Seeman (politician)

Seeman was born in Aranaiyur, Tamil Nadu to Senthamizhan, member of Congress and Annammal in Aranaiyur, Tamil Nadu.[8][2] He studied in Government Primary School in Aranayur up to class 5th. He attended K.K. Ibrahim Ali High School from Class 6th to Class 10th and finished his class 11 and 12 in Ilayankudi. He completed his degree undergraduate economics at Zakir Hussain College in Ilayankudi.[8][2][1] Seeman has a brother named James Peter.[9][10] During his high school and college years, Seeman was enthralled with the ideals of the Dravidian movement. He moved to Chennai to pursue his dream of working in the film industry.[8]

Seeman took up film direction as a career after being inspired by the films of Bharathiraja and Manivannan. He worked as an assistant director with Bharathiraja and Manivannan.[8] Seeman started his career by directing Panchalankurichi (1996), a village action film starring Prabhu and Madhubala.[11] He collaborated with Prabhu again in Iniyavale (1998), a romantic film which also featured actresses Suvalakshmi, Gouthami and Keerthi Reddy. Seeman's third film was Veeranadai (2000) with Sathyaraj and Khushbu, which garnered mixed review from critics and underperformed commercially.[12] The failure of his initial films made it difficult for Seeman to attract producers to work on his next films. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, he worked on four other projects, Vaigai Karai Oram with Vijayakanth, Anandham with Karthik, Karma Veerar with Sarathkumar, and Sethupathi Cheemaiyile with Rajkiran, but all failed to develop beyond production.[13][14]

Seeman then made the village-based vigilante film, Thambi (2006), starring Madhavan in the titular role.[15][16] The film's production was briefly halted following a disagreement between the actor and director, after Seeman raised an objection to Madhavan returning to be with his family for the birth of his son.[17] The film opened to mixed reviews but performed well commercially.[18][19] His most recent directorial release, Vaazhthugal (2008), received negative reviews and performed poorly at the box office. A reviewer from Sify noted the "execution is tacky and the final outcome is a dreary and boring message film that leaves you exhausted."[20]

The failure of Vaazhthugal made it difficult for Seeman to find producers and actors to work on his other proposed projects, despite his interest in continuing work as a film director.[21] In the late 2000s, Seeman attempted to make a film titled Pagalavan with either Ajith Kumar or Madhavan starring, but was unsuccessful.[22] Seeman then hoped to make the film with Vikram for director Bala's production studio, but the venture did not materialise.[23] In mid-2010, producer Kalaipuli S. Dhanu agreed to finance the project, and Seeman held talks with Vijay to be a part of the film.[24][25] The actor later refused to work on the project, which prompted Seeman to speak out against Vijay.[26] In 2013, Seeman approached Jiiva, Jayam Ravi, Arya and Vishal to work on the project, but none of the actors agreed to be a part of the film.[26][27][28] In 2017, Seeman was in talks with Vijay Antony to feature in the lead role, and then with Silambarasan in 2018, but both actors later opted to prioritise other projects.[29][30] In 2017, Seeman announced another project titled Kobam with G. V. Prakash Kumar in the lead role. However, despite an announcement, the film failed to find producers and was stalled.[31][32]

Since the mid-2000s, Seeman has mostly worked as an actor. His notable roles including supporting characters in Pallikoodam (2007) and Evano Oruvan (2007).

Seeman has received threat letters for supporting Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).[33]

Seeman is married to Kayalvizhi, daughter of K. Kalimuthu, the former Speaker of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from the AIADMK party.[61] The ceremony was held according to Tamil traditions at the YMCA grounds in Nandanam, Chennai during September 2013.[62]

Actress Vijayalakshmi claimed that she was in a relationship with Seeman who she had met on the sets of Seeman's film Vaazhthugal during 2007.[63] In 2011, she filed a police complaint against him for cheating her.[64] The pair continued to engage in a public war of words throughout the 2010s, with Vijayalakshmi later attempting suicide in July 2020, blaming Seeman and his supporters for torture.[65][66] In 2011, Seeman publicly expressed his interest in marrying a Sri Lankan Tamil woman and chose Yarlmathy, a widow of a LTTE fighter, but later did not do so.[67]

In November 2009, while on a speaking tour in Canada, Seeman was arrested by the Canada Border Services Agency for giving a hate-filled incendiary speech at an event in Toronto. In the speech, he reportedly talked about restarting the civil war in Sri Lanka, and allegedly said "no Sinhala can live," going on to state that the LTTE should have bombed 100 Sinhala schools for every Tamil school which was attacked.[68]

While campaigning for Vikravandi assembly by-election, he declared that his party proudly declared the killing of an enemy (Rajiv Gandhi) for he had sent Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to Eelam that killed numerous Tamil people. This speech raised criticism from people of various political spectrum. Following this event many charges were booked against him by the police.[69][70][71]

The most controversial aspect of Seeman and his political party is that of ethnic purism arbitrarily based on caste lines. He claims the 'decline of Tamil people' is due to continuous rule of Tamil Nadu by 'Vandheris' (refers to outsiders or non Tamils especially Telugus based on caste and history of immigration) and only hope for Tamils is to elect "Real Tamilian" to power.[72] Although Seeman openly claims to be a supporter of Tamil Eelam and LTTE, the sincerity behind his proclaimed stance has been questioned multiple times. For example, an audio leak in 2019 confirmed the fact that Seeman opposed a pro-LTTE movie named Methagu despite the movie's well reception among Sri Lankan Tamils and Indian Tamils alike. In another leaked audio, he was caught using profanity against slain LTTE fighter Pottu Amman[73] In 2013, Seeman invited Kashmiri separatist leader Yaseen Malik for one of his public meetings and drew criticism [74]

In Feb 2023, during the Erode East Assembly constituency by-election campaign, when talking about the Vijaynagar kings capturing Tamil Nadu, he had mentioned "they brought members of the Arunthathiyar community to this region to do scavenging".[75] He received backlash and his comments also sparked protests by Arunthathiyar outfits. The Election Commission also issued a notice to NTK seeking an explanation. Seeman was also booked by the Karungalpalayam police, registering a case under three sections.[76]