Popularly known as Simbu, this young man is also not an outsider to the world of Tamil films.

His father T Rajendran was one of the most prolific filmmakers in Tamil. He was also a one-man army -- doing the writing, editing, music, acting and direction in all his films. Simbu spent his childhood on the sets and started acting at a very tender age. He did 19 films as a child.

He called himself the 'little superstar' and started imitating Rajnikanth. His first film as an adult, Kathal Azhivathillai flopped. So also the films that followed. The criticism levelled against Simbu was that he copied Rajnikanth.

It was with Manmadhan that the actor finally arrived. Scripted by Simbu, the grapevine had it that he ghost-directed the film himself. It was a hit and for the first time, people saw him as an actor in his own right.

With Vallavan, Silambarasan, 25, officially arrived as a director. Like his father, he is a multidimensional personality, even having sung several songs. Industry sources compare him to Kamal Haasan because of his passion for films.