Film News Anandan (born Mani) was an Indian film historian and photographer based in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

. He was popularly known as the "walking encyclopedia" of

Tamil cinema Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywo ...

Early life

Anandan was born as Mani. His father P. K. Gnanasagaram was a government servant. When he was being admitted in school he told his principal his name was Anandakrishnan, which later became his legal name, and was further shortened to Anandan. After school, he joined Quaide Millath Arts college, then known as Government Arts college. When he was a college student, he had a chance to interact with the drama troupes of Y. G. Parthasarathy and M. G. Ramachandran among others. He used to write the dialogues, do stage management and help in small odd jobs.

Career

Anandan was interested in becoming a cameraman and joined as an assistant to C. J. Mohan, who was the cameraman for Kalaivanar. He conducted photography classes for him. Mohan appreciated the photos of Anandan and asked him to buy a Rolliflex camera. After buying one, actor

Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji G ...

was the first person whom he had captured on camera. Anandan worked as a news reporter for Film Chamber and his job was to collect details about the actors, producer, director of a film. Devarajan of the magazine ''Film News'' once asked Anandan to take pictures for his magazine. When the pictures were published, credit in the magazine was given as "''Film News'' Anandan" and eventually the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

got prefixed to his name. Anandan noticed publicity stills of '' Nadodi Mannan'' (1958) on film producer

R. M. Veerappan R. M. Veerappan (also referred to as RMV or Rama Veerappan) is an Indian politician, an early Dravidian Leader, and a movie producer and screenwriter from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He is the founder and leader of the MGR Kazhagam party. ...

's office desk when he happened to visit the office of Em.Gee.Yar Pictures. He then offered to distribute them to the press. Veerappan agreed knowing that Anandan was then a member of the South Indian Film Journalists Association. After a few days, stills of the film were published in many magazines. M. G. Ramachandran, who was the director of ''Nadodi Mannan'', was impressed with Anandan's work and, at Veerappan's suggestion, hired him as the film's public relations officer (PRO). This was Anandan's debut film as a PRO. As an actor, Anandan's first film was ''

Policekaran Magal ''Policekaran Magal'' () is a 1962 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by C. V. Sridhar. Based on B. S. Ramiah's play of the same name, it stars Balaji, Muthuraman, Vijayakumari, Santha Kumari and Pushpalatha. The film was released on ...

'' (1962) where he played a police photographer. He reprised the role in its Telugu remake '' Constable Koothru''. In '' Bommai'' (1964), he plays a doctor. In '' Natchathiram'' (1980), he played the role of a press reporter, posing questions to a disillusioned star. In the 1986 crime film '' Oomai Vizhigal'', he played a press photographer. In ''

Sugamana Sumaigal ''Sugamana Sumaigal'' () is a 1992 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by R. Parthiban. The film stars himself and Shali. It was released on 21 February 1992, and failed at the box office. Plot Moorthy, a young man, had t ...

'' (1992), he played the role of the heroine’s father. He also made appearances in '' Aasai'' (1995) and ''

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

'' (1996), though his scenes were deleted in both; however, in the former, the credits read, "Thanks to Film News Anandan". In March 2016, just a few days before his death, Anandan revealed that his dream was to have a permanent exhibition on cinema.

Personal life

Anandan was married to Sivagami. They had two daughters and a son

Diamond Babu Diamond Ratna Babu is an Indian public relations officer and media consultant who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. He has worked more than 600 films as public relations officer in Indian cinema. Early life Babu's father Film News Anandan ...

, who is also a PRO.

Death

Anandan died on 21 March 2016 after a week in hospital with breathing problems.

Awards

Anandan received Y. Venkanna Clowdary's "Kala Peedam" award for his tremendous contribution to Human Progress as a Film Historian. In 1991, the Tamil Nadu State Government awarded him with their highest honour in the title of Kalaimaamani. In 1989, Anandan was honoured as a veteran during the Golden Jubilee of the Film Chamber. He was awarded the "Kalai Selvam" title by the South Indian Artist Association in Chennai. In May 2008 at the

2nd Vijay Awards The 2nd Vijay Awards The Vijay Awards are presented by the Tamil television channel STAR Vijay to honour excellence in Tamil cinema. It has been given annually since 2006, with the latest—the 10th edition—of the award-giving cer ...

, he was awarded the

Vijay Award for Contribution to Tamil Cinema The Vijay for Contribution to Tamil Cinema is given by STAR Vijay as part of its annual Vijay Awards ceremony for Tamil films. The list Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won. See also * Tamil cinema * Cinema of ...

Tamil films database

Anandan compiled a wide-scale database of Tamil films which was made into a book titled ''Sadhanaigal Padaitha Thamizh Thiraipada Varalaru'' ("History of Landmark Tamil Films") with the help of the Tamil Nadu State Government and was published on 23 October 2004 by Sivagami Publications.

Notes

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anandan, Film News 1920s births 2016 deaths 20th-century Indian male actors 20th-century Indian photographers Indian film historians Male actors from Chennai Photographers from Tamil Nadu