Cheran initially made a breakthrough as a director by making village-based drama films focusing on human relationships, and achieved critical acclaim for his work in "Bharathi Kannamma" (1997) and "Porkkaalam" (1997). He later moved on to work on themes exploring how globalisation affects the Indian middle class, and told the story of scam job offers in "Vetri Kodi Kattu" (2000) and village-to-city emigration in "Pandavar Bhoomi" (2001). His most renowned film till date, "Autograph" (2004), is a semi-autobiographical tale of a man at four stage of his life. He later also experienced success with the family drama film "Thavamai Thavamirundhu" (2005) and as an actor in films such as "Pirivom Santhippom" (2008) and "Yuddham Sei" (2011).