He started his career with Poove Unakkaga, a Tamil romantic film starring Vijay and Sangita and was released in the year 1996.
Government Film and Television Training Institute, Chennai, he assisted senior cinematographer P. Selvakumar in the team of Aabavanan.
After watching his work in that film Director Vikraman called and offered him to do cinematography for his next venture titled Pudhiya Mannargal.
He then teamed up with director Suresh Krissna and did films like Aahaa..!, Auto Driver, Sangamam.
Saravanan has mentored some of the prominent cinematographers in the South Indian film industry, who had all assisted him including Vijay Milton,[4] R. Madhi,[5] Vetri[6] and Manoj Paramahamsa.