Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi was an Indian Carnatic singer. She was the first musician ever to be awarded the Bharat Ratna - India's highest civilian honour, the first Indian musician to receive the Ramon Magsaysay award in 1974 and the first Indian to perform at the United Nations General Assembly in 1966.
Thiruvilaiyadal is a 1965 Indian Tamil-language Hindu mythological film written, directed and co-produced by A. P. Nagarajan. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Savitri, and K. B. Sundarambal, with T. S. Balaiah, R. Muthuraman, Nagesh, T. R. Mahalingam, K. Sarangapani, Devika, Manorama, and Nagarajan in supporting roles. K. V. Mahadevan composed the film's soundtrack and score, and Kannadasan and Sankaradas Swamigal wrote the song lyrics.
Dhaasippen, also Dhaasippenn is a 1943 Tamil-language film directed by Ellis R. Dungan and produced by Bhuvaneswai Pictures. The lead actors are T. R. Mahalingam and M. G. Ramachandran. The film was scored by Lalitha Venkatraman and S. Rajeswara Rao. The film has had three other titles: Jyothi Malar, Dasi Penn and Thumbai Mahatmyam, and Jothi Malar. The film is based on a folk tale about a girl becoming a devadasi and dedicating her life to worshipping Lord Shiva and refusing to follow the traditional path of marrying a man. Dhaasippen performed well and became a box office hit. But no print of the film is known to survive, making it a lost film.
Sakuntalai is a 1940 Indian Tamil-language film directed by Ellis R. Dungan and starring M. S. Subbulakshmi and G. N. Balasubramaniam.
Sevasadanam is a 1938 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by K. Subrahmanyam. It is one of the early Tamil films to be set in a contemporary social setting and to advocate reformist social policies. This was the first film for M. S. Subbulakshmi and the Tamil debut of Telugu actress S. Varalakshmi.
Sathi Leelavathi is a 1936 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by Ellis R. Dungan and written by Madras Kandaswamy Mudaliar. It is based on S. S. Vasan's novel of the same name, which had been serialised in 1934. M. K. Radha stars as Krishnamurthy, a man from Madras, who is lured into drinking alcohol by an acquaintance. Believing he murdered his friend in a drunken stupor, Krishnamurthy flees to Ceylon while his wife and daughter, played by M. R. Gnanambal and M. K. Mani respectively, are reduced to poverty. T. S. Balaiah, M. G. Ramachandran, M. V. Mani and P. Nammalvar appear in supporting roles.
Kalamegam is a 1940 Tamil-language film directed by Ellis R. Dungan and starring nadaswaram player T. N. Rajarathnam Pillai. This was the second film as script writer for the Tamil rationalist poet Bharathidasan. This was the only film in which Pillai acted in his life.
Sri Krishnarjuna Yuddhamu is a 1963 Indian Telugu-language Hindu mythological film, produced and directed by K. V. Reddy under the Jayanthi Pictures banner. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao and B. Saroja Devi, with music composed by Pendyala Nageswara Rao. The film was based on the Telugu play Gayopakhyanam written by Chilakamarti Lakshmi Narasimham in 1890. It was later dubbed into Kannada and into Tamil.
Gopalan Ramanathan was an Indian music composer for Tamil movies. He is also known as Isai Methai or Sangeetha Chakravarthy and is considered to be one of the influential Tamil music composers to take Carnatic music to the masses. Notable for his association with M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar. G. Ramanathan also composed for films of Salem Modern Theatres and Coimbatore Central Studios. His career lasted until his death in 1963. During the 1950s G.Ramanathan's music dominated most of the box office hits of the then leading Tamil movie stars Shivaji Ganesan and M. G. Ramachandran.
Tenkasi Vallinayagam Rathnam hailed from Tenkasi, Madras Presidency, British India. She was a playback singer for Tamil films.
Siva is a 1989 Indian Telugu-language crime action film directed by Ram Gopal Varma and produced by Akkineni Venkat and Yarlagadda Surendra under Annapurna Studios and SS Creations. The film, which marks the directorial debut of Ram Gopal Varma, explores the concepts of student exploitation by anti-social elements and the impact of crowd psychology.
Kalyanam Panniyum Brahmachari is a 1954 Indian Tamil-language comedy film, directed by P. Neelakantan and produced by B. R. Panthulu. The film stars T. R. Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan, Padmini and Ragini. It was released on 13 April 1954 and became a box office success.
Dasavatharam is a 1976 Indian Tamil-language Hindu mythological film, directed and written by K. S. Gopalakrishnan. The film, based on the Dashavatara of Vishnu, features an ensemble cast, including Ravikumar as Vishnu. It was released on 15 January 1976.
Shakthi Leelai is a 1972 Indian Tamil-language Hindu mythological film directed by T. R. Ramanna and written by Thuraiyur K. Moorthi. The film stars B. Saroja Devi, Gemini Ganeshan, Jayalalithaa, K. B. Sundarambal and K. R. Vijaya. It is noted for being the last multi-starrer mythological film. The music was provided by T. K. Ramamoorthy. It was a successful film on its release.
Shylock is a 1940 Indian Tamil-language film directed by Kinema Ramu and Serukalathur Sama and produced by Bharat Pictures. It is based on William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice, and features Sama as the title character. The film was released on 23 November 1940 and failed commercially. No print of it is known to survive, making it a lost film.
Mullaivanam is a 1955 Indian Tamil language film produced and directed by V. Krishnan. The film stars Sriram and Kumari Rukmini.
Thirumanam (transl. Marriage) is a 1958 Indian Tamil-language romance film directed by A. Bhimsingh, and produced and written by Valampuri Somanathan. The film stars Gemini Ganesan and Savitri. It revolves around a singer who does not sing for money, believing there is a curse upon him that if he did so, he would die.
Bama Vijayam is a 1934 Indian Tamil-language film directed by Manik Lal Tandon. The film featured G. N. Balasubramaniam who made his debut in Tamil cinema, M. R. Krishnamurthi, P. S. Ratna Bai and P. S. Saraswathi Bai in the leading roles. P. S. Ratna Bai and P. S. Saraswathi Bai are well known as Palayamkottai Sisters.
Subhadra Parinayam is a 1935 Indian Tamil language film produced by Samikannu Vincent and directed by Profulla Ghosh. The film featured S. V. Subbaiah Bhagavathar and T. S. Velammal in the lead roles while the comedy track featured Buffoon Shanmugam, Karaikudi Ganesha Iyer and others.
Sri Aandal is a 1948 Indian Tamil-language Hindu mythological film directed by Velsamy Kavi. Based on Andal, it stars U. R. Jeevarathnam as the title character and P. S. Govindan. The film was reasonably successful, but no print of it is known to survive, making it a lost film.
