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 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.
Central Studios was an Indian film studio in the neighbourhood of Singanallur, Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, started by B.Rangaswamy Naidu and other prominent industrialists like Swamikannu Vincent of Coimbatore in 1935 to make Tamil and other South Indian language movies. The studio was a major hub of Tamil movie production and notable for its association with many early day Tamil Movie Superstars, directors and script writers etc. and many making their career debuts here. The studio is best remembered for movies like Sivakavi, Velaikari and Haridas.
Haridas is a 1944 Tamil language film directed by Sundar Rao Nadkarni and starring M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, T. R. Rajakumari and N. C. Vasanthakokilam.
Sri Murugan is a 1946 Indian Tamil-language film produced by Jupiter Pictures and directed by M. Somasundaram and V. S. Narayanan. The film featured Honnappa Bhagavathar in the lead role. M. G. Ramachandran performed a dance number, Shiva Thandavam along with K. Malathi in the film.
Ambikapathy is a 1937 Indian Tamil musical period film directed by American film director Ellis R. Dungan. It starred M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, M. R. Santhanalakshmi, Serugulathur Sama, T. S. Balaiya, N. S. Krishnan, T. A. Madhuram and P. G. Venkatesan. Ambikapathy is regarded as one of the greatest hits of pre-independence Tamil cinema. Ambikapathy, along with Chintamani were the greatest hits of 1937 and made critics regard Bhagavathar as the "first superstar of Tamil cinema". This was the first Tamil film to name a music director in its credits.
Sivakavi is a 1943 Indian Tamil-language film directed, initially, by P. K. Raja Sandow and later, S. M. Sriramulu Naidu. It starred M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, S. Jayalakshmi, Serukalathur Sama, Thirupurambal, T. R. Rajakumari, N. S. Krishnan and T. A. Mathuram. The film's screenplay was written by Thiru Muruga Kirubanandha Variyar. The film was shot at Central Studios and released by Pakshiraja Films in Coimbatore. The film was released on 10 April 1943.
Subburayulu Munuswami Subbaiah Naidu was an Indian composer, conductor, and orchestrator. He was one of the oldest music directors. He worked as an in-house music composer for Central Studios and Pakshiraja Studios and well associated with S. M. Sriramulu Naidu. SMS also worked with many films under Jupiter Pictures banner and a favorite of M. G. Ramachandran.
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.
Sundar Rao Nadkarni was an Indian film actor, editor, cinematographer, producer and director. He was the director of the first hit film for AVM productions Bhookails in Telugu in the year 1940, and later the record-creating Tamil film Haridas.
Shantha Sakku Bai is a 1939 Indian, Tamil-language film directed by Sundar Rao Nadkarni. The film featured K. Aswathamma, Banni Bai, K. Sarangapani, Kothamangalam Seenu, Kothamangalam Subbu in the main roles.
Manonmani is a 1942 Indian Tamil-language film directed by T. R. Sundaram. It starred P. U. Chinnappa, T. R. Rajakumari, Serukalathur Sama, T. S. Balaiah, T. R. Mahalingam, K. K. Perumal, A. Sakunthala, N. S. Krishnan, T. A. Madhuram, Kali N. Ratnam, L. Narayana Rao, S. S. Kokko, C. T. Rajakantham, P. R. Mangalam, P. G. Venkatesan, T. R. B. Rao, M. E. Madhavan, "Buffoon" Shanmugham, J. M. G. Sarada and G. Saraswathi. It is based on the 1892 play Manonmaneeyam by Sundaram Pillai. The film ran more than 25 weeks.
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.
Chowdasandra Honnappa Bhagavathar was an Indian theatre and film actor, producer, musician and singer. He was best known as a singer and as one of the pioneers of Kannada cinema. He was also active in Tamil cinema. Bhagvathar is known for bringing actress Saroja Devi into the industry. His son Bharath was also an actor who worked in Kannada films and serials.
Gunasagari is a 1953 Indian Kannada-language film directed by H. L. N. Simha and produced by AVM Productions. It stars Gubbi Veeranna, Honnappa Bhagavathar and Pandari Bai. The music was composed by R. Sudarshanam. The film was released in Tamil as Sathya Sodhanai. Malayalam actor Prem Nazir had a small role in this film which was his only Kannada film appearance. Rajasulochana made her debut with this film.
Pankajavalli is a 1947 Indian Tamil-language film written, produced and directed by S. Soundararajan. The music was by Papanasam Sivan. The film starred P. U. Chinnappa, T. R. Rajakumari and Kumari Rukmani. The film was basically the story of Alli, who dominates men in her kingdom and treats them like slaves. The film was inspired by the popular Kerala folktale Malayala Pankajavalli, which Ayyangar adapted.
Kubera Kuchela is a 1943 Indian Tamil-language Hindu mythological film directed by R. S. Mani and written by B. S. Ramaiah. The soundtrack was by Kunnakudi Venkatarama Iyer and background music by S. V. Venkat Raman. The film stars P. U. Chinnappa T. R. Rajakumari, D. Balasubramaniam and P. S. Govindan.
Sudharshan is a 1951 Indian Tamil-language film directed by A. S. A. Sami and Sundar Rao Nadkarni. The film stars P. U. Chinnappa and P. Kannamba. The story is based on a popular folk myth about a Panduranga devotee Gora who was a potter by trade. The same story was filmed simultaneously by Gemini Studios. The Gemini version Chakra Dhari was released early and due to unknown reason Sudharshan was delayed.
Krishna Vijayam is a 1950 Indian Tamil language film written and directed by Sundar Rao Nadkarni. The film featured Carnatic music singer N. C. Vasanthakokilam in the role of Narada. The film, based on the Epic story of Krishna avatar, featured later day playback singer A. L. Raghavan as the child Krishna. Adult Krishna was played by P. V. Narasimha Bharathi.
Gokuladasi is a 1948 Indian Tamil language film directed and produced by K. Subrahmanyam. The film stars C. Honnappa Bhagavathar and M. V. Rajamma, with T. R. Ramachandran, N. Krishnamurthi, Lalitha and Padmini playing supporting roles.
Bhaktha Jana is a 1948 Indian Tamil language film directed and produced by P. Pullaiah. The film featured C. Honnappa Bhagavathar, V. Nagayya and Santha Kumari with K. Sarangapani and B. R. Panthulu playing supporting roles.
