History of Tamil Cinema – Part 7

In this episode

• CV Raman – The Forgotten Pioneer
• The link between CV Raman and MGR
• The Tamil film that scored a first in world cinema
• Another hit for Tamil cinema’s first superstar

The colourful history of one of Tamil cinema’s most well-known studios

CV Raman (not to be confused with the Nobel Prize winner of the same name) is best known for founding a studio in Chennai on the banks of the Adayar River. It was initially called Lalitha Cinetone and changed hands many times before becoming Sathya Studios – owned and managed by MG Ramachandran.

In 1930, CV Raman saw the potential of the budding film industry and bought the property on behalf of another investor to develop it into a world-class film studio and production house, but the investor decided to pull out even before producing the first film. Raman then took over the premises as the owner, launching National Theaters Limited together with Kasi Chettiar and R Prakash as partners. Under this banner CV Raman successfully produced the 1932 film Vishnu Leela ­– directed by his partner R Prakash.

As this was still early days for cinema, Raman’s partners were unable to get anything back on their investment and withdrew. This forced Raman to launch his own production house, Meenakshi Cinetone. This project did not quite get off the ground and Raman then sold the premises to K. Subramaniyam who established Neptune Studios.

Subramaniyam was also part of another studio called Motion Picture Producers Combine (MPPC). This entity would later change hands to be bought by S.S. Vasan who rechristened the studio as Gemini Studios. It was this studio who produced Pavallakodi –which introduced MK Thyagaraja Bhagavathar to the screen.

K Subramaniyam’s Neptune Studios was then given the opportunity to take over another studio and placed these premises on sale. Consequently, this property was bought by MG Ramachandran who named it Sathya Studios Private Limited.

In 1996, the management of Sathya Studios decided to use the building to launch the Dr MGR Janaki College of Arts and Science for Women.

The colourful film career of CV Raman

CV Raman directed his first film, Athiroopa Amaravathi, in 1935 – a film produced by Sundaram Talkies, one of the many owners of the original Lalitha Cinetone established by Raman. Raman’s successful films, Siruthonda Nayanar (1935), Harijana Penn (1937) and Thenali Raman (1938) did not achieve much success.

It was with his fifth directorial –the 1939 film Ananda Ashramam – that he tasted his second box-office success. This film featured the comedy duo, NS Krishnan and TA Madhuram. The lead actress from this film – R.B. Lakshmidevi – was introduced by CV Raman during the silent era. In 1935 CV Raman’s cousin – A. Narayanan – cast her in the lead role of the 1934 film Srinivasa Kalyaanam – the first Tamil talkie to be made entirely in Madras (present day Chennai)

Thyaga Bhoomi records a first in world cinema

K Subramanyam, the last owner of Lalitha Cinetone before being purchased by MG Ramachandran, had a first for world cinema with his 1939 film, Thyaga Bhoomi.

The film was based on a novel by Kalki Krishnamurthy and directed by SS Vasan before he founded Gemini Studios.

The film, made at the height of the Anti-British movement became the first and only Indian film to be banned by the British government. However, the film ran for a full 22 weeks before the banning order was issued. After the ban, Krishnamurthy and Vasan continued to host free shows to the public at Chennai’s Gaiety theatre until the shows were forcefully and violently stopped by the Governor of Madras.

During the making of the film, Kalki serialised the story and published this in Ananda Vikatan magazine, purchased by SS Vasan in 1928. Together with the serialised story, they published on-location and on-set stills from Thyaga Bhoomi – which was a first for world cinema and made for excellent marketing of the film.

Thiruneelakantar – one of the biggest hits of 1939

Raja Sandow (spoken about in detail in this series) was the director of the film Thiruneelakantar – which had Tamil cinema’s first superstar, MK Thyagaraja Bhagavathar in the lead role. The film had a hit soundtrack by Papanasam Sivan, which included the iconic hit song (still popular today), Dheena Karunakaranaey The comedy duo NS Krishnan and TA Madhuram also contributed to the film’s success