History of Tamil Cinema – Episode 11

In this episode, we digress briefly to recap the highlights of the first 10 episodes in this series. For further details on what is presented in this summary, readers are advised to read the full article by clicking on the link.

The beginning: 1897 to 1936

1897  – Films first screened in South India.

1905  – Samikannu Vincent establishes the first Tent theatres in South India

1912 – First permanent cinema theatre (Gaiety Theatre in Mount Road) constructed by Raghupathy Venkiah Naidu

1915  – Formation of first South Indian Film production company

1916  – Establishment of South India’s first film studio

1916  – First Tamil movie (silent era) titled Keechaka Vadham

1930  – C.V. Raman (not the famous physicist) bought a property on the banks of the Adayar River to build a world-class film studio and production house. What began as Lalitha Cinetone would eventually become Sathya Studios – owned and managed by Dr M.G. Ramachandran.

1931 – First South Indian talkie with dialogue in Tamil and Telugu

1934 – Debut of Tamil cinema’s first superstar, M.K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar in the film Pavallakodi

1935 – Release of Alli Arjuna, the maiden production of A.V. Meiyappan, founder of AVM Productions and AVM Studios

1934  – The release of Srinivasa Kalyaanam, the first Tamil talkie to be filmed entirely in present day Chennai.

1935 – The release of the film Nandhanar, the first film of American filmmaker Ellis R Dungan where he was associate director to Manik Lal Tandon

Nandhanar marked the acting debut of Carnatic Singer K..B. Sundarambal. Through this film, she became the first South Indian star to earn one lakh for one film.

1936  – Release of Kuchela, featuring Tamil cinema’s first dual role – S,D, Subbalakshmi, wife of director K Subramaniam

1936 – Release of Sathi Leelavathy, the first film directed by Ellis R Dungan with M.K. Radha in the lead role. Making their debut in this film were M.G. Ramachandran, T.S. Balaiah, N.S. Krishnan and MV Mani. Dungan introduced the mobile camera through this film and the filming of schedules instead of chronologically. It also introduced the cabaret/dance feature in films and was the first film to demand strict discipline on set.

1936 – T.P. Rajalakshmi becomes the first female director in South Indian cinema when she wrote, produced, directed and starred in Miss Kamala. It was the first Tamil film to be based on a novel dealing with social issues.

1936  – T.K. Shanmugam – also known as Avvai Shanmugam – resumed publication of the first tabloid aimed at the film industry and initially started in 1934. He played a pivotal part in moulding Kamalhaasan as an actor, leading Kamalhaasan to pay homage to him by titling his film Avvai Shanmugi.

The formative years 1937 to 1942

1937  – The release of Balayogini, South India’s first children’s film.

1937  – The release of Sathi Ahalya, the first production of Modern Theatres

12 March 1937     – The release of South India’s first blockbuster success – Yaragupati Varada Rao’s Chinthamani which had M.K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar in the lead role

1937 – Tamil film debut of B.R. Panthulu in Raja Bhakthi

1937  – Ellis R Dungan directs the blockbuster movie, Ambikapathy with M.K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar in the lead role. This was the first Tamil film to name its music composer in the credits – Papanasam Sivan

1938  – M.K. Radha becomes a superstar in his third film, Anaadhai Penn. This film also marked the first major screen role for P.U. Chinnappa.

1938  – Lalitha Venkatram becomes the first playback singer after lending her voice to another actress in the film Nadakumar.The film was produced by A.V.Meiyappan.

1938  – Tamil acting debut of M.V. Rajamma who has an unusual record of acting opposite and playing the mother of four iconic South Indian actors – Sivaji Ganesan, MG Ramachandran, Dr Rajkumar and NT Rama Rao.

1939  – K Subramanyam’s directorial, Thyaga Bhoomi, becomes the first film in world cinema to publish on-location and on-set stills of the film as part of its marketing campaign. It also became the first and only Indian film to be banned by the British Government in India.

1940  – Kalamegam was directed by American directors Ellis R Dungan and William J Moyaln. It was the second film scripted by Bharathidasan

1940  – Ellis R Dungan’s Sakuntalai becomes the first film to use slow motion

1940 – P.U. Chinnappa becomes the first male actor to be featured in a dual role in the film Uthama Puthiran. The techniques used for the dual role became well known and set the tone for many successive films to employ the same technique.

1941  – Actor R Ranjan makes his acting debut in the M.K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar starrer Ashokkumar. The film also had M.G. Ramachandran playing the role of Mahendran.

1941  – N.S. Krishnan’s Chandrahari becomes Tamil cinema’s first spoof movie.

1941  – A.V. Meiyappan produces the first Tamil film to use farce. Titled Sabapathy, the film was co-directed by A.V. Meiyappan and A.T. Krishnaswamy

07 November 1942 – The film Manonmani marked the debut of music composer K.V. Mahadevan when he was 24 years old.

1942  -The film Kannagi becomes one of the biggest hits of its time, releasing on 110 screens. It was the first Tamil film to be based on the epic, Silapadhigaram.