B Saroja Devi Birthday Special
B. Saroja Devi is an actress with more than 200 films to her credit. She became the first female superstar of Kannada cinema, having made her acting debut at the age of 17 in national award winning Kannada film, Mahakavi Kalidasa. She made her Tamil debut in B.R. Panthulu’s 1957 film, Thangamalai Ragasiyam. Her career was […]
SP Charan Birthday Special
Charan is the son of the legendary SP Balasubramanyam. At the age of 10, he made his singing debut to films when he, together with his elder sister Pallavi, sang the introduction and chorus for the hit song Oh Nenje from Darling Darling. Charan had earlier recorded a song, Unakkoruthi, for the film Puniyavathi but […]
History of Tamil Cinema – Part 6
MK Radha MK Radha gains a fanatical following MK Radha had made a memorable acting debut in Sathi Leelvathi directed by American director Ellis R Dungan – a film which also saw the introduction of MG Ramachandran, NS Krishnan and TS Balaiah to the screen. MK Radha had moderate success with his second film, but […]
Jiiva turns 40 today
Amar Choudary, the youngest son of producer RB Choudary (Super Good Films), is better known by his screen, Jiiva. Born on 04 January 1984, Jiiva turns 40 today. After beginning his acting career as a child star, he made is adlt debut playing the lead role in his father’s 50th production, Aaasai Aasaiyaai. This film […]
Prabhu…Adapting to a new cine world
G. Prabhu, the son of the legendary Sivaji Ganesan, remains an under-utilised actor in Tamil cinema. Many know that he made his debut as a villain in Sivaji Ganesan’s 1981 film, Sangili, but few know that he was involved in film-making for much longer. His uncle, VC Guhanathan, convinced Sivaji Ganesan to allow Prabhu to […]
Vijayakanth: Tamil Nadu’s own Captain
On the first death anniversary of Vijayakanth – known to his fans and followers as “Captain”, Sigaram looks at his rise in Tamil cinema and Tamil politics against all odds. Vijayakanth’s real name is Vijayaraj Alagarswami. He was born in Madurai on 25 August 1952. From a young age, he showed a deep interest in […]
Remembering MGR
MG Ramachandran – widely known simply as MGR – was one of the most charismatic lead stars of Tamil Cinema. Together with Sivaji Ganesan and Gemini Ganesan, MG Ramachandran dominated Tamil cinema in its formative years. Bornin Kandy, Sri Lanka, on 17 January 1817, he was introduced to films through American film-maker Ellis R Dungan’s […]
Tamil Cinema and the elusive 1000-crore benchmark – Conclusion
Part 3 This is the conclusion to the article which is an opinion piece on why Tamil cinema has not managed a 1000-crore release to date. The effect of negative reviews A really good film ought to be impervious to negative reviews – it ought to have the resilience to withstand even the harshest criticism […]
History of Tamil Cinema – Part 5: Avvai Shanmugam
Sometimes, in the course of history, the names more documented and better connected earn a permanent place in books, while others – even those who have made significant contributions – are easily forgotten. One person in Tamil cinema history who is undervalued is T.K. Shanmugam. His direct contribution to films has not been properly recorded […]
Tamil Cinema and the elusive 1000-crore benchmark – Episode 2
Episode 1 looked at the current state of the Tamil Industry and provided a background to the question many have recently asked – Why has Tamil cinema failed to record a 1000-crore film? Episode 2 Presentation of Content: Political and Social Ideology Entertainment media could also be used a catalyst for social and political reform, […]