Film producer and AGS Entertainment CEO Archana Kalpathi has been appointed as a member of a state-level committee constituted by the Tamil Nadu government to select eligible candidates for appointment as non-hereditary trustees to temples under the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department.
The committee has been formed to shortlist eligible applicants and prepare a panel of names for the appointment of non-hereditary trustees to temples with an annual income of more than Rs 10 lakh.
According to a government order, the seven-member panel will be headed by Thavathiru Sivagnana Balaya Swamigal of Bommapuram Adheenam, Mayilam. Dr K Ramnathan, a retired District and Sessions Judge, has been appointed as the vice-chairperson. Archana Kalpathi Aghoram is among the five members of the committee. The other members are retired IAS officer P R Sampath, Ma Sumathi alias Sumathisri and Tha Velmurugan. The HR&CE Commissioner will serve as the ex-officio member and secretary of the committee.
The appointment comes as the state government continues its process of appointing non-hereditary trustees to temples administered by the HR&CE Department. In July, the department invited applications for the appointment of trustees to thousands of temples across Tamil Nadu as part of the exercise.
Archana Kalpathi is the CEO and creative producer of AGS Entertainment, the production and distribution company founded by the Kalpathi brothers. She has been associated with several of the company's major film projects and is known for productions including Atlee's Bigil (2019), Pradeep Ranganathan's Love Today (2022) and Venkat Prabhu's The Greatest of All Time (2024), which starred Vijay.
An engineering graduate with a master's degree in computer science, Archana initially worked in the software business before entering the family-run entertainment venture. She has since played a prominent role in AGS Entertainment's film production and business operations.