Pakshiraja Studios

Pakshiraja Studios was a motion picture movie studio in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India, established by S. M. Sriramulu Naidu in 1945. The studio has predominantly produced movies in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam languages, also having made one Kannada film. The Studio had major releases in 1950s and early 1960s and is well known for some blockbusters of the times.

Pakshiraja Studios outer side
Pakshiraja Studios inner side

Pakshiraja Studios
TypeManaging Agency, later Partnership Firm
IndustryMotion pictures
Founded1945
Defunct1972 (de facto)
HeadquartersPuliyakulam Road, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
Key people
S. M. Sriramulu Naidu

History

During the early 1930s Coimbatore became a hub for some of the South Indian language movies, especially Tamil & Telugu when S. M. Sriramulu Naidu and other industrialists started Central Studios. Then popular movie director became the creative head and started making his own movies under the banner Pakshiraja Films. By the early 1930s another Movie studio 'Premier Cinetone Studio'[1] was under operation in Red Fields, Coimbatore. In 1945 S. M. Sriramulu Naidu left Central Studios and took over the Premier Cinetone Studio located in Puliyakulam Road, Red Fields, Coimbatore. He further constructed new floors and infrastructure and made it a full-fledged Movie Studio with in-house processing labs.

The most popular hits to come from that studio was M. G. R and Banumathi starrer Malaikkallan in 1955 and the Dilip Kumar, Meena Kumari hit Azaad, which was the highest grosser in Bollywood for that year. Also this movie was the first for Dilip Kumar and Meena Kumari in lighter roles as against their tragic roles in most other movies. Malaikkallan was M. G. R's first major box office hit.

Present status

The movie production in the studio slowly declined since mid 60's. With Central Studios going out of movie industry some time earlier and declining production at Salem Modern Theaters, Chennai has become the de facto capital for all South Indian movie industry. In 1970 Sriramulu relocated his studio facilities to establish Chamundeshwari Studios in Bangalore. The studio premises and structures still remain more or less intact was several other establishments are housed inside.

List of Movies

Movies listed here are partial list only.

Year Title Language Cast Director Music Composer Others
1947 Kannika Tamil M. S. Sarojini, T. E. Varadan, M. R. Santhanalakshmi, D. Balasubramaniam, N. S. Krishnan, Kali N. Rathnam, T. A. Madhuram S. M. Sriramulu Naidu Papanasam Sivan Story & Dialogues by Elangovan
1949 Pavalakodi Tamil T. R. Rajakumari, T. R.Mahalingam, T. E. Varadhan, M. S. Sarojini, N. S. Krishnan, T. A. Madhuram S. M. Sriramulu Naidu C. R. Subburaman Story & Dialogues by Elangovan
1950 Ezhai Padum Padu Tamil Chittor V. Nagaiah, Serukulathur Sama, T. S. Balaiah, V. Gopalakrishnan,
T. S. Durairaj, Lalitha and Padmini, Kumari N. Rajam. (a.k.a. Thanjavur N. Rajalakshmi)
K. Ramnoth S. M. Subbaiah Naidu Lyrics by Papanasam Sivan, Dialogues by Elangovan
1950 Beedala Paatlu Telugu Chittor V. Nagaiah, Serukalathur Sama, T. S. Balaiah, V. Gopalakrishnan,
T. S. Durairaj, Lalitha and Padmini, Kumari N. Rajam. (a.k.a. Thanjavur N. Rajalakshmi)
K. Ramnoth S. M. Subbaiah Naidu
1952 Kanchana Tamil K. R. Ramasamy, Lalitha, Padmini, Duraiswamy, Miss Kumari, Aranmula Ponnamma, T. S. Durairaj S. M. Sriramulu Naidu S. M. Subbaiah Naidu
1952 Kanchana Telugu K. R. Ramasamy, Lalitha, Padmini, Duraiswamy, Miss Kumari, Aranmula Ponnamma, T. S. Durairaj S. M. Sriramulu Naidu S. M. Subbaiah Naidu
1952 Kanjana Malayalam K. R. Ramasamy, Lalitha, Padmini, Duraiswamy, Miss Kumari, Aranmula Ponnamma, T. S. Durairaj S. M. Sriramulu Naidu S. M. Subbaiah Naidu
1952 Puratchi Veeran (Dubbed from Hindi movie "Badal") Tamil Madhubala, Prem Nath, Purnima, Agha Amiya Chakravarty Shankar Jaikishan Distribution Only
1953 Ponni Tamil Sriram, Lalitha and Padmini A. S. A. Sami and C. S. Rao S. M. Subbaiah Naidu
1953 Oka Talli Pillalu Telugu Sriram, Lalitha and Padmini A. S. A. Sami and C. S. Rao S. M. Subbaiah Naidu
1954 Malaikkallan Tamil M. G. Ramachandran, P. Bhanumathi S. M. Sriramulu Naidu S. M. Subbaiah Naidu Story based on the novel by Namakkal Kavignar Va. Ramalingam Pillai.The movie
was the first Blockbuster hit for M. G. Ramachandran, establishing him as a major star.
1954 Aggi Ramudu Telugu N. T. Rama Rao, P. Bhanumathi, R. Nageswara Rao S. M. Sriramulu Naidu S. M. Subbaiah Naidu Story based on the novel by Namakkal Kavignar Va. Ramalingam Pillai
1954 Azaad Hindi Dilip Kumar, Meena Kumari, Pran, Om Prakash S. M. Sriramulu Naidu C. Ramchandra Story based on the novel by Namakkal Kavignar Va. Ramalingam Pillai, Hindi lyrics
by Rajendra Krishen.The film was the top grossing Hindi film in the year of its release, and one of the biggest Hindi film hit in its decade
1954 Thaskaraveeran Malayalam Thikkurisi Sukumaran Nair S. M. Sriramulu Naidu S. M. Subbaiah Naidu Story based on the novel by Namakkal Kavignar Va. Ramalingam Pillai.
1957 Bettada Kalla Kannada Kalyan Kumar S. M. Sriramulu Naidu S. M. Subbaiah Naidu Story based on the novel by Namakkal Kavignar Va. Ramalingam Pillai.
1959 Maragatham Tamil Sivaji Ganesan, Veenai S. Balachander, Sandhya, Padmini, T. S. Durairaj,
T. S. Balaiah, J. P. Chandrababu, C. Lakshmi Rajyam
S. M. Sriramulu Naidu S. M. Subbaiah Naidu Dialogues by Murasoli Maran, Cinematography by Sailen Bose, Art Director was A. K. Sekhar
1960 Vimala Telugu N. T. Rama Rao, K. Savithri S. M. Sriramulu Naidu S. M. Subbaiah Naidu
1961 Sabarimala Ayyappan Malayalam S. M. Sriramulu Naidu S. M. Subbaiah Naidu National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam: Certificate of Merit for
Third Best Feature Film in Malayalam
1963 Kalyaniyin Kanavan Tamil Sivaji Ganesan, B. Saroja Devi, M. R. Radha S. M. Sriramulu Naidu S. M. Subbaiah Naidu

See also

References

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