Anandan was interested in becoming a cameraman and joined as an assistant to C. J. Mohan, who was the cameraman for Kalaivanar. He conducted photography classes for him. Mohan appreciated the photos of Anandan and asked him to buy a
Rolliflex camera. After buying one, actor
Sivaji Ganesan was the first person whom he had captured on camera. Anandan worked as a news reporter for Film Chamber and his job was to collect details about the actors, producer, director of a film. Devarajan of the magazine
Film News once asked Anandan to take pictures for his magazine. When the pictures were published, credit in the magazine was given as "
Film News Anandan" and eventually the
pen name got prefixed to his name. Anandan noticed publicity stills of
Nadodi Mannan (1958) on film producer
R. M. Veerappan's office desk when he happened to visit the office of Em.Gee.Yar Pictures. He then offered to distribute them to the press. Veerappan agreed knowing that Anandan was then a member of the South Indian Film Journalists Association. After a few days, stills of the film were published in many magazines. M. G. Ramachandran, who was the director of
Nadodi Mannan, was impressed with Anandan's work and, at Veerappan's suggestion, hired him as the film's
public relations officer (PRO). This was Anandan's debut film as a PRO. In March 2016, just a few days before his death, Anandan revealed that his dream was to have a permanent exhibition on cinema. == Personal life ==