Vauhini Studios was an Indian film production company and studio facility in

Madras 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 ...

. It was founded by

Moola Narayana Swamy Moola Narayana Swamy ( 20 August 1950) was an Indian businessman and film producer known for his works in Telugu cinema. He owned several businesses such as Rayalaseema Bank, Rayalaseema Textiles, Cuddapah Ceramics, Cuddapah Electric Company, o ...

and B. N. Reddy (Bommireddy Narasimha Reddy). In later years, Nagi Reddi, owner of Vijaya Productions, acquired Vauhini studios on lease. In 1961, Nagi Reddi purchased Vauhini Studios from Narayana Swamy's son

Moola Venkata Rangaiah Moola Venkata Rangaiah was an Indian film producer, known for his works in Telugu cinema, and Tamil cinema. He was the co-owner Vauhini Studios, along with his father Moola Narayana Swamy, which became one of the largest production companies i ...

and merged it with his Vijaya Productions and named it as Vijaya Vauhini Studios.

History

Rohini Pictures was formed by the partnership of H. M. Reddy along with B. N. Reddy and

. The latter two had differences with H. M. Reddy and split themselves from Rohini Pictures and established Vauhini Pictures. Narayana Swamy was the Chairman and B. N. Reddy was the Managing Director the company.

K. V. Reddy Kadiri Venkata Reddy (1 July 1912 – 15 September 1972) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who primarily worked in Telugu cinema. He is considered as one of the greatest directors in the history of Telugu cinema. He d ...

, close friend of Narayana Swamy also joined Vauhini Pictures along with them and was also made a partner in the company. Films like ''

Vande Mataram ''Vande Mataram'' (Sanskrit: वन्दे मातरम् IAST: , also spelt ''Bande Mataram''; বন্দে মাতরম্, ''Bônde Mātôrôm''; ) is a poem written in sanskritised Bengali by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in th ...

'' (1939), ''Sumangali'' (1940), '' Devatha'' (1941) were made on Vauhini Pictures banner in the direction of B. N. Reddy. Vauhini_Sale_MVRangaiah

K. V. Reddy directed '' Bhakta Pothana'' (1943) for the company as his maiden directorial venture. After the huge success of the film, Narayana Swamy who had interests in other business ventures focused on film production. He made a proposal to the board to confine Vauhini Pictures to film distribution and start Vauhini Productions for film production. The proposal was approved, and Narayana Swamy invested 2

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2,2,3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. For e ...

out of the total capital of 2.5 lakh. Rest of the 50,000 was provided by the family of B. N. Reddy and K. V. Reddy. It was decided that B. N. Reddy and K. V. Reddy would alternately direct films for the production house. When Vauhini Productions made ''

Swargaseema ''Swarga Seema'' is a 1945 Telugu-language drama film produced and directed by B. N. Reddy and starring V. Nagayya, B. Jayamma and Bhanumathi. Ghantasala entered film world as a Playback singer for a song of C. H. Narayana Rao and it is al ...

'' (1945) as its first production under the direction of B. N. Reddy, K. V. Reddy worked as a production manager for the film. Later, K. V. Reddy directed '' Yogi Vemana'' (1947) under Vauhini Productions banner. Around the same time, Vauhini Productions' films were getting delayed due to lack of studio facilities. And so, they decided to build a studio of their own. Narayana Swamy invested the capital required for building the studio while B. N. Reddy took up the responsibility of managing the construction work. Thus, Vauhini Studios came into being. The first film produced by Vauhini Studios was ''

Gunasundari Katha ''Gunasundari Katha'' is a 1949 Indian Telugu language fantasy film produced and directed by K. V. Reddy, starring Sriranjani, Kasturi Siva Rao, Santha Kumari. The script was written by Pingali Nagendra Rao, K. V. Reddy, and Kamalakara Kameswa ...

'' (1949). Narayana Swamy's properties and businesses were seized due to income tax problems. He was fined around 30

. Vauhini studio was hence leased, to Vijaya Productions, to save it from income tax department's attachment. In 1961, Nagi Reddi, the Managing Director of Vijaya Productions, purchased Vauhini Studios for 10 lakh from Narayana Swamy's son

and merged it with his Vijaya Productions and named it as Vijaya Vauhini Studios.

Films Produced

Vauhini Pictures * ''Vande Mataram'' (1939) * ''Sumangali'' (1940) * '' Devatha'' (1941). * '' Bhakta Pothana'' (1943) Vauhini Productions * ''

'' (1945) * '' Yogi Vemana'' (1947) * Vaddante Dabbu * ''

'' (1949) * '' Malliswari'' (1951) * '' Pedda Manushulu'' (1954)

References

Bibliography

* Indian film studios Tamil cinema Telugu cinema Buildings and structures in Chennai Indian companies established in 1948 {{film-company-stub