Chola Nadu was a region of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. It encompasses the lower reaches of the Kaveri River and its delta, and formed the cultural homeland and political base of the Chola Dynasty which ruled large parts of South India and parts of Sri Lanka between the 9th and 13th centuries CE. Uraiyur served as the early Chola capital, then medieval Cholas shifted to Thanjavur and later cholas king Rajendra Chola I moved the capital to Gangaikonda Cholapuram in Ariyalur in the 11th century CE.
Avvaiyar is a 1953 Indian Tamil-language historical drama film directed by Kothamangalam Subbu, and produced by S. S. Vasan. The film stars K. B. Sundarambal as the title character. It was released on 15 August 1953.
The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram, a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of Tamil Nadu, to recognise artists in the state for their achievements.
Thoguluva Meenatchi Iyengar Soundararajan, popularly known as TMS, was an Indian Carnatic musician and a playback singer in Tamil cinema for over six and a half decades. He lent his voice to actors and thespians in the Tamil film industry such as M. G. Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan, N. T. Rama Rao, Gemini Ganesan, S. S. Rajendran, Jaishankar, Ravichandran, A. V. M. Rajan, R. Muthuraman, Nagesh, Sivakumar, Kantha Rao, Rajkumar, Prem Nazir and A. Nageswara Rao. He also gave his voice to many new generation actors like Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Vijayakanth, Satyaraj, Rajesh, Prabhu, and Vijaya Kumar, in addition to other known and unknown heroes and supporting actors like M.R. Radha, K R Ramaswami, T. Rajendar, V.K. Ramaswami, Thengai Sreenivasan, M.N. Nambiar, Thangavelu, Y.G. Mahendran, R.S. Manohar, S.V. Ashokan, Ranjan, Narasimha Bharathi, Sahasra Namam, T S Balayya, Jagayya, Nagayya, Thyagarajan, Sreenath, Shankar etc. He sang over 10,138 songs from 3,162 films, including devotional, semi-classical, Carnatic, classical and light music songs. He gave classical concerts starting in 1943.
Sirkazhi Govindarajan was a leading vocalist in Carnatic Music and a leading playback singer of Indian cinema.
Dhaasippen, also Dhaasippenn, is a 1943 Tamil 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.
Enga Veettu Pillai is a 1965 Indian Tamil-language masala film written by Sakthi T. K. Krishnasamy and directed by Chanakya. A remake of his own 1964 Telugu film Ramudu Bheemudu, it stars M. G. Ramachandran and B. Saroja Devi, with S. V. Ranga Rao, M. N. Nambiar, Rathna and Pandari Bai in supporting roles. The film is about two identical but contrasting twins who were separated at birth, and what happens when they cross paths.
Karaikal Arunachalam Thangavelu popularly known as "Danaal Thangavelu", was an Indian actor and comedian popular in the 1950s to 1970s. Not known for physical, acrobatic comedy like his contemporaries J. P. Chandrababu and Nagesh, Thangavelu's humor is recognised for his impeccable timing in verbal agility and the characteristic twang of his delivery. He exclusively acted in Tamil films.
Thirunelveli Subramaniyan Balaiah was born in Sundankottai, near Udankudi in Thoothukudi. He is best known for playing supporting roles in Tamil films (Kollywood). He was introduced to the cine field by director Ellis R. Dungan in Sathi Leelavathi (1936), along with M. G. Ramachandran, N. S. Krishnan and M.K. Radha. He was one of the very few actors who excelled as a villain, as well as in character roles and comic roles.
Padmini Ramachandran was an Indian actress and trained Bharatanatyam dancer, who acted in over 250 Indian films. She acted in Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu and Russian language films. Padmini, with her elder sister Lalitha and her younger sister Ragini, were called the "Travancore sisters".
Miss Malini is a 1947 Indian Tamil-language satirical film written and directed by Kothamangalam Subbu and produced by K. Ramnoth, based on a story by R. K. Narayan. Subbu also starred in the film alongside Pushpavalli and M. S. Sundari Bai. Javar Seetharaman and Gemini Ganesan made their acting debuts in the film appearing in minor supporting roles. The film focuses on Malini (Pushpavalli), an impoverished woman who joins her actress friend Sundari's theatre company Kala Mandhiram and becomes a success. Things take a turn for the worse when she befriends a charlatan named Sampath.
Bhakta Nandanar is a 1935 Tamil-language film directed by Manik Lal Tandon. It marked the cinematic debut of the carnatic singer and stage artist K. B. Sundarambal. She was paid a then unprecedented ₹100,000 as salary for this film. This was also the first film for Ellis R. Dungan. No print of the film is known to survive, making it a lost film.
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.
Irumbu Thirai is a 1960 Indian Tamil-language film produced and directed by S. S. Vasan. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Vyjayanthimala, K. A. Thangavelu and B. Saroja Devi, with S. V. Ranga Rao, Pandari Bai and Vasundhara Devi in supporting roles. It is a remake of the Hindi film Paigham (1959). The soundtrack was composed by S. V. Venkatraman and the lyrics were written by Kothamangalam Subbu, Papanasam Sivan and Pattukkottai Kalyanasundaram. The editing was done by M. Umanath while the camera was handled by P. Elappa and N. C. Bala Krishna. The story revolves around the two brothers Manikam and Kondamuthu and their mill owner. The film was blockbuster, the highest-grossing film of the year and ran more than 175 days.
Sozhavanthan Varadharajan Venkatraman, also known as SVV, was an Indian actor, singer, and music director, who was active in the Indian film industry from 1938 to the 1970s.
Motor Sundaram Pillai is a 1966 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by S. S. Balan and written by Veppathur Kittoo. A remake of the Hindi film Grahasti (1963), itself based on the American film The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker (1959), the film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Ravichandran, Sowcar Janaki and Jayalalithaa. It revolves around a man who leads a double life, having two sets of families.
Vilaiyattu Pillai is a 1970 Indian Tamil-language film, directed by A. P. Nagarajan and produced by Gemini Studios. It is based on Kothamangalam Subbu's novel Rao Bahadur Singaram, which was serialised in the magazine Ananda Vikatan. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Padmini and Kanchana. It deals with the romance between a woman who raises a bull and a man who sets out to tame it.
A. G. Rathnamala was an Indian stage drama artist and playback singer who has recorded over 500 songs in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada language films.
Tanjavur R. Ramamoorthy was a vidwan in Indian classical music, playing Carnatic music on the mridangam, an ancient Indian percussion instrument. The mridangam is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music ensemble, and in the Dhrupad genre, where it is known as a pakhawaj.
