JK SARAVANA
Social Entrepreneur | Media Enthusiast | Motivator | Friend | Spiritual Traveller
JK Saravana (born 29th May 1981), the Chairman & Founder of the International Entertainment Powerhouse, Tantra Inc - Group of Companies, established since 2002 in Singapore.
He was thrust into International fame as the Co-Producer of his 1st Tamil Feature Film production, ‘Chennai 600028’ in 2007 & later as the Executive Producer of 'Chennai 600028 - II Innings' in 2017. As he began the production of the film at the age of 25, he is till today respected as the Youngest Tamil Film Producer of Kollywood.
JK Saravana is also a renown Director, Producer, Concert Organiser, Events Guru, Composer, Singer, Lyricist, Musician & Actor. His television production arm, Tantra Television is most sought after for its highly-rated series.
JK Saravana is also a respected Guruswami @ Spiritual Guide well versed in Sanatana Dharma and Swami Ayyappan. He is a servant to the Lord of Sabarimalai.
LIFE AS IT BEGAN...
The Beginning...
JK Saravana was exposed to the Film & Media scene at a tender age of 4. His parents Mr & Mrs Jamuna Krishnan (JK) were renown Singaporean Concert Organisers. They hold the pride of being the 1st to stage a concert with Maestro Ilayaraaja & Dr. Gangai Amaren in 1985. They went on to organising the biggest Tamil concerts in Singapore featuring the biggest Tamil Cinema Celebrities. At the age of 16, JK Saravana assumed the role of Executive Producer of the family Concert Business.
JK Saravana was educated in Anglo – Chinese Primary School, Anglo- Chinese School (Independent) & Anglo-Chinese Junior College. He is a true blue ACSian of 12 years of primary, secondary & junior college education from the Top Institutions. His maternal grandfather, George Suppiah (Govindasamy Suppiah), Asia's 1st FIFA World Cup Referee & an educator, was the 1st role model whom JK Saravana looked up to for guidance.
From the tender age of 4, JK Saravana formally trained in playing the Indian classical drum, Miruthangam, by Shri. Guruswamy & by Shri Thanjavoor Srinivasan in Chennai. JK Saravana later learned to play the guitar from his uncle, G Kaly.
During his school holidays, JK Saravana regularly visited Chennai and lived with the Family of Dr. Gangai Amaren, renown Film Director / Music Composer/ Lyricists / Producer. As JK Saravana was the only child of his family, Dr. Amaren’s sons, Venkat Prabhu and Prem Gi Amaren bonded as brothers. This bond grew as the years went on.
In 1998, his parents ventured into Bollywood. They organised the mega Shah Rukh Khan Concerts held in Singapore between 1998 to 2001. JK Saravana continued as Executive Producer of these concerts. From mind-blowing Bollywood Concerts featuring Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Kajol, Hrithik Roshan and Sushmita Sen, to Kollywood Musicals and Shows featuring Isai Gnani Ilaiyaraja, Gangai Amaren, S P Balasubramaniyam and the whole Kollywood Bandwagon of Cinema Stars, JK Saravana has done it all and has seen great heights of success! Together with his parents he has organised over 50 mega concerts.
In 2001, JK Saravana during his Military National Service in Singapore was introduced to the Singaporean Tamil television audience as the host of a popular infotainment magazine programme, ‘Neruppu’. He co-hosted a segment in this series with another popular host, Kokila. In 2002, he experienced behind the scenes of television production in Singapore for the 1st time. He worked as a Production Assistant under the supervision of veteran Producer, Manjula Balakrishnan on a telefilm, ‘Kabadi Kabadi’. It was directed by I Ahmed & produced by Think Entertainment.
On his Own...
With his prior extensive and intensive experiences in organising mega Bollywood & Kollywood Concerts with his parents Mr & Mrs Jamuna Krishnan, JK Saravana boldly went on to start his own events company, Art of Entertainment in 2002 with 4 close friends, Nanthakumar T, Mohamed Habib, Kashwinder Singh & Priya Thanarajan. As a team, they conquered the local birthday functions & events market.
At this juncture, they progressed to organize club events. They organized various successful & RnB, Bhangra events. During this period, an upcoming club, CHEEKY MONKEYS, in Mohd Sultan Road approached JK Saravana to organize events. The team went on to organize the biggest and craziest parties. Due to education commitments, the partners left the company and remain as advisors till today. JK Saravana too was preparing to pursue his Bachelor's Degree in Film & Television at the University of Southern California (USC).
WHEN LIFE THROWS LEMONS...
Tragedy. Life Changes Forever...
JK Saravana was met with tragedy in 2003 with the sudden passing of his mother. At the age of 21, he was left with the burden of a family debt of a few hundred thousand dollars and a family business ran by his mother, Ajantha – the Art of Beauty. His father too fell ill leaving him, the only child, to fend for himself and manage an unfamiliar business, a female beauty salon. Survival became tough. JK Saravana worked multiple jobs to make a living.
To make things worse the sudden passing of his mother & debts proved it impossible for him to accept his successful admission & pursue his Bachelors Degree in Film & Television in the University of Southern California (USC). He was resigned to remaining in Singapore. However, JK Saravana did not give up his media dreams. He was ever more determined to pursue his passion, film & television.
Intern to Producer...
JK Saravana approached a renown local Director of Photography, Shanmugavel Vinu, to work as his assistant to learn the craft. From an intern, he rose to become a Camera assistant / Gaffer / Grip / Live Sound Recordist. JK Saravana had also worked with another DOP, Anbu Aran for some projects.
I Ahmed recognised JK Saravana’s passion and entrusted him with 2 television projects as Producer. JK Saravana together with Kaushalyah Devi Orappan produced a telefilm, ‘Vidiyal’ and a kid’s variety musical series, ‘Sruthi’ for Think Entertainment. Both the programme and series went on to be critically acclaimed.
A Dream that Never Came Through...
Towards the end of 2003, JK Saravana met a team of likeminded aspiring filmmakers, SS Vikneswaran, Kaushalyah Orappan, Faizar Hussein, Saravana Kumaran (Muthu), Yogeswari Prasanth, Uma Sivaguru, Mohd Hanif, Kanagan, Syed, Alfaseeh, Rathinavel, Sherin, Nakeeran, Joanne Renuga, Mumtaz Maricar, Nanthakumar T, and several others. Together they embarked to produce Singapore’s 1st Tamil Feature Film, ‘Elamai Enbathu’. They spent a year and a half tirelessly on both creative and financial aspects. Unfortunately, they never received financial support to produce this film. The team disbanded towards the end leaving JK Saravana, SS Vikneswaran & Kaushalyah Orappan and a couple of others to step into a new career, Television Production.
TEAM AOE
At 'Elamai Enbathu' Film Launch in 2004!
Team AOE with His Excellency President of Singapore, SR Nathan & First Lady Urmila Nathan at Pradhana Vizha 2006 after winning the Best Drama Award!
AGAINST THE ODDS...
A New Beginning...
JK Saravana approached then MediaCorp TV12 to produce programmes. He was commissioned a Deepavali telefilm to produce. He produced with Kaushalyah and directed with SS Vikneswaran, ‘Chakra’, a socially revolutionary telefilm, went on to win the BEST DRAMA of 2004 at the MediaCorp Pradhana Vizha Annual Awards Ceremony. In 2004 Art of Entertainment was renamed Tantra Inc – Group of Companies.
Following the success of ‘Chakra’, JK Saravana was further commissioned to produce a Musical Variety Series. He produced and directed, ‘Planet Galatta – Semma Regalae’. This MTV styled trendy series turned out to become a generation-defining milestone series. Furthermore, it played a key role in introducing Internationally acclaimed Film director, Venkat Prabhu as a director & Prem Gi Amaren as a Music Composer.
With record-breaking ratings, Planet Galatta went on to win awards along with a demand for a second season, ‘Planet Galatta II – Adra Sakkae!’. The victorious run of both seasons of ‘Planet Galatta’ series spurred two pulsating and trend-setting Music Albums which went on to set records as the ‘Highest Selling Local Album’ in Singapore and Malaysia adding another feather to his cap.
Former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Viswa Sadasivan & FEG Al Bala were important mentors who helped mould JK Saravana in these initial years.
Becoming a Film Producer…
During the production of Planet Galatta, JK Saravana had discovered a brilliant director, Venkat Prabhu. With a childhood dream of producing a feature film togather, JK Saravana teamed up with SPB Charan, Son of SP Balasubramaniam, and produced ‘Chennai 600028’ with Venkat Prabhu as the Director. The film went on to become a mega international blockbuster and classic cult film of the generation. JK Saravana's trusted editors from his Planet Galatta Series, Praveen KL & Srikanth NB, were introduced to Indian Cinema through this film.
In 2007, following the release of his film JK Saravana married beautiful primary school teacher, Suneeta Kaur. In 2009 they were blessed with their purpose of life, their daughter, Sruthi Heera Saravana.
Unexpectedly, later in 2007, JK Saravana lost his father to a sudden heart attack too. Thereafter, his immediate aunt & uncle, Shamini G Suppiah & G Kaly, assumed the roles of parents in his life.
However, Tantra Inc grew to become a one-stop complete Media-Hub with 10 subsidiaries namely Tantra Films Television, Live, Studios, Animation, Comics, Advertising, Records, Online and Academy which cater to a wide range of media needs ranging from television, films, radio, music albums, events, advertising, animation and visual effects. With sophisticated production facilities, studios and high-end technicians, his companies services the media industries with world-class quality.
JK Saravana continued his contribution to the television industry by producing hit series one after another. Just to name some milestones, ‘Nilakanda’ – World’s 1st Tamil 3D Animation series, 7 season of ‘Enna Nadakkuthu’ and 4 seasons of ‘Uncle Taxi Series’– Infotainment series broke rating records and were established as the ‘Highest Rated Programmes’ in Singapore Tamil Television history. ‘Planet Galatta’ went on to have seasons 3 & 4.
JK Saravana redefined television programming genres of Travelogue, Variety, Infotainment, Info-educational, Talkshows and Docudramas forever.
MEMORIES OF CHENNAI 600028 FILM'S 100TH DAY CELEBRATIONS WITH SUPERSTAR RAJINIKANTH & ULAGANAYAGAN KAMAL HAASAN AS CHIEF GUESTS!
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CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!!!
Growing the Business Empire...
Having established his mark in the Tamil Media scene, JK Saravana went on to produce a Malay telefilm, ‘Raya Tak Raya’. It was the highest-rated drama in the last 8 years on MediaCorp Suria. Following the success, he was commissioned a series of ‘Raya Tak Raya 2’ the following year.
Apart from Television productions, JK Saravana also paved his way into the Advertising industry. Tantra Advertising has been the backbone of branding many MNCs, SMEs & Government Organisations. Tantra Advertising had also worked on the branding the revamped MediaCorpTV12’s Vasantham in 2008. Combining the power of his ever-youthful team at Tantra Inc, JK Saravana has managed to earn a much reputable and a rather ‘unique’ image among clients in the advertising sector.
His passion and dedication towards his work were acknowledged by DBS and SICCI in the year 2009. He won the Young Entrepreneur of 2009 Award from DBS and SICCI. He has also won the ‘Spirit of Enterprise Award 2010’. Singapore's leading lawyer, M Rajaram, remains the pillar behind JK Saravana as his Mentor and Godfather through all his successes.
Youngest Night Club Owner in Singapore…
After the passing of his mother in 2003, JK Saravana stayed away from the party and nightclub scene for almost 10 months. However, eventually, one evening as JK Saravana was walking past Cheeky Monkeys in Mohd Sultan Road, he was pleasantly surprised to see how it had grown from being a Bar to becoming Singapore’s 2nd biggest club.
One of the owners, Mdm Paula Joseph, was thrilled to see JK Saravana. She credited the growth of the club to JK Saravana’s hard work and promotions. She insisted that JK Saravana return to work for her. JK Saravana with the necessity to clear his parents’ debts and the overhead expenses of maintaining a team for the then ambitious film project ‘ Elamai Enbathu’, agreed to return to work as the manager of the club. Shortly, in a year, with Paula’s blessings, JK Saravana at 24 years of age became the owner of Cheeky Monkeys. JK Saravana built this business to new heights. He saw overwhelming profits which helped him clear his debts and produce his Tamil Feature Film, ‘Chennai 600028’.
In the following years, JK Saravana co-owned and operated an Asian restobar, ‘Cheekys Bistro’ & an Indian Dance Disco, ‘DeJaVu’ too.
The Future…
JK Saravana boasts the youngest team of professionals in Singapore till today. He has groomed numerous young individuals to the top posts within his organisation. Livingstone Paul Carter, Karthikeyan S & Kumaran Jothikumar are the capable few. Many others such as Shamini Loganathan, Khomala Lea, SHA Ali, Srinath Ramalingam, Anuradha Mathews, Jey Subramaniam, Nagharaj M, Leasha Sonam, Saravanan Ayyavoo, Vishnu M Anandh, MK and many others graduated from the informal media institution, Tantra Inc.
Today, along with his competent creative team, made up of Susheel BG, Chidhambaram S, Shatesh Kumar, Kannan S, Arib Sulthanul and others, JK Saravana continues to venture into Tamil, English and Malay International Film and Television markets as well. He continues to produce highly-rated television series for MediaCorp through Tantra Television. His recent Vasantham blockbuster drama series, Singa Airlines, was the World's 1st Airline Crime thriller themed drama series. The series is currently airing in Astro Malaysia.
JK Saravana at 39 years of age is guiding the leaders of the next generation and his young team to reach their new heights, own accolades and milestones.
JK Saravana pursued his passion in building new businesses by establishing a new company, Gaia Future Lab, which specialises in creating revolutionary Mobile Apps, websites & IT Services. Gaia recently launched Flixdaa.com, an international video streaming OTT Platform.
He has created a Preschool Education Syllabus for Tamil children, Tantra Vaanavil, which he launched in Singapore a couple of years back.
Together with his colleague, Susheel BG, he designs & owns a trendy youth t-shirt & apparel brand, TeeKadai.
JK Saravana & Tantra's Malaysian arm, Tantra Global (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd has commenced production of a big-budget Malay film, Rempuh. The feature film is directed by a leading Malay Director starring the Top Stars.
JK Saravana also has vested interests numerous other businesses.
SOCIAL CAUSES
Since 2014
WISH A SMILE FOUNDATION
JK Saravana is one of the founding members of Wish A Smile Foundation, a self-help charity foundation that reaches out to those who fall through the cracks of social help & society. The foundation has helped over 50 different causes since its formation in 2014. JK Saravana is the Honorary General Secretary of the Foundation.
Since 2015
#IKILLEDSUICIDE
JK Saravana also founded #IKilledSuicide, an anti-suicide movement to advocate life and help the silently suffering members of society. This movement has recently gained huge traction and support from members of public and many government organisations for its active work in spreading the message. This movement has since been adopted by Wish A Smile Foundation to further its reach.
EMPIRE & APPOINTMENT
Since May 2020
BOARD DIRECTOR
SINGAPORE INDIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (SICCI)
SICCI is the premier business association for Indian businesses in Singapore. With over 1000 members from all walks of trade and industry, SICCI serves as a connector, enabler, and advocator, helping companies grow both locally and internationally.
September 2014 to September 2016
MEMBER
TAMIL LANGUAGE LEARNING & PROMOTION COMMITTEE
The Tamil Language Learning and Promotion Committee (TLLPC) was set up in February 2006. It aims to elicit the support of Tamil community organizations in promoting the use of Tamil Language beyond the classrooms and to support the teaching and learning of the language in the schools. The Committee was Chaired by Minister S Iswaran.
Contact JK Saravana to discuss how he can make a professional mark on your business.
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
Over the years, JK Saravana received various awards and recognition. These 3 remain his crown jewels
SINGAPORE'S 3RD MOST POWERFUL MEDIA PERSONALITY
2008
Singapore's National English Newspaper, The Straits Times, named JK Saravana 3rd of the Top 25 Powerful Media Personalities in Singapore.
YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR
2009
DBS Bank & Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry
SPIRIT OF ENTERPRISE HONOREE
2010
Honour & Inspire - Award Winner
TELEVISION AWARDS
Pradhana Vizha is a prestigious Television Award Ceremony organised by the Singaporean Broadcaster MediaCorp Vasantham.
BEST DRAMA AWARD - CHAKRA
Pradhana Vizha 2004
BEST VARIETY SERIES - PLANET GALATTA
Pradhana Vizha 2007
BEST CHILDREN'S DRAMA - AKSHAYA
Pradhana Vizha 2009
BEST VARIETY SERIES - ENNA NADAKKUTHU?
Pradhana Vizha 2011
BEST INFOTAINMENT SERIES - UNCLE TAXI
Pradhana Vizha 2012
BEST VARIETY SERIES - ENNA NADAKKUTHU? S2
Pradhana Vizha 2012
BEST EDITING (INFO) - DUM DUM DUMEEL S2
Pradhana Vizha 2014
BEST EDITING (VARIETY) - ENNA NADAKKUTHU? S3
Pradhana Vizha 2014
BEST TALKSHOW - NETRU INDRU NAALAI
Pradhana Vizha 2018
PROFICIENCIES
What He Does Best!
MEDIA GURU
Only the Best
FILM & TV PRODUCTION
Outstanding Quality
BRANDING GURU
Truly Top-Notch
F&B ENTREPRENEUR
Life Long Passion
1998 - 1999
ANGLO-CHINESE JUNIOR COLLEGE
1994 - 1997
ANGLO-CHINESE SCHOOL (INDEPENDENT)
1988-1993
ANGLO-CHINESE PRIMARY SCHOOL
"Don't Despair over the darkness that is beyond your control. Instead, shine so brightly that the darkness is overwhelmed.
In God may we all find bliss!"
JK Saravana
LET'S CONNECT
He loves what he does and he will love to share it with you. Send him a message or connect via Social Media below. He will get back to you.
God Speed! Swamiyae Saranam Ayyappa!
Singapore