Subramaniam Srinivasan

Subramaniam Srinivasan
Born	(1903-03-10)March 10, 1903 Thiruthuraipoondi, Thanjavur District, Madras Presidency, British India
Died	August 26, 1969(1969-08-26) (aged 66) Madras, Tamil Nadu, India

In this Indian name, the name Subramaniam is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Srinivasan.

Subramaniam Srinivasan popularly known as S.S.Vasan (10 March 1903 – 26 August 1969) was a famous Indian film producer, director, writer, journalist and entrepreneur. He has been hailed by many as the 'Cecil De Mille of Indian cinema'.

Early life

S.S.Vasan was born at Thiruthuraipoondi in Thanjavur district in a poor Brahmin family. His father died when he was barely two years old and the young Vasan was left to fend for himself. At a very early age, he moved to Madras along with his mother to complete his studies. His rise is a typical rags-to-riches story when he started his career by hawking books on the train platforms to support himself and his studies at the time. He ingeniously started a mail order business and during this period, he developed an avid interest in the field of media and mass communication. On completion of his studies, he started an advertising agency which did well and led to his entering publishing. In 1928,with the revenue he had earned, he purchased a struggling Tamil journal called Ananda Vikatan and reformed and remodelled it to suit the public taste. The magazine was an immense success and Vasan's had become one of the most familiar names in Madras city. Ananda Vikatan exists as the leading magazine in Tamil Nadu as one of the oldest vernacular existing magazines in the India and celebrated its 80th year in 2004.

As a film producer

S.S.Vasan was a prolific writer and penned a number of novels and short stories. This eventually drew him into the film industry. His novel Sathi Leelavati was made into a film in the year 1936 marking Vasan's entry into the film industry. From the onset, motion films captivated him and in 1938, he took over distribution of films of the Madras United Artists Corporation

In 1941 there was a fire in the studio of the Motion Picture Producers Combine. Like most studios in India it was uninsured because no insurance company would take the risk. The partners, by now at odds with each other, decided to sell the charred premises. Vasan bought them, did some rebuilding, and launched the production company Gemini Studios.

During the war the firm dabbled in a variety of films including a mythological, a stunt film and a love story or two - Tamil films like Mangamma Sapatham (1943), Kannamma En Kadhali (1945), Miss Malini (1947) and Apoorva Sahodarargal (1949) became acclaimed and successful pictures in Tamil cinema.

However Vasan was really preparing his big post-independence break. The 1948 Tamil Chennai film industry classic Chandralekha was rereleased in Hindi, and became an influential critical and commercial success across the country, and India's first all-country hit. The film, a spectacle, is remembered for its drum dance and extensive sword fight sequence. 603 prints of Chandralekha were made and the film was even released in the United States as Chandra with English subtitles!

In the 1950s Gemini Pictures came out with films both in Tamil and Hindi. Popular Hindi films include Mr. Sampat (1952), Insaniyat (1955), Raj Tilak (1958) and Paigam (1959).

In 1958 he established Gemini Colour Laboratories and believed in establishing the Film Trade on professional lines.

Vasan was the President of the Film Federation of India for two terms and was even nominated to the Rajya Sabha. He was the given the Padma Bhusan by the Govt. of India in 1969, the year of his death. His son SS Balan was mentored by him, and ran the flourishing Gemini Studios and Vasan Publications (Ananda Vikatan) till the concept of movie studios themselves were threatened in the 70's. Balan continued to be editor of Ananda Vikatan and launched the first Tamil investigative journal - Junior Vikatan, that became wildly successful till 2006 and is now the Chairman of the Vikatan Group.

Gemini Pictures declined in the 1970s although it has remained successful as a studio and equipment rental business though no longer held by his family. Ananda Vikatan under Vasan Publications has branched off into being one of the largest media groups in Tamil Nadu and continues to be privately held within family.

Legacy

Vasan believed that films were meant to entertain and were meant to be catered to the ordinary man. Colossal production values, huge sets, mammoth dances, thousands of extras were his hallmark. Thus his films were more akin to variety entertain-ment programmes rather than true cinema.

Lavishness in production, splashing money in promoting, packaging and publicising a picture, he was a pioneer in Indian Cinema and had no equals, then, and now. `Be wise and advertise!' He had a character speak in his film "Miss. Malini" (1947), giving expression to one of his personal beliefs. And he showed what one could achieve with punch-plus publicity.

— - Film historian Randor Guy on S.S.Vasan

Filmography

As director

Year	Film	Language	Cast	Notes
1948	Chandralekha	Tamil	Ranjan, T.R.Rajakumari, N. S. Krishnan, Maduram	A superhit which revolutionized Tamil cinema. Vasan's first directorial venture.
1948	Chandralekha	Hindi	Ranjan, T.R.Rajakumari, M.K.Radha	Bollywood version of S.S.Vasan's Tamil film 'Chandralekha'. Vasan's first directorial venture in Hindi
1949	Nishan	Hindi	Bhanumathi, J.S.Casshyap, Ranjan, R.Nagendra Rao, M.K.Radha
1951	Sansar	Hindi	David Abraham
1952	Mr. Sampat	Hindi	Motilal, Padmini, Kanhaiyalal, Swaraj, Vanaja and Agha	Film version of R. K. Narayan's novel
1954	Bahut Din Huye	Hindi	Madhubala
1955	Insaniyat	Hindi	Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Bina Rai, Jayant and Shobhana Samarth	Remake of 1950 Telugu hit film Palletoori Pilla
1958	Vanjikkottai Valiban	Tamil	Gemini Ganesan, Vyjayanthimala, Padmini
1958	Raj Tilak	Hindi	Gemini Ganesan, Vyjayanthimala, Pran, Padmini, Gajanan Jagirdar, Bipin Gupta, Lalita Pawar
1959	Paigham	Hindi	Dilip Kumar, Vyjayanthimala, Raaj Kumar, Motilal and Johnny Walker
1960	Irumputhirai	Tamil	Sivaji Ganesan, Vyjayanthimala
1961	Gharana	Hindi	Rajendra Kumar, Raaj Kumar and Asha Parekh
1967	Aurat	Hindi	Rajesh Khanna, Feroz Khan, Pran, Padmini, Kanhaiyalal, David, O P Ralhan, Nazima, Lalita Pawar and Leela Chitnis
1968	Teen Bahuraniyan	Hindi	Prithviraj Kapoor, Agha,Ramesh Dev, Rajendranath
1969	Shatranj	Hindi	Rajendra Kumar, Waheeda Rehman, Mehmood

As Producer

Year	Film	Language	Cast	Director	Notes
1941	Madanakamarajan	Tamil	V. V. Satakopan, K. L. V. Vasantha	B. N. Rao	Vasan's first film as producer, but not officially produced by Gemini. It was advertised as "Produced for Dindugal Amirtham Talkies At Gemini Studios".
1943	Mangamma Sapatham	Tamil	Ranjan, Vasundhara Devi, N. S. Krishnan	'Acharya' T.D. Raghavacharyal	A colossal hit, Vasan's first, which made him one of the biggest names in Tamil cinema
1945	Kannamma En Kadhali	Tamil	M. K. Radha, Sundari Bai	Kothamangalam Subbu	Vasan's second film as producer. Coming at the height of the Second World War, this was in support of Britain's war effort.
1947	Miss Malini	Tamil	Sampath, Kothamangalam Subbu, V. Gopalakrishnan, Gemini Ganesan	Kothamangalam Subbu	Gemini Ganesan's first hit film
1948	Chandralekha	Tamil	Ranjan, T.R.Rajakumari, M.K.Radha, N.S.Krishnan, T.A.Maduram	S.S.Vasan	A milestone in Tamil cinema. The film was another colossal hit of Vasan's and was known for its colossal sets and the unforgettable drum-dance.
1948	Chandralekha	Hindi	Ranjan, T.R.Rajakumari, M.K.Radha	S.S.Vasan	Hindi version of Tamil film 'Chandralekha'. S.S.Vasan's first Bollywood production
1949	Apoorva Sahodarargal	Tamil	R.Nagendra Rao, M.K.Radha	'Acharya' T.D. Raghavacharyal
1949	Nishan	Hindi	Bhanumathi, J.S.Casshyap, Ranjan, R.Nagendra Rao, M.K.Radha	S.S.Vasan
1951	Sansar	Hindi	David Abraham	S.S.Vasan
1951	Samsaram	Tamil
1952	Mr.Sampath	Hindi	Motilal, Padmini, Kanhaiyalal, Swaraj, Vanaja and Agha	S.S.Vasan	Film version of R. K. Narayan's novel
1953	Avvaiyar	Tamil	Gemini Ganesan, K. B. Sundarambal	Kothamangalam Subbu	A classic. The story of Tamil saint Avvaiyar, the film was known for its wonderful songs.
1954	Bahut Din Huye	Hindi	Madhubala, Savitri Kommareddy	S.S.Vasan
1955	Insaniyat	Hindi	Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Bina Rai, Jayant and Shobhana Samarth	S.S.Vasan
1958	Vanjikkottai Valiban	Tamil	Gemini Ganesan, Vyjayanthimala, Padmini	S.S.Vasan
1958	Raj Tilak	Hindi	Gemini Ganesan, Vyjayanthimala, Pran, Padmini, Gajanan Jagirdar, Bipin Gupta, Lalita Pawar	S.S.Vasan
1959	Paigham	Hindi	Dilip Kumar, Vyjayanthimala, Raaj Kumar, Motilal and Johnny Walker	S.S.Vasan
1960	Ghunghat	Hindi	Bharat Bhushan, Leela Chitnis, Pradeep Kumar, Bina Rai, Asha Parekh, Helen, Rajendranath, Rehman and Agha	Ramanand Sagar
1960	Irumbuthirai	Tamil	Sivaji Ganesan, Vyjayanthimala
1961	Gharana	Hindi	Rajendra Kumar, Raaj Kumar and Asha Parekh	S.S. Vasan
1963	Grahasti	Hindi	Bipin Gupta, Iftekhar, Gajanan Jagirdar, Kanhaiyalal, Shubha Khote, Manmohan Krishna, Ashok Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Sudesh Kumar, Bharati Malwankar, Mehmood, Indrani Mukherjee	Kishore Sahu
1967	Aurat	Hindi	Rajesh Khanna, Feroz Khan, Pran, Padmini, Kanhaiyalal, David, O P Ralhan, Nazima, Lalita Pawar and Leela Chitnis	S.S.Balan & S.S.Vasan
1968	Teen Bahuraniyan	Hindi	Prithviraj Kapoor,Agha,Ramesh Dev, Rajendranath	S.S.Vasan
1969	Shatranj	Hindi	Rajendra Kumar, Waheeda Rehman, Mehmood	S.S.Vasan

Sources

• Biography of S.S.Vasan
• Filmography of S.S.VAsan at the Internet Movie Database(IMDB)
• 'With a finger on people's pulse' Article on S.S.Vasan by Randor Guy, The Hindu, Friday Review, 23 May 2003