Agathiyan, a director in his late forties entered films a decade back and struggled as an assistant to various directors. Hailing from a agriculturist family, he spent a happy-go-lucky time in college, and when he decided to pack his bags and come to Chennai to try his luck in films as a director, he lost his family's support. Struggling with no money, he did odd jobs in film companies and became an assistant to anyone who offered him food and shelter. He wrote story for Ramarajan starrer
Manasukketha Maharasa under the name Karunanidhi Santharam and initially directed a film called
Mangalyam Thanthunanena in 1991 and was credited as Ravi Thasan but it was unsuccessful.
Anbalaya Prabhakaran, who acted in that movie and also produces small budgeted films with new directors, gave Ahahtian his second break as a director with
Madhumathi, a teenage love story with new faces. The film was a big hit. He was back to where he started, but again fate had bigger things in store for him.
Sivasakthi Pandian, a film distributor turned producer, produced
Vaanmathi with Ajith and Swathi. The film was a hit. Next came
Kadhal Kottai from the same banner and Ahahtian became the toast of the industry. Offers poured in for films. In late 2014, he began work on an untitled project produced by
Bharathiraja starring Santhosh Prathap,
Oviya,
Vijayalakshmi and
Manoj Bharathiraja, but the film was later shelved. He has served as jury member at
57th National Film Awards. ==Personal life==