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Tamil films

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Kollywood is a name often applied to Tamil Cinema, based in Chennai (formerly Madras) in the state of Tamil Nadu in south India. The name is a conflation of Kodambakkam and Hollywood. Kodambakkam is an area in Chennai, in and around which there is a high concentration of film studios, and where many people involved with Tamil cinema live.

Kollywood is the second major film-making industry in India after Bollywood. Kollywood witnessed three new releases on average every week in 2005 and annual turnover of over Rs.2,100 crore ($460 million) on ticket sales of 70 crores. Silent movies were produced in Kollywood since 1916 and the era of talkies dawned in 1931. By the end of the Thirties, the industry was booming so much that the Madras legislature passed the pioneering Tamil Nadu Entertainment Tax Act 1939 with little opposition.

Tamil cinema has the widest distribution after Hindi cinema, it has enjoyed consistent popularity among Tamil speakers in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and other South East Asian countries. Tamil-language films have recently become popular in Japan, South Africa and UK and Canada. Many successful Tamil films have been re-made by other film industries like Bollywood.

It is estimated by Manorama Yearbook 2000 that over 5,000-odd Tamil films have been produced in the 20th century. Tamil films have also been dubbed into other languages, thus reaching a much wider audience. Examples of those dubbed into Hindi include such hits as Minsaara Kanavu, Roja and Bombay. Anniyan, a recent Tamil film became the first Indian film to be dubbed into French. See List of popular Kollywood films.

There has been a growing presence of English in dialogues and songs as well. It is not uncommon to see movies which feature dialogues studded with English words and phrases, or even whole sentences. Some movies are also simultaneously made in two or three languages (either using subtitles, or several soundtracks). Quite often, Kollywood movies feature Madras Bashai which is the version of Tamil spoken in Madras.

Kollywood and politicians

The Tamil film industry has a long intertwining link with creating future politicians. The first non congress Chief minister C. N. Annadurai and the current opposition leader M. Karunanidhi wrote cine scripts. Long time Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. G. Ramachandran (MGR) was a well known actor in Kollywood. The current chief minister J. Jayalalithaa was also a popular actress. Moreover many in the field are currently in houses of parliament or assembly, while future aspirants are ready to take wing.

In fact, only one chief minister of Tamil Nadu has no connection to movies.

Average annual film output in Kollywood has risen steadily in the 20th century:

  • Thirties - 22.5 releases per year on average
  • Fourties - 22.1 releases per year on average (1st decade of recession)
  • Fifties - 32.6 releases per year on average
  • Sixties - 43.0 releases per year on average
  • Seventies - 62.5 releases per year on average
  • Eighties - 104.6 releases per year on average
  • Nineties - 101.2 releases per year on average (2nd decade of recession triggers rise in entry of dubbed films)

For the purpose of entertainment tax, returns have to be filed by the exhibitors weekly (usually each Tuesday). [1]

Personalities

Actors

This is just a list of a few prominent actors in Kollywood. Please check the complete list at Indian Male Actors. As of 2005, only Vikram, Kamal Haasan and M.G. Ramachandran are recipients of the National Film Award for Best Actor in Tamil Cinema.

Actresses

Comedians

Directors

Music directors

Exhibitors

There are an estimated 1,800-odd permanent exhibitors in Kollywood of which 125-odd exhibitors are located in Chennai district. This is a select list of the most prominent of the lot in the box office.

  • Sathyam - 1,266 seats (Chennai district)
  • Albert - 1,225 seats (Chennai district)
  • Devi - 1,212 seats (Chennai district)
  • Melody - 998 seats (Chennai district)
  • Abirami - 927 seats (Chennai district)
  • Kasi - 917 seats (Chennai district)
  • Sangam - 877 seats (Chennai district)
  • Maharani - 733 seats (Chennai district)
  • Udhayam - 700 seats (Chennai district)
  • Santham - 567 seats (Chennai district)
  • Padmam - 540 seats (Chennai district)
  • Suriyan - 480 seats (Chennai district)
  • Devi Bala - 369 seats (Chennai district)
  • Subham - 306 seats (Chennai district)

Show rentals range from Rs1,750 in C-centres to as much as Rs7,000 in A-centres for an average 700-seat screen. Unlike Hollywood, super stardom is deeply ingrained into Kollywood economics. So distributors are prepared to not only finance the films of super stars with proven track record but are also in turn able to secure minimum guarantees for those films from exhibitors!

Rise of multiplexes in the Nineties has stunted the growth of large screens.

See also

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