The History of Tamil Cinema
Tamil Cinema also referred to as the Kollywood film industry is over 93 years old has its birth in the year of 1916 and it has got bigger and bigger with lot of new actors and actresses joining tamil film industry and also it has grown a lot in terms of technology and finance. The Kollywood film industry is one the biggest film industries in india apart from Bollywood and tollywood. The orgin of the word “Kollywood” is from the word Kodambakkam, a region in Chennai which laid the roots for tamil cinema along with the word “Hollywood” which was grouped together as “Kollywood”.
A lot of actors have come in and gone out in its history and it still keeps growing in a fast pace. Tamil films are respected all over the world and are translated in various languages nowadays including English, French, Spanish, japaneese and more. Kanthaswamy, the recent Kanthaswamy has been dubbed in Spanish and Italian since it was shot in those countries and has been sold in USA box office also for a whopping amount.
The first theatre was established in Chennai during the year 1916 in which movies without voice (termed as pesumpadam) were released. The year 1916 marked the era of silent films in Tamilnadu, which is the predecessor of modern films. R. Natraja Mudaliar was the first producer, director and cinematographer for Tamil Cinema who was trained in London for cinema production. He made his first film Keechaka Vadham in 1917 which was the first feature film without any background voice that was made in Tamil.
The first talking film came into entry during the year 1931 with the superhit blockbuster Kalidas. The movie directed by H.M. Reddy was a superb historic epic and was produced by Ardeshar Irani and released in October 31. The actors were T.P.Rajalaxmi who was the heroine with lot of experience as stage artist and the film was a huge success in the box office.Kalavarishi directed by P.P. Rangachari was the 100% talking movie release in the year 1932.
After that a lot of directors and producers came to invest in tamil cinema entertainmentand lot of movies were produced. Seetha Kalyanam a movie was released by Prabath Film Company starring S. Rajam as Rama and his sister Lakshmi as seta in the movie.
The first tamil movie to be shot in Tamilnadu was Srinivasa Kalyanam. Lava Kusa was the most famous tamil talkie movie produced by S. Soundararaja Iyengar. This movie was big success as it had good dialogues and songs. Nandhanar was another movie which got good appreciation from audience and the hero gave K.B. Sundrambal who sang the songs in the movie and played the hero in the movie One Lakh which was a big big amount in those days.
Then comedy also began to mix in tamil movies with comedy track separately mixed in the end in movies like Mahatma Kabirda, Madayargal Sandhippu and lot more. Same movies were also released in different names.
P.U. Chinnappa was a famous actor who acted in films like ‘Aryamala’ (1941), ‘Kannagi’ (1942), ‘Manonmani’ (1942), ‘Kubera Kusela’ (1943), ‘Jagathalapradaban’ (1944) and all these movies were big hits in box office which made him a great star.
With lot of talkie films entering the tamil cinema, the scenario was changed. The history of Tamil cinema is very ancient and dates back to 1920s. M.K. Thiyagarja Bagavatha, P.U. Chinnapa, M. G. Ramachandran, Nambiar, Sivaji , Ashokan , N.T. Rama Rao were all famous actors in those days who got name and fame among the public by doing great roles in the silver screen. Modern actors like Kamal Hassan, Sarathkumar, Superstar Rajinikanth, AJithkumar, Surya, Madhavan, Siddharth have also enhanced the pride of tamil cinema by giving their valuable contributions. Actresses like Banumathi, Savithri, Saroja Devi, Meena, Roja, Ramba, Kushboo, Ramya Krishna, Trisha, Asin have also contributed greatly to Tamil cinema.
Tamil cinema can be divided into two broad categories, the one before 1950-70 and other after 1970 to this modern day. Lot of genre of tamil films have been produced including fiction, romance, science, comedy, action, sentiments and lot more. Lot of famous music directors like M.S. Vishwanathan, A.R. Rahman, Isaigani Illayraja, Harris Jeyaraj have produced quality music for making tamil movies a big success.
Some of the famous directors are, Natraja R. Mudaliar who made the movies like Keecha Vadham and Draupadi Vastrapaharanam. He had his own studio which was burnt in 1923 after which he retired. Another famous director was Raja P.K. Sandow who made the flick Nandhanar. T.P. Rajalakshi was a famous actress and she also directed movies. She learnt dance and music at a famous school. Her guru was Sankaradas Swamigal who is considered as the father of modern theatres. She directed the movie Miss Kamala and Madurai Veeran. Another famous director was Subramanyam Krishnaswamy who was born in Papanasam. He directed his first film Pavalakodi and also did the movie Balayogini which was big hit and said about the caste system. He made several movies like Seva Sadan in 1938, Mana Samrakshnam and lot more.He also made a movie Thiyagabhoomi which told about Gandhi.
T.R. Sundaram who made his debut with Sati Ahalya was a famous director and producer who made movies in Tamil as well as Malayalam. He made the movie Burma rani in 1944. He made the first color movie Alibabavum narpathu Thirudargalum in 1955 with M.G.R. in the lead role.
FAMOUS ACTORS IN TAMIL CINEMA
MAKKAL THILAGAM M.G.R:
M.G. Ramachandran, who is known for playing great roles and superb dialogues achieved a lot in Tamil cinema. He was born in 1917 and died in 1987. He made a lot of movies that changed the views of the society. His movie Nadodi mannan showed how a government should be and it was a great movie to watch. He became the Chief minister of tamilnadu during the year 1977 and served the country till his death in 1987. His movie Ulagam Suttrum Vazhiban was shot all over the world in placed like Honkkong, Singapore and the first movie to be shot abroad. His movies Enga Veetu Pillai, Adimai pen were all famous hits of all time. He received a lot of awards for his movies.
Sivaji was well-known for his excellent acting in lot of movie with superb expression of dialogues in movies. He made his debut in Kollywood through the movie Parasakthi in 1952, along with actress Pandari Bai, for which the script was written by chief minister Karunanidhi. He has acted in various majestic roles like Veerapandia Kattabomman, Emperor Sivaji and lot more. He won the best actor award in an international film festival titled the Afro-asian film festival which is held in Cairo, Egypt during 1959. He received various awards such as Padmashri in the 1966, Padma Bhusan(1984) and Kalaimamani during 1987.
KADAl MANNAN GEMINI GANESHAN:
Gemini ganeshan who is always referred to as Kadhal Mannan was the tamil actor to play lot of romantic roles in lot of movies. Ganeshan has acted in various box-office hits during his lifetime. He got the Padma Shri award during the year 1971. He married the film actress Savithri. He made his debut with the movie Miss Malini. Later he acted in the movie Chakravarthi, in which he played the role of Lord Krishna. He played a villain role in Thai Ullam which made his good name and fame among people during 1953. Later he starred as the hero in Manampol Mangalyam, in which he paired with Savithri who later became his wife.
SUPERSTAR RAJINIKANTH:
He is also a great philanthropist and serves public with his donations through the organization which he holds. He also has done some screen writing and produced some movies. He made his debut in the movie in Apoorva Ragangal which was released in the year 1975 by K. Balachander.
He starred in an English movie also titled Blood stone during the year 1988 which got good votes in India and abroad. He also starred in Bollywood movie Andha Kannoon but it did not get much support from the public. He is currently doing top budget movies like Endhiran, which the most expensive movie south India. He is the highest paid Indian actor with a salary of 26 crores for the movie Sivaji- the boss. He is next to Jackie Chan in Asia who Is the highest paid actor in Asia.
ULAGANAYAGAN KAMAL HASSAN:
Kamal Hassan known as Ulaganayagan was born in 1954 in Paramakudi, Madra. He is known for his excellent acting, script writing and he has also produced films on his own. He made his debut as a small kid starring in the movie Kalathur Kannama and was a very good child artiste. He then made his debut as a mature artist with Rajinikanth in the movie Apoorva Ragangal. He has learnt classical dance on his own and he is a good dancer. He acted in the movie Salangai Oli as a classical dancer which was big hit. He is also a lyricist and playback singer. He has sung several songs in his own movies like that of Aalavandhan, Anbe Sivam and also in other’s movie like Pudupettai and lot more… He has received a lot of awards including Film fare awards, Padmashri, Academy award for best Foreign language film, National film awards and lot more.
His movies like Nayagan (1987), Moondram Pirai (1982) were big hits and he is well known for superb acting in these movies.
ILLAYATHALAPATHY VIJAY:
Vijay the son of famous director Chandrasekar was born in 1974. He made his debuit with his father’s movie Nallaya Theerpu in 1992. He has acted in lot of romantic movies including Kadhalukku Mariyadha in 1997, Thullatha Manamaom Thullum, Priyamanvale, Kushi and lot more all of which were big success in box office. He made difference by acting in heroic roles like Ghilli, Pokkiri, Villu which were also good success. He starred in double action in the movie Azhagiya Tamizh magan which was not a big success. He received lot of awards including Film Fare award for the best actor.
He is currently working for the movie Vettaikran which is produced by AVM productions and is directed by Babu Sivan, which is his 49th movie.
Ultimate Star, Ajith Kumar, who is currently starring in the movie ASAL, was born in the year 1971. He appeared in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi movies and is also a professional racer. He made his debut with Telugu flick Prema Pustangam in the year 1992. His kollywood debut was Amaravathi which was not a big hit. Later he acted in the movie Aasai which was big hit. He then starred in Kadhal Kottai where he romances with Devayani which was a good love story which was a big success. He starred in double action for the movie Vaali during the year 1999 which was directed by S.J Suryah and this movie was a big success and he got filmfare award for best actor in this movie. He starred in action movies like Dheena, Amarkalam, Villian which were also big hits.
His movie Citizen which was a very good story made big gross in market. He lost his name in the middle by acting in movies like Jee, Attakasam and few of them which were big flops. Later he gained his name with movies like Varalaru in 2006 which was triple action role. His movie Billa directed by Vishnuvardhan with actresses like Nayanthara and Namitha made big success in box office in the year 2007. Now he is currently working with director Saran for his 49th movie ASAL which is about a gang war with Ajith as the underground Don.
TECHNOLOGY GROWTH IN TAMIL CINEMA:
1. M.Edwards was the first to screen a movie in South india at Victoria public hall, Chennai.
2. The Electric Theatre was introduced in 1900 which was built by Major Warwick in anna salai.
3. The first cinematography and touring cinema was formed in south india by Swamikannu Vincent in 1905. He made several short films on life history of jesus.
The first Indian owned cinema house in South India was built by R. Venkiah in 1914.It is still screening movies in same location.
4. 1916 S.M.Dharmalingam Mudaliyar and Nataraja Mudaliyar started the first film producing concern in South India at Chennai.Nataraja Mudaliyar made Keechavathanam the first feature film to be made in South India.
5. The pre-censorship of films was introduction in 1918 through the Indian cinematography act.
6. The film journal titled Movie Mirror was introduced in 1927 which was the first film magazine in Tamil cinema. The author was S.K. Vasagam.
7. The General Pictures Corporation was formed in Chennai during the year 1929, making it as entertainment spot for south India.
8. The first talkie movie was released in the year 1931, titled Kalidas in which T.P. Rajalakshmi played the lead role, which was a mix of Tamil and Telugu.
9. A. Narayananan, started the first Sound mixing studio in Chennai which was called Srivivasa Cinestone during the year 1934.
10. The first studio in Vellore was built by Vajravelu under the name Sundarabharathi Studio in the year 1935.
11. The movie Kausala, was released in the year 1935, which was the first movie made by South India Film Corporation.
12. The first tamil journal titled Cinema Ulagam was launched by P.S. Chettiar in the year 1935, who was the chief editior and publisher of the magazine.
13. The oldest studio in south India, the Modern Theatres was established in the year 1936. The first Tamil Talkie was released titled Miss Kamala which was directed by the first woman director T.P. Rajalakshmi.
14. The first tamil film to run more than a year in single cinema house was released titled “Chinthamani” during the year 1937.
15. The long documentary Mahatma Gandhi was released in 1940, and D.K. Pattamal sang the first play back song for the long documentary movie.
16. K. Ramnath formed the Cine Technicians of South India during the year 1940.
17. The movie Harishchandri , a tamil movie was dubbed into Kannadam by A.V. Meyyappa Chettiar, thus becoming the first dubbed film in south India.
18. The film Haridas was played continuously for 110 weeks in the theatre Broadway talkies in Chennai, during the year 1944.
19. The first Tamil film artiste, K.B. Sundhrambal who played the legendary role of Avvayiar was nominated to the Madras legislative council in 1951.
20. In 1952 India’s first International Film Festival was organised in Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta .
21. In The first movie in Tamil without any songs was released in 1954 titled Andha Naal.
22. In 1955 Kanavanne Kan Kanda Deivam, the first Tamil film to have some sequences in Geva colour, was released. This was the first partly colour movie in Tamil.
23. The first full-length colour movie was produced by Modern Theatres titled Allibabavum narpathu Thirdugargalum.
24. 1956 The Madras Film Society was formed by Ammu Swaminathan and
Rajammal Anantaraman.
25. The association of film artists, titled the Tamizh nadigar sangam was started in the year 1959.
26. The first Institute of Film Techonology in south India, was started in 1960 in Adyar, Chennai.
27. In 1967, Makkal Thilagam M.G.R won the election for the first time from Parangimalai Constituency.
28. The first cinemascope flick in Tamil Raja Raja Cholan was made in the year 1973 with Chevaliyar Sivaji Ganeshan in the lead role as king.
29. The first 3D movie in Tamil, titled Annai Bhoomi was made during the year 1985.
30. The first movie with 70mm view was released during the year 1986 which was titled Maveeran. Later Oomai vizhigal another movie was also released during the year 1985.
SOME OF THE FAMOUS TAMIL MOVIES OF ALL TIME……
While there are commercial films to entertain audiences, serious films are also being filmed to educate the masses while entertaining them. Tamil film industry has never backed away from experimenting. Even today it keeps on releasing films that surprise the audiences either with their theme or technology.
BALAYOGINI (1931):
This movie was directed by K. Subramanyam, with actors K. Vishwanathan, R. Balasaraswathi and Baby Roja playing lead role. It had a good moral stating about the difference between low-caste and high-caste people in the society.
AMBIKAPATHY: (1937)
This movie was directed by Ellis. R. Duncan and released in the year 1937. It had Thiyagarja Bhagavatha in lead role with N.S. Krishna, T.S. Baliah, Serukalthur Sama and P.R. Mangalam as additional cast. The movie was 11th century epic with Kambaramanyam as the theme behing and it was a big success.
THYAGABHOOMI: (1939)
This movie starring S.D. Subbulakshmi and PapanasamSivan along with Baby roja was released in the year 1939 and directed by K. Subramanyam. This movie is about great patriot Mahatma Gandhi, who faces the villager’s anger for giving support to Harijans, He leaves to the city with his daughter and faces a lot of problems but does service for the society.
NANDANAR (1941):
This movie was directed by Murugadasa, and had Dandapani Desikar and Narayana Rao in the lead roles. It is about a low-caste worker trying to worship in Chidambaram Temple and his raise as a famous saint.
CHANDRALEKHA (1948):
This movie was directed by S.S. Vasan with T.R. Rajakumari, M.K. Radha, Ranjan and Sundaribai playing lead roles. It is a spectacular dance drama and famous till today. It was in production for 5 years.
AVVAIYYAR (1953):
This wonderful movie was released in year 1985 directed by Kothamangalam Subbu, starring K.B. Sundrambal, Kushala Kumari , M.K. Radha and Gemini Ganeshan in the lead roles. The life of a saint Avvaiyar and the various miraculous happenings around her are portrayed beautifully in the movie. It is one of the most famous Bakthi movies of those times.
ALIBABAVUM 40 THIRUDARGALUM - FIRST COLOR MOVIE (1955):
Alibabavum 40 thirudargalum was the
First colour movie in Tamil. This movie had M.G. Ramachandran and Bhanumathi playing the lead role. The music for the movie was scored by Dhakshinamoorty. T (Tiruchengodu).R(Ramalinga).Sundaram produced the movie and it was a very big hit in those days. M.G.R did his next movie Nadodi Mannan also in colour.
KADALIKKA NERAMILLAI: (1964)
This movie with actor Ravichandran, Kanchana, Nagesh and Muthuram playing lead roles was an excellent romantic and comedy story taken in Ooty. It was directed by C.V. Sridhar. A person tries to marry his empoyer’s daughter and does some forgery for that.
ULAGAM SUTRUM VALIBAN: (1973)
The first movie to show different places around the world to tamil audience directed by M. G Ramachandran with himself in the lead role along with S.A. Ashokan and M.N. Nambiar playing lead roles. It’s about M.G.R being a scientist who discovers a weapon that could destroy the whole world if used negatively. M.G.R plays dual action and his brother rescues the formula for it from the villains. It was shot in Singapore, Thailand and Hongkong.
MURATTU KALAI: (1980)
Superstar Rajinikanth’s all-time big hit movie directed by S.P. Muthuraman, with rajini, Jaishankar and ashokan in the lead roles. The film had lot of action and fight scenes making rajini a famous actor. The song “Poduvaga En manasu Thangam” was a big hit in those days.
GENTLEMAN (1993):
Shankar who is a great director made his debut in kollywood through this mega action blockbuster with action king Arjun in the lead role. The film had a great theme where the actor supports free education for the society and it had good comedy track with Koundamani and senthil in the lead roles.
KADHALAN (1994):
Actor PrabuDeva and Nagama along with comedian Vadivelu made a big success with this Shankar’s romantic love story Kadhalan. The movie was a huge commercial success with lot of action, romance, dance, comedy and it was a superb movie to watch for teenagers. Prabhudeva does excellent dance and all the songs were a big hit in those days.
INDIAN (1996):
The next movie with a theme for the society by director Shankar with actors Kamal haasan, Goundamani and Senthil with Manisha Koirala and Urmila. The film was later released as Hindustani in Bollywood. It won National film award in 1997 and Kamal Hassan received the best actor award for this movie.
1998 - JEANS:
Shankars next block buster movie starring eternal beauty Aishwarya Rai along with Prashanth, Lakshmi, Nassar, Raju Sundaram, S.V.Sekhar, Senthil, Raadhika and Geetha. The story of Jeans is that of a disapproving father in the path of love. Jeans won the Filmfare Best Movie Award South in the year of its release.
1999 - MUDHALVAN: The film stars Arjun, Manisha Koirala and Raghuvaran. This film was a tremendous success at the box office and continued Shankar`s dream run. It won the Filmfare Best Movie Award South in the year of its release. It was also done in Hindi as Nayak.
2005 - ANNIYAN:
Anniyan was yet another hit movie from director Shankar with Vikram playing the role as split personality and this movie received a lot of appreciation from public. The film made a huge gross in box office and was produced with a whooping budget of 26.38 crores. The movie had a theme behind it and vikram played 3 roles in it including Ambi, Remo and as Anniyan all of which are the same character as split personality.
A lot of movies are getting produced in Tamil Cinema and new actors and actresses are entering the silver screens. Some new actors have made big success in the market and some of them have absolutely failed. Actors like Surya, Ajith, Vijay, Vikram top among the young generation actors making success in every film they act. Lot of good music directors like A.R. Rahman who recently won the Oscars for his music in Slumdog millionaire also makes Tamil Cinema Proud. Other famous music directors include Harris Jeyaraj, G.V. Prakash, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Bharadwaj and Vidyasagar. Good playback singers include S.P.Balachander, Susheela, Unni Krishnan, Hariharan, Chitra, Shankar Mahadevan and lot more.. Lot of technology enhancements has made Tamil Cinema a respected industry in India. Nowadays even technologies are imported from Hollywood. Now the recent movie Endhiram, starring superstar Rajinikanth has technicians from Hollywood working for it. Also, the movie Sulthan – the warrior is the first full animation movie in Tamil directed by his daughter Soundariya Rajinikanth.
Recent movies Yavarum Nalam, Achamundu Achamundu have been hosted in 12th Shangai International film Festival which is also a great pride for Tamil cinema.
So, Tamil Cinema is continuously growing both in quantity and quality with lot of new actors, new actresses, and new technicians making it biggest film industry in South India
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