| Vedham Pudhithu Kannan | |
| Birth Date: | 18 April 1950 |
| Birth Place: | Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Nationality: | Indian |
| Occupation: | Film/Stage/TV writer, director, producer |
| Years Active: | 1978–present |
| Awards: | Kalaimamani[1] Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Dialogue Writer[2] |
K. Kannan popularly known as Vedham Pudhithu Kannan, is an Indian film/stage director, writer and producer who primarily works in Tamil cinema. At various stages of his career, Kannan had the privilege to be mentored by veteran directors Bharathiraja, S.P.Muthuraman and K. Balachander. Kannan is known for his penchant for embedding social reform messages in his stories,[3] and as of 2016 he had won Kalaimamani, Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Dialogue Writer,[4] Mylapore academy award for lifetime achievement among others.
Kannan began writing early, from his school years, having won in district level writing competitions. Subamuhurtham, directed by Raghu and produced under the banner of Indralayam paved the way to Kannan's entry into the Tamil film industry. His subsequent theatre drama, Jaathigal Illayadi Pappa was adopted into the film Vedham Pudhithu, directed by Bharathiraaja, for which Kannan penned the story and dialogue.[5] After the success of this film, Kannan became popularly known as Vedham Pudhithu Kannan. Later projects like Siva, Pagalil Pournami (1990), and Kaaval Geetham (1992) established Kannan as a prominent writer in the Tamil film Industry. From then on, he had collaborated in vast story and film-making discussions for various films.
He returned to stage plays with his longtime friend, T.V Varadarajan's troupe, United Visuals and staged 10 plays in the next 7 years. With the growing popularity of TV soap operas in Tamil satellite channels, he switched his concentration to TV. He has penned TV serials like Nimmadhi ungal Choice II & III, Jannal (Marabu Kavithaigal) and Sahaana. He wrote the script for Anni (directed by Samuthirakani), Akka (Telugu) among others.
In 2006, Kannan became a producer under the banner Ezhuthupattarai,[6] with his directorial debut Amirtham.[7]
Kannan wrote and directed these stage dramas: