His first film,
Virumbugiren, was initially titled
Thithikkum Thee and was to feature
Murali in the lead role of a firefighter, but later
Prashanth was finalized for the lead role. The project, which also marked the debut of actress
Sneha, went through production troubles and released nearly two years after the launch, becoming Ganesan's second release. The film received four awards at the 2001
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, winning the
Best Director,
Best Actress and
Best Supporting Actress prizes, while also being adjudged as the
Best Film of the year. Ganesan then made
Five Star (2002), which happened to be his first release, due to the delay of his first project
Virumbugiren.
Five Star, produced by his mentor
Mani Ratnam under the banner
Madras Talkies, featured five newcomers in the title roles. The story focused on friendship, love with social awareness and a touch of human emotions. The film won him the
Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Storywriter. He then launched a film titled
Sakkarai with
Prashanth and
Reemma Sen in the lead roles in October 2004, but the film was subsequently postponed then shelved. In 2006, Ganesan made his third film
Thiruttu Payale. The film, which featured
Jeevan,
Sonia Agarwal and
Malavika in principal roles, emerged a
sleeper hit and ranked among the highest-grossing Tamil films of the year. It was named the
third Best Film of the year by the Tamil Nadu State Government and gave major breaks to the leading actors, with the performances of Jeevan and Malavika, in particular, being considerably appreciated. Then, Ganesan directed
Kanthaswamy. The film dealt with the disparity of rich and poor in Indian society, and it was reportedly the first South Indian film in that the protagonist, portrayed by
Vikram, conceived a
superhero character. The film had the biggest opening in the year 2009. Ganesan's next directed and produced the Hindi film,
Shortcut Romeo (2013), a remake of his 2006 film
Thiruttu Payale starring
Neil Nitin Mukesh and
Puja Gupta. After a long break from the Tamil film Industry, Susi Ganesan returned with a sequel to his film
Thiruttu Payale.
Thiruttu Payale 2 featured Bobby Simha, Prasanna and Amala Paul in lead roles. The movie was released in Nov 2017 and made an average collection. In 2018, Ganesan was accused by filmmaker
Leena Manimekalai during the
MeToo movement in India. Her accusation was supported by Amala Paul, whom Ganesan had worked with, in
Thiruttu Payale 2. In response, Ganesan filed a defamation suit against Manimekalai at the Saidapet Magistrate Court. ==Awards==