Santhana Bharathi is an Indian film director and actor who has primarily worked in Tamil cinema. He directed Gunaa (1991), which won third prize for the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film.^[1] He also directed Mahanadhi (1994), which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil^[2] and the Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize.^[3]

Bharathi's father M. R. Santhanam was an actor and producer, one of the earliest members of the Nadigar Sangam. His brother R. S. Shivaji was also an actor. Bharathi's son Sanjay Bharathi is also a director.^[4][5]

Santhana Bharathi joined director C. V. Sridhar as an assistant. Bharathi started his career with P. Vasu as a co-director and made films such as Panneer Pushpangal (1981), Madhu Malar (1981), Mella Pesungal (1983), Sahasame Jeevitham (1984) and Needhiyin Nizhal (1985). According to Vasu, "We compromised on certain things as we had different approaches to the subject. That's the reason why some of our other movies failed to make a big impression in the box office, prompting us to take our own paths".^[6]