81-526: K. S. Ravikumar (born 30 May 1958) is an Indian film director, film producer, screenwriter and actor who primarily works in Tamil cinema and few Telugu films . He is one of the most commercially successful directors of indian cinema. Ravikumar assisted various directors such as Bharathiraja , Vikraman , E. Ramdoss , Nagesh , Ramarajan and K. Rangaraj . Ravikumar worked as co-director on R. B. Choudary 's production Pudhu Vasantham directed by Vikraman and
162-937: A town or village to screen the films. The first of its kind was established in Madras , called "Edison's Grand Cinemamegaphone". This was due to the fact that electric carbons were used for motion picture projectors. Most of the films screened then were shorts made in the United States and Britain . In 1909, an Englishman, T. H. Huffton, founded Peninsular Film Services in Madras and produced some short films for local audiences. But soon, hour-long films, which narrated dramatic stories, then known as " drama films ", were imported. From 1912 onwards, feature films made in Bombay (now Mumbai ) were also screened in Madras. The era of short films had ended. The arrival of drama films firmly established cinema as
243-488: A Gurkha. Kasi and the appointed Gurkha duel and Indira comes to a conclusion that both of them are equally strong. A young boy is then appointed as a helper in Indira Devi's household. Meanwhile, Vedachalam's son, Ashok is a friend of Ishwarya from Germany and is in love with her. Vedachalam plans to use Ashok to usurp Indira's wealth by marrying her sister Ishwarya to Ashok. He reaches Indira's house to talk about engagement but
324-582: A decent market. Tamil films have enjoyed consistent popularity among populations in South East Asia . Since Chandralekha , Muthu was the second Tamil film to be dubbed into Japanese (as Mutu: Odoru Maharaja ) and grossed a record $ 1.6 million in 1998. In 2010, Enthiran grossed a record $ 4 million in North America. Many Tamil-language films have premiered or have been selected as special presentations at various film festivals across
405-518: A few months. Once it was demonstrated as a commercial proposition, a Western entrepreneur, Warwick Major, built the first cinema theatre , the Electric Theatre, which still stands. It was a favourite haunt of the British community in Madras. The theatre was shut down after a few years. This building is now part of a post office complex on Anna Salai ( Mount Road ). The Lyric Theatre was also built in
486-456: A follow-up film with Ajith Kumar in three roles from November 2004, after Villain' s success. Despite beginning production soon after the launch, financial problems meant that it progressed slowly and Varalaru , only had a theatrical release in late 2006. The film, however, won positive reviews and became the blockbuster hit for Ajith until that date. In between, he worked quickly on another action drama, Saravana (2006) with Silambarasan ,
567-635: A global presence, enjoying strong box office collections among Tamil-speaking audiences in Sri Lanka , Malaysia , and Singapore . Tamil films are also distributed throughout the Middle East , Oceania , Europe , North America , parts of Africa , and Japan . The industry also inspired independent filmmaking among Tamil diaspora populations in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, and the West . M. Edwards first screened
648-420: A grand exhibition was organised in Madras . Its major attraction was the screening of short films accompanied by sound. A British company imported a Crone megaphone , made up of a film projector to which a gramophone with a disc containing prerecorded sound was linked, and both were run in unison, producing picture and sound simultaneously. However, there was no synched dialogue . Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu ,
729-578: A highly sought after film maker in the Tamil film industry. Ravikumar then signed on to make Muthu (1995), adapting Priyadarshan 's Malayalam film Thenmavin Kombath , for a film produced by K. Balachander and starring Rajinikanth . Despite buying the official remake rights, he worked on his own screenplay, and the film consequently went on to gain "cult classic" status in India and Japan, as well as becoming one of
810-419: A long story of trying to locate his father. He does so by naming individuals using city names to confuse the listener and irritate them. He does this once to the policemen who chase him for unknown reasons. Kasi ends up in Indira Devi's house to escape the police and in turn sees goons threatening Indira Devi for money. Kasi fights them and saves the ladies, which Indira doesn't bring herself to appreciate. Indeed,
891-477: A mission. Priya overhears this but Kasi's family tells a secret to her and she vows to help them. Kasi slowly becomes Indira's trustworthy person and is elevated to be appointed as the factory manager. Indira starts respecting him. Ishwarya once appoints a man to work in the factory and Indira throws him out, reprimanding Ishwarya. As part of the plan, Kasi and Priya do a romantic dance infuriating Indira who fires them both. Before leaving, Kasi makes Indira to realise
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#1732908525092972-625: A negative review labelling that Vijay "is painful to watch and even worse to listen to", labelling it is "an exercise in how to waste a good movie". Ananda Vikatan rated the film 37 out of 100. Aurangazeb of Kalki panned the lengthy dialogues, poor flashback, performance of Vijay but praised the acting of other actors calling them as relief as they overshadow Vijay's acting. D. S. Ramanujam of The Hindu wrote, "Humour and veiled innuendos are second nature to director K. S. Ravikumar, who schemes bountiful fun-filled situations with his screenplay based on M. A. Kennedy's weather-beaten story of taming
1053-622: A permanent cinema house in Madras—Gaiety, in 1914, the first cinema house in Madras to be built by an Indian. He soon added two more, Crown Theatre in Mint and Globe (later called Roxy) in Purasawalkam . Swamikannu Vincent, who had built one of the first cinema halls of South India in Coimbatore , introduced the concept of "Tent Cinema" in which a tent was erected on a stretch of open land close to
1134-555: A popular entertainment form. More cinema houses came up in the city. Fascinated by this new entertainment form, an automobile dealer in the Thousand Lights area of Madras, R. Nataraja Mudaliyar , decided to venture into film production. After a few days' training in Pune with the cinematographer Stewart Smith, the official cinematographer of Lord Curzon 's 1903 Durbar, he started a film production concern in 1916. The man who truly laid
1215-492: A remake of the Telugu film Bhadra (2005). Ravikumar collaborated with Kamal Haasan again in the high-budget venture Dasavathaaram (2008), where the actor portrayed ten different roles. Revealing that the film was an action adventure, encompassing mankind's concern for the environment, science and faith, Dasavathaaram became Ravikumar's most expensive and lengthy shoot till date. The film opened to positive reviews and became
1296-455: A rich woman, who hates men". He also lauded Ashok Rajan's cinematography. K. N. Vijiyan of New Straits Times wrote, "Humour and the way Ravikumar narrates his story save this movie from being just another ordinary love story. Go for it for a fun time". Post-release, Minsara Kanna garnered attention after video recording equipment was found at Suriyan Theatre in Chennai which had been showing
1377-576: A selection of silent films at the Victoria Public Hall in Madras in 1897 during the British Raj . The selected films all featured non-fictional subjects; they were mostly photographed records of day-to-day events. The film scholar Stephen Hughes points out that within a few years there were regular ticketed shows in a hall in Pophams Broadway, started by one Mrs. Klug, but this lasted only for
1458-460: A standard deviation of ±10 lakh tickets during 2011–16. The Chennai film industry produced the first nationally distributed film across India in 1948 with Chandralekha . They have one of the widest overseas distribution, with large audience turnout from the Tamil diaspora . They are distributed to various parts of Asia, Africa, Western Europe, North America and Oceania. Many successful Tamil films have been remade by other film industries. It
1539-572: A studio, the first in south India, was set up in Madras at 10 Millers Road, Kilpauk. He called it the India Film Company. Rangavadivelu, an actor from Suguna Vilasa Sabha, a theatre company then, was hired to train the actors. Thirty-five days later, the first feature film made in south India, The Extermination of Keechakan / Keechakavatham , based on an episode from the Mahabharata , was released produced and directed by R. Nataraja, who established
1620-682: A successful photographer , took over the equipment after the exhibition and set up a tent cinema near the Madras High Court . With this equipment, he screened the short films Pearl Fish and Raja's Casket in the Victoria Public Hall. When this proved successful, he screened the films in a tent set up in Esplanade. These tent events were the true precursors of the cinema shows. Naidu travelled with this unit to Burma (now Myanmar ) and Sri Lanka , and when he had gathered enough money, he put up
1701-602: A turn when a woman, whose photo Devanathan had used to fool Indira as his deceased wife, is spotted by Indira. Kannan's plans are revealed and the group is arrested. Indira learns of Ishwarya's love and forces her marriage with Ashok. A fight between the Kannan, Krishna, Devanathan with Vedachalam's henchmen ensues. Indira threatens Ishwarya with her life, and Ishwarya locks herself in a room. Kannan gives up after Devanathan accuses Ishwarya of struggling between her love for Indira and Kannan. Ishwarya then tries to commit suicide. Kannan sings
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#17329085250921782-529: Is a 1999 Indian Tamil -language romantic comedy film directed by K. S. Ravikumar . The film stars Vijay , Khushbu , Rambha and Monica Castelino , with Manivannan , Mansoor Ali Khan , R. Sundarrajan , Karan and Kovai Sarala in supporting roles. The story is about how Vijay enters Khushbu's house and developing his romance towards Castelino, Khushbu's sister. Minsara Kanna was shot mostly Ooty , Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. The film has music composed by Deva and cinematography by Ashok Rajan. It
1863-471: Is chased away by Kasi. Ishwarya tells Indira that she is not in love with anyone, but Kasi doubts it. Later, a cook and his daughter are appointed in the house. It then is revealed that Kasi's real name is Kannan, the cook is his father Devanathan, the Gurkha is his elder brother Krishna, the server boy is his younger brother Vetri, the cook's daughter is Kannan's sister Bhavana. They have come to Indira's house with
1944-704: Is estimated by the Manorama Yearbook 2000 (a popular almanac) that over 5,000 Tamil films were produced in the 20th century. Tamil films have also been dubbed into other languages, thus reaching a much wider audience. There has been a growing presence of English in dialogue and songs in Chennai films. It is not uncommon to see movies that feature dialogue studded with English words and phrases, or even whole sentences. Some movies are also simultaneously made in two or three languages (either using subtitles or several soundtracks). Chennai's film composers have popularised their highly unique, syncretic style of film music across
2025-439: Is from Germany as well. He gets acquainted with Ishwarya and they fall in love. Ishwarya tries to commit suicide as she cannot live without Kannan nor live with him. When asked, she reveals about Indira Devi and her lover Indra Kumar. Indira worked as a tailor and lived in a hut with Ishwarya. Once, the hut catches fire and Indira, is unable to leave the hut as she becomes naked after her clothes catch fire. When men refuse to leave
2106-429: Is often considered a "film producer's delight" for his ability to stay within time and budget allotments. He made an exception for his quick paced schedules with Kamal Haasan 's Dasavathaaram (2008), indicating it was significantly more difficult to make than his previous ventures and involved extensive simultaneous CGI work to production. The shooting for Lingaa , one of the most expensive films in Tamil film history,
2187-431: Is well. The story and dialogue of Minsara Kanna were written by M. A. Kennedy, and the screenplay by K. S. Ravikumar . The film's title was derived from a song from Ravikumar's previous directorial Padayappa (1999). It remains the only collaboration to date between Ravikumar and Vijay , with the actor mentioning he was delighted with the pace and commitment that the director injected into production. Priya Gill
2268-738: The Central Board of Film Certification alone were eligible for tax exemption and those with an "A" certificate could not fit into this category. There are three major roles in the Tamil film value chain viz producer, distributor and exhibitor. The distributor purchases theatrical distribution rights from the producer for exhibiting the film in a defined territory. The distributor performs enhanced functions such as: There are three popular approaches to transfer of distribution rights via distribution contracts: There are four popular approaches to transfer of exhibition rights via exhibition contracts: Film studios in Chennai are bound by legislation, such as
2349-517: The FEFSI strike that took place at that time delayed the project. After the strike ended, Ravikumar was able to complete Arjun 's Kondattam and the successful drama with Sarath Kumar, Natpukkaga (1998). The film was further delayed when Ravikumar accepted to quickly remake Natpukkaga in Telugu as Sneham Kosam (1999) with Chiranjeevi in the lead. The shoot of Padayappa began in November 1998 and
2430-412: The Madras audience. The legendary Otraivadai drama theatre had been built in 1872 itself in Mint. Many drama halls had come up in the city where short silent films were screened in the afternoon and plays were enacted in the night. The scene changed in 1934 when Madras got its first sound studio. By this time, all the cinema houses in Madras had been wired for sound. Narayanan, who had been active during
2511-403: The Tamil -language only. This is in accordance with Government Order 72 passed on 22 July 2006. The first film to be released after the new Order was Unakkum Enakkum . The original title had been Something Something Unakkum Ennakkum , a half-English and a half-Tamil title. In July 2011, strict norms on entertainment tax were passed which stated that films which were given a "U" certificate by
K. S. Ravikumar - Misplaced Pages Continue
2592-483: The film projector and silent films from the Frenchman Du Pont and set up a business as film exhibitor . Soon, he tied up with Pathé , a well-known pioneering film-producing company, and imported projectors . This helped new cinema houses to sprout across the presidency . In later years, he produced talkies and also built a cinema in Coimbatore . To celebrate the event of King George V 's visit in 1909,
2673-588: The Cinematography Film Rules of 1948, the Cinematography Act of 1952, and the Copyright Act of 1957. In Tamil Nadu , cinema ticket prices are regulated by the government . Single screen theatres may charge a maximum of ₹ 50, while theatres with more than three screens may charge a maximum of ₹ 120 per ticket. Minsara Kanna Minsara Kanna ( transl. Electrifying man )
2754-503: The India Film Company Limited. Despite a century of increasing box office takings, Tamil cinema remains informal. Nevertheless, there are few exceptions like Modern Theatres, Gemini Studios , AVM and Sri Thenandal Films that survived beyond 100 productions. In 2017, opposing the dual taxation of GST (28%) and entertainment tax (30%), Tamilnadu Theatre Owners Association announced indefinite closure of all cinemas in
2835-601: The Mount Road area. This venue boasted a variety of events, including plays in English, Western classical music concerts, and ballroom dances . Silent films were also screened as an additional attraction. Swamikannu Vincent , a railway draftsman from Tiruchirapalli , became a travelling exhibitor in 1905. He showed short movies in a tent in Esplanade , near the present Parry's Corner, using carbide jet-burners for projection. He bought
2916-628: The Nehru Indoor Stadium marking the director's 25th year in the industry and was attended by several of Ravikumar's contemporaries and colleagues. Following the completion of Kochadaiiyaan , Ravikumar began work on a new venture titled Lingaa (2014) with Rajinikanth , rather than reviving Rana . Signing on Anushka Shetty and Sonakshi Sinha in other lead roles, production began in May 2014 and period scenes were shot around sets in Karnataka . The film
2997-418: The Telugu marital comedy Bava Nachadu and the family drama Samudhiram , in which he worked with Sarath Kumar again. In 2002, Ravikumar made a third collaboration with Kamal Haasan through the comedy drama Panchathanthiram , which was produced by his manager P. L. Thenappan . Telling the story of five friends and a trip to Bangalore which goes awry, the film opened to rave reviews and made profits at
3078-404: The actor would describe a detailed scene on how to make his core audience of "city-slickers" laugh during the making of Thenali (2000) and Panchatanthiram (2002), and then request Ravikumar to add a slapstick element to make it applicable to village audiences too. Ravikumar has also often collaborated with Sarath Kumar, who has since dedicated his success to the director's opportunities, with
3159-494: The box office. Villain (2002), his first film featuring Ajith Kumar , was shot swiftly within forty days and also became a blockbuster upon release. He later remade the film in Telugu in 2003 under the same name with Rajasekhar in the lead role, after finishing Paarai (2003), another village action film with Sarath Kumar . In 2004, he began production on a third film starring Rajinikanth titled Jaggubhai . Ravikumar spent six months on pre-production works and missed out on
3240-543: The constructed nature of their work so that the realistic narrative was wholly dominant, Indian filmmakers made no attempt to conceal the fact that what was shown on the screen was a creation, an illusion, a fiction. However, they demonstrated how this creation intersected with people's day-to-day lives in complex ways. By the end of the 1930s, the State of Madras legislature passed the Entertainment Tax Act 1939 . In 1916,
3321-572: The early cinema were the cultural influences of the country. The Tamil -language was the medium in which many plays and stories were written since the ages as early as the Cholas . They were highly stylised and nature of the spectacle was one which could attract the people. Along with this, music and dance were one of the main entertainment sources. There is a strong Indian tradition of narrating mythology, history, fairy tales and so on through song and dance. Whereas Hollywood filmmakers strove to conceal
K. S. Ravikumar - Misplaced Pages Continue
3402-479: The film meant that Ravikumar was able to expand his team of assistants and shortly after began work on a film under the same production house titled Pudhu Kaaviyam with Vikram in the lead role, though the venture was later shelved. He subsequently switched his genre of films to make a series of village action entertainers and regularly collaborated with actor Sarath Kumar , scoring successes with Cheran Pandiyan (1991) and Nattamai (1994), after which he became
3483-411: The film opened to below average reviews collections. He then completed the village action film Paattali (1999) with Sarath Kumar within a month, as well as directing a portion of the record-breaking comedy drama Suyamvaram , bringing his release count for the year to five. Ravikumar consequently worked on his first home production through the comedy film Thenali (2000), starring Kamal Haasan in
3564-471: The film underperformed at the box office, potentially due to the successful run of Padayappa . Despite this, audiographer G. Ravi won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Audiographer . The New Indian Express criticised Vijay's performance, saying comedy was not "his cup of tea" and that the "film drags on aimlessly" but praised Deva's soundtrack. Deccan Herald also gave the film
3645-497: The film was only released in January 2010, after a leaked copy had found itself online. He made a further collaboration with Kamal Haasan again in the romantic comedy Manmadan Ambu (2010), though the film opened to mixed reviews and collections. After he completed his work, he began production on his first Hindi film, adapting director Hari 's Tamil film Saamy (2003) in a venture titled Policegiri (2013) with Sanjay Dutt in
3726-506: The film. The equipment was found out to be a unit of a group known as Saravanas Video, who had been hired by a TV production company owned by K. Balachander . Vijay's father S. A. Chandrasekhar intervened, seized the equipment and alleged that Balachander was potentially involved in piracy activities. Balachander subsequently stepped down as president from the Film Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI), complaining that he
3807-553: The first Tamil film to win the National Film Award for Best Feature Film , the feat was repeated by Kanchivaram in 2007. Tamil films enjoy significant patronage in neighbouring Indian states like Kerala , Karnataka , Andhra Pradesh , Maharashtra , Gujarat and New Delhi . In Kerala and Karnataka the films are directly released in Tamil but in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh they are generally dubbed into Telugu where they have
3888-480: The foundations of Tamil cinema was A. Narayanan. After a few years in film distribution, he set up a production company in Madras, the General Pictures Corporation, popularly known as GPC. Beginning with The Faithful Wife / Dharmapathini (1929), GPC made about 24 feature films. GPC functioned as a film school and its alumni included names such as Sundara Rao Nadkarni and Jiten Banerji. The studio of GPC
3969-562: The globe, such as Mani Ratnam 's Kannathil Muthamittal (2002), Vasanthabalan 's Veyyil (2006) and Ameer Sultan 's Paruthiveeran (2007). Kanchivaram (2009) was selected to be premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival . Tamil films have been a part of films submitted by India for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language on eight occasions, next only to Hindi. Mani Ratnam's Nayakan (1987)
4050-466: The goons are sent by Vedachalam and he is arrested. Priya takes an instant liking for Kasi. In a turn of events, Indira Devi has no choice but to appoint Kasi as her driver, something that astonishes the female staffs. Indira's younger sister Ishwarya comes back from Germany after studies and is instantly at logger-heads with Kasi. Priya falls in love with Kasi. Once, a few goons stand on the compound wall and tease Ishwarya, prompting Indira Devi to consider
4131-411: The importance of men and women being together and how the society wrongly see single women, even if they are clean. Indira thinks about it and plans to arrange Ishwarya's wedding with Ashok. An overwhelmed Ashok runs to meet Ishwarya but is shocked to see her with Kasi aka Kannan instead. Considering Ashok as her best friend, Ishwarya tells Ashok about herself and Kannan. Kannan hails from a rich family and
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#17329085250924212-421: The lead actor, adding changes in the original plot line in order to blend it into the actor's image. Describing his collaborations with Rajinikanth , Ravikumar noted he ensured that each scene was discussed with the actor during the making of Padayappa (1999) and that Rajinikanth decided exactly where to place punch dialogues in order to attract audiences. Referring to his work with Kamal Haasan , he noted that
4293-407: The lead role. However, despite a high profile launch, production was troubled as a result of Dutt's impending arrest. Subsequently, the film was rushed with Ravikumar only able to use ten days of Dutt's forty-day schedule for the film, and the director noted he mentally prepared himself for the subsequent box office failure. In January 2014, a felicitation event titled Endrendrum Ravikumar was held at
4374-550: The lead role. The film have been successful in their industry. He later directed two Telugu actions films with Nandamuri Balakrishna in Jai Simha (2018) and Ruler (2019). He has since acted in several films and played the lead in Mathil (2021). Ravikumar's films are usually in the masala genre, with action, family sentiment, comedy, betrayal, revenge and redemption appearing as key themes. The decision against marking art films
4455-414: The love song, ‘Unn Per Solla Aasai Thaan’, prompting Ishwarya to come running towards Kannan, pushing Indira aside. Indira, disappointed, tries to commit suicide but Kannan saves her. He leaves Ishwarya with Indira. Learning of the true love between them, Indira goes to Germany with Ishwarya, ahead of Kannan's family and waits for them. Indra Kumar and Indira unite. Kannan and Ishwarya reunite as well, and all
4536-421: The male gender due to a tragic past. Some of the women who work in her estates and houses are married but hide this from her. She has a long standing rivalry with Vedachalam, another businessman in the town, who end up swindling his own wealth and reputation to sabotage Indira Devi, due to his assistants foolishness. The story shifts to Kasi, a young man who does any jobs that come to him for survival and cooks up
4617-514: The most commercially successful actors, directors and films of Indian cinema. By the end of the 1930s, the legislature of the State of Madras passed the Entertainment Tax Act of 1939. Madras (now Chennai), then became a secondary hub for Hindi cinema , other South Indian film industries, as well as for Sri Lankan cinema . Over the last quarter of the 20th century, Tamil films established
4698-455: The most profitable Tamil film of 2008, with Ravikumar's work garnering a Filmfare Best Tamil Director Award nomination. Aadhavan (2009) featuring Suriya and Nayantara was his next release, and it saw him return to his standard "commercial packaging" and the film performed well at the box office. His shelved venture, the family-drama Jaggubhai (2010), re-began shoot with Sarath Kumar and Shriya Saran in mid 2008 but delays meant that
4779-567: The most profitable Tamil films till date at release. Soon after he worked with Kamal Haasan for the first time in Avvai Shanmugi (1996), an Indian adaptation of the American comedy film, Mrs. Doubtfire . The film, also featuring Meena and Gemini Ganesan , won positive reviews and performed well at the box office. The Hindu praised the film claiming "turns out to be entertainer, mouthful from start to finish". The success of his two films with
4860-472: The opportunity to direct Kamal Haasan in Vasool Raja MBBS during the period, but the film was later shelved after a photo shoot. Rajinikanth had asked for changes to the script and after several months of tinkering, the pair decided to part ways and abandon the project. He moved on to make Aethiree (2004), a film about an imposter gangster with Madhavan , before agreeing terms with NIC Arts to make
4941-408: The pair working on several quickly shot village action films in the 1990s. Ravikumar's temper with technicians has often been described to be "constantly on the edge", with assistant directors often remarking that Ravikumar yells regularly on set to ensure the production team work more efficiently. Director Cheran revealed that during his stint as an assistant director, he fell out with Ravikumar and
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#17329085250925022-685: The premises due to them putting out fire, Indira gets trapped and her face is scarred due to the fire. She is recused and is refused by her lover who marries another woman, revealing that Indra Kumar only loved her beauty. Indira gets a great dislike for males after these incident and witnessing Ishwarya begging for food and shunned by men. She starts a feminist movement with her tailoring business and grows big in business. Ishwarya says that her sister would never approve her relationship and she too cannot oppose her sister. The family then plan to change Indira's mind. Ashok, having learnt of Kannan-Ishwarya true love, sacrifices his love, wishing them luck. Things take
5103-485: The script with his own story discussion team, away from his assistant directors, revealing that writing was "a personal process". However, for the production of Lingaa (2014), he revealed that the rush to finish the film by December 2014, meant he was unable to stay solely focused on the script and ventured out to help his assistants scout locations and arrange schedules. Ravikumar is renowned for his quick schedules and his prompt completion of films, with Sify noting he
5184-574: The silent era, founded Srinivasa Cinetone in which his wife worked as the sound recordist. Srinivasa Kalyanam (1934), directed by Narayanan, was the first sound film (talkie) produced in Madras. The second sound studio to come up in Madras was Vel Pictures, started by M. D. Rajan on Eldams Road in the Dunmore bungalow, which belonged to the Raja of Pithapuram . Before long, more sound studios came up. Thirty-six talkies were made in Madras in 1935. The main impacts of
5265-418: The state from 3 July 2017. The strike has been called off and the cinemas will be playing the movies starting Friday 7 July 2017. Government has formed a committee to decide on the existence of state's 30% entertainment tax. It was reported that, per day business loss during the strike was around ₹ 20 crores. Annual admissions in Chennai multiplexes and single screens averaged 1.1 crore tickets with
5346-451: The success of the film prompted the producer to give Ravikumar a chance to make his directorial debut. Ravikumar thus debuted as a film maker through Puriyaadha Pudhir (1990), a crime thriller starring Rahman and Raghuvaran . A remake of the Kannada film Tarka , the film won positive reviews upon release and remains as Ravikumar's only film outside the masala film genre. The success of
5427-406: The titular role. While his wife Karpagam produced the film under his home studio RK Celluloids, Ravikumar worked on the screenplay and direction for the film also starring Jayaram , Jyothika and Devayani . Completing the film swiftly despite avid publicity, Thenali won critical and commercial acclaim, prompting grand felicitations of the director at the success meet. In 2001, he had two releases;
5508-489: The two leading Tamil actors prompted further opportunities in big productions in 1997, notably Vijayakanth 's Dharma Chakkaram and the comedy Pistha featuring Karthik . In December 1997, Ravikumar announced his next project Padayappa (1999) would feature Rajinikanth again as the lead actor with Sivaji Ganesan also in a pivotal role. Though principal photography for the film was supposed to have started in April 1998,
5589-558: The world. Quite often, Tamil movies feature Madras Tamil , a colloquial version of Tamil spoken in Chennai . Keechaka Vadham (1918) was the first silent film made in South India . Kalidas (1931) was the first Tamil talkie film made in 1931. Kalava (1932) was the first full-length talkie made entirely in Tamil. Nandanar (1935) was the first film for American film director Ellis R. Dungan . Balayogini released in 1937
5670-773: Was a self-made decision, despite making his debut with a significantly different thriller in Puriyaadha Pudhir . Ravikumar has often associated with the same team of writers and assistants since his early career, with actor-director Ramesh Khanna being a near constant fixture in his team since a shelved venture titled Pudhu Kaaviyam was announced in 1990. Rather than considering his original storylines, Ravikumar has primarily gathered plots from other writers, refined them and adapted them into screenplays. He has also regularly associated with Erode Soundar in village action films, M. A. Kennedy in romantic comedies and Crazy Mohan in ventures featuring Kamal Haasan . Ravikumar often works on
5751-434: Was being harassed by Chandrasekhar. As a result, members of the film industry threatened to ban Vijay and Chandrasekhar from working on Tamil films. During the unofficial ban, actor Ajith Kumar notably spoke out in favour of Vijay. The parties later reconciled and Balachander withdrew his resignation. In February 2020, producer P. L. Thenappan , who bought the film's rights from K. R. Gangadharan , announced plans to sue
5832-408: Was completed in a period of 120 days, considerably shorter than any other film of equal budget or film starring Rajinikanth in recent times and opened to successful collections commercially. Prior to release, Ravikumar and his scriptwriter Ponkumaran, successfully evaded legal action from claims of plagiarism regarding the script. He has directed featuring Sudeep , Kotigobba 2 in Kannada language as
5913-619: Was completed within 120 days. The duration was significantly smaller than any other Tamil film of equal budget, as well as for any recent film starring a leading actor, such as Rajinikanth , in the main role. Ravikumar has also made cameo appearances in most of his directorial ventures, likening them to Alfred Hitchcock 's cameo appearances . Ravikumar has often chosen to work with established actors rather than newcomers, indicating that they are commercially more viable than newcomers, and are easier to handle them as they are more experienced. He has regularly worked on his scripts only after finalising
5994-436: Was considered to be first children's film of South India. It is estimated by the Manorama Yearbook 2000 (a popular almanac) that over 5,000 Tamil films were produced in the 20th century. Tamil films have also been dubbed into other languages, thus reaching a much wider audience. There has been a growing presence of English in dialogue and songs in Chennai films. In 1991, Marupakkam directed by K.S. Sethu Madhavan , became
6075-570: Was directed by R. Nataraja Mudaliar in 1918. The first Tamil talking feature film , Kalidas , a multilingual directed by H. M. Reddy was released on 31 October 1931, less than seven months after India's first talking motion picture Alam Ara . Tamil cinema has been noted for its advanced narratives and diverse films, with several productions in the 1990s and early 2000s cutting across ethnic and linguistic barriers. Such films include Roja (1992), Indian (1996), Pokkiri (2007), Enthiran (2010). Tamil cinema has since produced some of
6156-688: Was housed in the Chellapalli bungalow on Thiruvottiyur High Road in Madras. This company, which produced the most Tamil silent films, had branches in Colombo , Rangoon and Singapore . The Ways of Vishnu / Vishnu Leela , which R. Prakasa made in 1932, was the last silent film produced in Madras. The silent era of south Indian cinema has not been documented well. When the talkies appeared, film producers had to travel to Bombay or Calcutta to make films. Most films of this early period were celluloid versions of well-known stage plays. Company dramas were popular among
6237-545: Was included in Time magazine's "All-TIME" 100 best movies list. Average annual film output in Tamil film industry peaked in 1985. The Tamil film market accounts for approximately 0.1% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the state of Tamil Nadu . For the purpose of entertainment taxes, returns have to be filed by the exhibitors weekly (usually each Tuesday). The Government of Tamil Nadu made provisions for an entertainment tax exemption for Tamil films having titles in words from
6318-460: Was initially approached, before debutant Monica Castelino got the opportunity to feature. Actress Bhavana was signed on to play Vijay's sister in the film. Shooting took place in locations including Ooty , Austria, Germany, and Switzerland; a few scenes were shot in the Alps area. The soundtrack was composed by Deva . Minsara Kanna was released on 9 September 1999. According to Ravikumar,
6399-448: Was released on 9 September 1999 and performed averagely at the box office, but won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Audiographer . Indira Devi is a misandrist business tycoon based in Ooty. She lives in a mansion with her assistant and PA Priya. Indira Devi runs a garment business in which all of her employees are females, and even electricians are females. She has a strong dislike to
6480-419: Was subsequently completed in three months, with the film became a blockbuster upon release, as well as earning positive reviews from critics. Following the success of Padayappa , producer K. R. Gangadharan signed Ravikumar to direct a film and was insistent that the title should be Minsara Kanna (1999), after the popular song from Ravikumar's earlier film. His only collaboration with actor Vijay till date,
6561-495: Was subsequently left out of the team of Purusha Lakshanam (1993) after irking the director. (Chapter - 10 ) Tamil cinema Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language , the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu . It is nicknamed Kollywood , a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam , a neighbourhood in Chennai , and Hollywood . The first Tamil silent film , Keechaka Vadham ,
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