. This caused social condemnations with police complaint to be registered. In the video he criticized the Chief minister for opposing the three-language policy and for seeking action against those who draped saffron cloth on AIADMK founder M. G. Ramachandran. Chief Minister Palaniswami responded by saying that the ADMK party have no obligation to respond to his comments and he goes into hiding if a case if filed against him. The Central Crime Branch booked him under the National Honour Act of 1971. In September 2020, he was forced to apologize to the court unconditionally to consider for the police to not arrest.

Plays

Filmography

References

1. "Public (Election) Department || MLAs- TN Legislative Assembly 2006". www.elections.tn.gov.in. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
2. ^ "7% quota for Brahmins urged". The New Indian Express. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
3. "Exclusive biography of #SVShekhar and on his life". FilmiBeat. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
4. "Exclusive biography of #SVShekhar and on his life".
5. T. Saravanan (15 May 2013). "Jest for fun". The Hindu. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
6. "Kollywood Movie Actor S Ve Shekher Biography, News, Photos, Videos".
7. "S. Ve. Shekher in the new 9 member team of 'Central Board of Film Certification'". 20 January 2015.
8. "Actor-director Jeevitha inducted into Censor Board". The Hindu. 20 January 2015.
9. "AIADMK expels two of its MLAs". The Hindu. 30 July 2009.
10. "Actor-politician S Ve Shekher joins Congress". The Hindu. 6 February 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
11. "S Ve Shekher: Playing politics his own way". The Times of India. 10 February 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
12. "S.Ve. Shekher, Karate Thiagarajan expelled from Congress". The Hindu. 14 April 2011. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
13. TNN (22 April 2018). "Cops register case against S Ve Shekher, no arrest yet". The Times of India. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
14. Vasudevan, Lokpria (12 June 2018). "Court summons to Tamil Nadu BJP leader for defamatory post against women journalists". India Today. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
15. Rao, Manasa (18 April 2018). "S Ve Shekher booked for FB post, case against journos who pelted stones at his house". The News Minute. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
16. "Offensive comments on women journalists: Strict action sought against TN BJP leader". The Week. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
17. Scroll Staff (20 April 2018). "After TN governor pats journalist on cheek, BJP leader shares offensive post about women reporters". Scroll.in. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
18. S, Mohamed Imranullah (10 May 2018). "Madras High Court denies anticipatory bail to S.Ve. Shekher". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
19. "S Ve Shekhar granted bail in Facebook case". Deccan Chronicle. 21 June 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
20. "S.Ve. Shekher obtains bail". The Hindu. 21 June 2018. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
21. ^ "Complaint lodged against BJP leader S Ve Shekher for 'provocative' speech". The New Indian Express. 11 August 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
22. "FIR registered against Tamil Nadu BJP politician Shekhar for insulting national flag". The Week. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
23. "Complaint against BJP's S Ve Shekher for controversial remarks in video". The News Minute. 12 August 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
24. Correspondent, Legal (29 August 2020). "S.Ve. Shekher can be granted anticipatory bail". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 29 November 2020. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
25. "S.Ve Sekhar apologizes in court for disrespecting the Indian national flag – Tamil News". IndiaGlitz.com. 3 September 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.

External links

• Official website of S Ve Shekher

• Living people
• Indian male film actors
• Tamil male actors
• Tamil film directors
• Tamil screenwriters
• Tamil dramatists and playwrights
• Tamil comedians
• 1950 births
• All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam politicians
• Indian male comedians
• Indian male screenwriters
• Male actors from Tamil Nadu
• Indian actor-politicians
• 20th-century Indian male actors
• Indian male dramatists and playwrights
• 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights
• Dramatists and playwrights from Tamil Nadu
• 20th-century Indian male writers