S M Raju's directorial debut film Varnam released in October 2011 all across Tamil Nadu, India. The critically acclaimed film was the official selection of the London Asian Film Festival 2011, Montreal World Film festival 2011, Chennai International Film Festival 2011, Norway Tamil Film Festival 2012, Newyork Indian Film Festival 2012 and the Roxbury International Film Festival 2012.

Varnam was awarded the best film on social issues at the Norway Tamil Film Festival.

He was also the executive producer of the malayalam film Anandabhadram that won multiple Kerala state awards and multiple Kerala Critics association award including the Best Picture award. He has also produced a number of TV shows as part of Yantra Media in Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada. He was the creative producer of educational videos on life skill topics for the children in government schools in Tamilnadu.