Director Shankar First Movie |verified| May 2026

Looking back, Gentleman feels less like a debut and more like a mission statement. It wasn’t a perfect film—the comedy track is dated, and some stunts are clunky by today’s standards—but its confidence is staggering. Here was a first-time director who refused to think small.

Every Shankar film that followed— Indian (1996), Mudhalvan (1999), Enthiran (2010)—owes a debt to Gentleman . The high-gloss production values, the Robin Hood morality, the larger-than-life action sequences, and the obsession with technology all began here. director shankar first movie

The result was Gentleman , released in the summer of 1993. On the surface, Gentleman had a quintessentially ‘90s premise: a poor, honest college principal (played by the late, great Sarathkumar) leads a double life as a mysterious, hooded thief named "Gentleman," who steals from the corrupt rich to fund educational scholarships for the underprivileged. Meanwhile, a cunning cop (Goundamani in a rare serious-role-turned-comic-relief) tries to unmask him. Looking back, Gentleman feels less like a debut