"Punnagai Poo" Gheetha | |
|---|---|
| Born | Taiping, Perak, Malaysia |
| Other names | Geetha THR Raaga |
| Occupation(s) | Radio personality, host, film producer, actress finance |
| Years active | 2005–present |
Gheetha Ammasee, best known by her stage name "Punnagai Poo" Gheetha, is a Malaysian radio personality, film producer and actress, who works in Malaysia and the Tamil film industry in India. Gheetha gained popularity as a radio jockey at the Malaysian radio station THR Raaga, before launching her own film production studio and venturing into Tamil cinema, becoming recognized as the first female producer from Malaysia. She has also worked as a host for various events and acted in several kollywood films as well as a Malaysian film.
Gheetha Ammasee was born in an Indian Malaysian Tamil family in Taiping, Perak, Malaysia as the daughter of a plantation owner. [1] She started off as a host on the Malaysian television channel NTV7 on a show called Rhythm And Raaga, [2] [3] before starting her career as a radio jockey at the Malaysian Tamil radio station, THR Raaga. [4] She has been working at THR Raaga since its inception. [5] Besides her work in radio, she did hosting jobs, produced telefilms and opened her own advertising company called SG. [3] During her time at THR Raaga, she acquired the sobriquet "Punnagai Poo", which is Tamil for "smiling flower". [6]
Gheetha came to India and established a film production studio named SG Films to produce the film Arinthum Ariyamalum , directed by Vishnuvardhan, a family friend of hers. [2] She had to release the film on her own since distributors did not have faith in a foreign investor and woman producer. [3] The film became a commercial success, having collected twice its cost at the box office, [7] and ran for 175 days at theatres, while Gheetha got an entry in the Malaysian Book Of Records for being the "first female Tamil movie producer to have produced a Tamil movie in India". [8] [3] Gheetha next funded Kundakka Mandakka , a low-budget comedy flick with R. Parthipan and Vadivelu in the principal roles, through which she was able to introduce five Malaysians actors in Tamil cinema, [3] after which she and Vishnuvardhan decided to collaborate again on the director's next project, Pattiyal , [9] [10] which emerged a financial success, too. After Pattiyal, she took a break from Indian cinema and returned to her job in Malaysia. She co-hosted the Enthiran soundtrack release function held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia alongside actor Vivek in 2010. [11]
After a sabbatical of five years, she returned to film production with Narthagi , a drama about transgender people featuring all newcomers, in which she was also seen in a short role. [12] The next year, she produced the female-centric Oru Nadigaiyin Vaakkumoolam starring Sonia Agarwal, which featured Gheetha in a lengthier supporting role as a journalist, for which she shot for seven days. [3] She then took on her first lead role in the Malaysian Tamil film Maindhan. [13] Although she had played cameos and supporting roles in her earlier productions, she said that she was not "very much interested" in acting. [5] When director C. Kumaresan offered her the lead female role in Maindhan, she declined initially and went on to dodge Kumaresan for a week before he managed to convince her. [14] Playing an event manager in the film, [15] Gheetha also performed stunts by herself, getting injured in the process. Maindhan went on to become the highest grossing locally produced Tamil film of all time in Malaysia and saw a theatrical release in India as well; [16] Gheetha was later given the Edison Award in India for Best Overseas Artist. [14] [17]
She has co-produced two films, Sivappu along with Muktha Entertainment, a film revolving around Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu. [18] [19] and Kaaval , in which she also played the female lead for which Malaysian Book of Records gave her an award as the first Malaysian to play the lead in an Indian movie. [14] [20]
| Year | Film | Credited as | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Producer | Actor | Role | |||
| 2005 | Arinthum Ariyamalum |  | | A collector | Cameo appearance |
| Kundakka Mandakka | |  | — | ||
| 2006 | Pattiyal | | | Cameo appearance | |
| 2011 | Narthagi | | | ||
| 2012 | Oru Nadigaiyin Vaakkumoolam | | | Reeta | Cameo appearance |
| 2014 | Maindhan | | | Gayathri | Malaysian Tamil Movie |
| 2015 | Kaaval | | | Amrutha | |
| Sivappu | | | — | ||
| 2017 | Sangu Chakkaram | | | Angayarkanni | |
| 2021 | Naanum Single Thaan | | | — | |
| 2023 | Sila Nodigalil | | | ||
Jamshad Cethirakath, known by his stage name Arya, is an Indian actor and producer who predominantly appears in Tamil cinema and a few Malayalam and Telugu films. Arya has won two Filmfare Awards South and two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. He was included on the 2015 edition of the Forbes India Celebrity 100, a list based on the top earning Indian celebrities.
Arinthum Ariyamalum is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language crime action film written and directed by Vishnuvardhan. It stars Navdeep, Prakash Raj, and newcomers Arya and Sameksha, while Adithya, Sangili Murugan, Krishna, and Yog Japee play pivotal roles. The film's music was composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja. "Punnagai Poo" Gheetha, a RJ at a Malaysian radio station THR Raaga, produced the film.
Pattiyal (transl. List) is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language crime thriller film written and directed by Vishnuvardhan and produced by Punnagai Poo Gheetha. It stars Bharath, Arya, Pooja Umashankar, and Padmapriya Janakiraman while Cochin Haneefa and Santhana Bharathi play pivotal roles. The film tackles the issue of dons and was based on the 1999 Thai film Bangkok Dangerous.
Geetha is an Indian actress who appears in Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Hindi films. She debuted in the Tamil film Bairavi. Since then she has acted in over 200 films in all major South Indian languages, and in a few Hindi films. She also appears in South Indian television serials. Geetha has won two Filmfare Awards South and Kerala State Film Awards, Karnataka State Film Awards each.
Vishnuvardhan is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter who predominantly works in the Tamil cinema.
Billa is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Vishnuvardhan. It is a remake of the 1980 film of the same name starring Rajnikanth, which itself is a remake of 1978 Hindi film Don, starring Amithabh Bachchan. The film stars Ajith Kumar who plays a double role as an underworld don and his friendly look-alike alongside Nayanthara and Namitha, while Prabhu, Rahman, Adithya Menon, and Santhanam playing supporting roles. It is produced by L. Suresh and Abdurrahman M while featuring a score and soundtrack by Yuvan Shankar Raja, cinematography by Nirav Shah and editing by A. Sreekar Prasad.
Nirav Shah is an Indian cinematographer. He has worked on a number of major box office hits in Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam since his debut with the 2004 Hindi film Paisa Vasool.
Enthiran (transl. Robot) is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language science fiction action film co-written and directed by S. Shankar. It is the first installment in the Enthiran film series. The film stars Rajinikanth, who plays a dual role as a scientist and the robot alongside Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the lead roles with Danny Denzongpa, Santhanam and Karunas in supporting roles. The soundtrack album and background score were composed by A. R. Rahman while the dialogues, cinematography, editing and art direction were handled by Madhan Karky, R. Rathnavelu, Anthony and Sabu Cyril respectively. The story revolves around the struggle of a scientist named Vaseegaran to control his sophisticated android robot named Chitti, after Chitti's software is upgraded to give it the ability to comprehend and exhibit human emotions. The project backfires when Chitti falls in love with Vaseegaran's girlfriend Sana, and is manipulated by Vaseegaran's mentor Bohra into becoming homicidal.
Sarvam (transl. Everything) is a 2009 Indian Tamil-language romantic thriller film co-written and directed by Vishnuvardhan. It stars Arya and Trisha, while J. D. Chakravarthy, Prathap Pothan, and Indrajith play prominent supporting roles. The film, which had been under production since late 2006, was produced and distributed by K. Karunamoorthy and C. Arunpandian under the banner of Ayngaran International Films. It was filmed by Nirav Shah and edited by Sreekar Prasad. The film's soundtrack, composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, was released on 14 February 2009, coinciding with Valentine's Day.
Sasidharan known as Sasi is an Indian film director and screenwriter working primarily in Tamil cinema. He made his directorial debut with Sollamale in 1998, followed by a series of successful romance films like Roja Kootam (2002), Dishyum (2006), and Poo (2008). His first action film was Ainthu Ainthu Ainthu (2013), followed by Pichaikkaran (2016) and Sivappu Manjal Pachai (2019)
Krishna Kulasekaran credited as Krishna is an Indian actor who mainly appears in Tamil cinema. He is the younger brother of Tamil film director Vishnuvardhan.
Enthiran is the soundtrack album to the 2010 Tamil science fiction-action film of the same name, directed by S. Shankar and starring Rajinikanth and Aishwarya Rai. The soundtrack album includes seven tracks composed by A. R. Rahman and was released on 31 July 2010 by Think Music. The release coincided with a promotional event held at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Kaaval (transl. Police) is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Nagendran R., based on a true story and produced by Punnagai Poo Gheetha and Philip Sheetal. It stars Vimal, Samuthirakani and Punnagai Poo Gheetha. The film, which was initially titled Nee Yellam Nalla Varuvada, began production in 2013 and released on 26 June 2015
Sivappu (transl. Red) is a 2015 Indian Tamil language film directed by Sathyasiva and produced by Muktha Films and Punnagai Poo Gheetha. Evoking the plight of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in India, the film stars Rajkiran, Naveen Chandra and Rupa Manjari, with music composed by N. R. Raghunanthan.
Yatchan (transl. Wizard) is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film co written, co-produced and directed by Vishnuvardhan. The film was produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur under UTV Motion Pictures. The film features Arya, Kreshna, Swati Reddy, and Deepa Sannidhi in the lead roles, while Adil Hussain, RJ Balaji, Thambi Ramaiah, and Ponvannan play supporting roles. The music was composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja with cinematography by Om Prakash and editing by Sreekar Prasad. The film released on 11 September 2015 to negative reviews and bombed at the box office.
The making of local Tamil-language films its motherland of Tamil Nadu is actively growing in Malaysia. With the Tamil diaspora worldwide, there are many enthusiastic filmmakers who want to make their mark.
Maindhan (transl. Son) is a 2014 Tamil-language Malaysian action comedy film directed by C. Kumaresan, who also enacted the lead role. The film also stars Shaila, Gheetha, Rabbit Mac, Hanuman and THR Uthaya. Malaysia rapper Darkey made a special appearance. The film had a limited release on 8 August 2014 in Malaysia and Singapore, and was later released in Tamil Nadu. It gained acclaim from critics and also emerged as the highest grossing locally produced Tamil film of all time before getting beaten by Vedigundu Pasangge in 2018.
Narthaki (transl. Dancer) is a 2011 Tamil-language drama film written and directed by Vijayapadma and produced by Punnagai Poo Gheetha. Focusing on the issue of transgender people, the film stars Kalki Subramaniam, Vivin and Girish Karnad. Music for the film was composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar and the film opened to mixed reviews in May 2011.
Oru Nadigaiyin Vaakkumoolam is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language drama film, written and directed by Rajkrishna. The film stars Sonia Agarwal, with Kabil, Sathan, Urmila Unni, Rajkapoor, Kovai Sarala, and Ganja Karuppu in supporting roles. The music for the film was composed by Aathish with cinematography by Naga Krishnan and editing by B. S. Vasu. The film opened to negative reviews upon its released on 10 February 2012.
Naanum Single Thaan is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language comedy film directed by R. Gopi, starring Dinesh and Deepti Sati. It was produced by Jayakumar and Punnagai Poo Gheetha. It was released on 12 February 2021.