History of Tamil Cinema – Part 3
The first release for 1936 was the devotional film, Kuchela which had music composer Papanasam Sivan playing the lead role in addition to scoring the music. Director K. Subramaniam cast his wife, SD Subbulakshmi, in an unusual dual role – a first for Indian cinema. She played a male role – that of Lord Krishna […]
History of Tamil Cinema – Part 2
In Part 1 we discussed the pioneers of Indian Cinema and the progression from silent films to the release of the first film with sound in 1931. PK Nagalingam was renamed Raja Sandow after the German bodybuilder, Eugen Sandow, because of the former’s muscular build. He was the first director to introduce socio-political themes in […]
The Dhanush-Nayanthara Clash: A personal view
Whilst there had been an editorial decision by Sigaram to stay away from stories pertaining to the personal lives of the stars (including gossip), the events of the last week has necessitated a response, mainly because the current discussions on social media has hinged around a vague or no understanding of the facts. I will […]
History of Tamil Cinema – Part 1
Although Tamil cinema is said to have begun with the release of the 1931 film, Kalidas, it is more accurate to state that Kalidas was the first South Indian talkie. The film had dialogue in Tamil and Telugu and starred the renowned T.P. Rajalakshmi with P.G. Venketesan and LV Prasad (founder of Prasad Studios) Tamil […]
Interview with Nandhini JS
The growth and popularity of OTT platforms has led to the creation of new markets for good quality serials that go way beyond the soap operas of most Chennai-based TVchannels. I spoke to Nandhini, JS, a film director who made her big screen debut with the romantic comedy Thiru Thiru Thuru Thuru (2009) and was […]
Interview with Gautham Vasudev Menon
I got to chat to Gautham Vasudev Menon in the week in which he launched his first original song, Mutha Pitchai in which he sang the vocals to original music which he composed. In South Africa, the song went on to reach Number 1 on the Tamil top 20, a position it held for two […]
Why MR Radha shot MGR – A Quest for the Truth
On 12 January 1967 shortly after 16h00, actor MR Radha walked into MGR’s house and shot him at point blank range before turning the gun on himself in an attempted suicide. Miraculously, both survived, but the truth behind the curious incident has remained a mystery. There are many versions of the incident, but the truth […]
Musings of a film critic
Being a movie critic has its obvious perks, including watching all the latest movies, occasionally before the general public get to see them– but I often ask myself: Of what relevance really is the opinion of a film critic? How is the opinion of a film critic more important than any other film fan? I […]
ILLAIYARAJA – My personal journey through his music
Illaiyaraja was born Nyaana Desigan on 03 June 1943, was rechristened Daniel Rasaiya after his family converted to Christianity but he was an atheist when he was renamed Illaiyaraja in 1976 by Panju Arunajallam, the producer-writer-lyricist-director who introduced him to the film world through Annakilli. In a career that spans 48 years and more than 5000 songs […]
VADIVELU – His rise and fall
Those who have followed Vadivelu’s career would know that his was a slow and difficult climb to the top. Having entered the cine field when Goundamani and Sendhil reigned supreme, it was extremely difficult for him but he did succeed – some would say against all odds. What endeared him to audiences and the film world […]