Chithralaya () also spelt Chitralaya, is an Indian film production company founded in the early 1960s. It produced films in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, most of them directed by

C. V. Sridhar Chithamur Vijayaraghavalu Sridhar (22 July 1933 – 20 October 2008) was an Indian screenwriter and film director. He has directed nearly 60 films in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu languages. Career Entry In 1951, 18-year-old Sridhar went to A ...

. The company was founded by Sridhar, screenwriter Gopu (who later became known as

Chithralaya Gopu Sadagopan (better known as Chitralaya Gopu) is an Indian screenwriter and director who works in the Tamil cinema. He has written nearly 60 films, and directed 27 of them. He scripted dramatic films such as '' Moondru Dheivangal'' and '' Shanti N ...

), cinematographer

A. Vincent Aloysius Vincent (14 June 1928 – 25 February 2015) was an Indian cinematographer and director known for his works in Malayalam, Tamil language, Tamil, Telugu language, Telugu and Hindi language, Hindi language films. From the mid-1960s on, he ...

and still photographer Tiruchi Arunachalam.

History

After making films for Venus Studios, in the early 1960s Sridhar founded Chithralaya to make the kind of films he wanted. The company's logo featured a boatman and a woman travelling on a boat with the tagline, "Kadal Alayil Engal Siriya Thoni, Kalai Ulagil Engal Pudhiya Baani". When discussing with his associates what should be the company's first film, Sridhar devised the story of ''

Nenjil Or Aalayam ''Nenjil Or Aalayam'' () is a 1962 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed, produced and written by C. V. Sridhar. The film stars Kalyan Kumar, Devika and R. Muthuraman while Nagesh, Manorama and Kutty Padmini play supporting ro ...

'' but later decided the company's first film should not be a tragedy and devised the lighter '' Thennilavu''. ''Thennilavu'' was a success at the box office, running in theatres for over 100 days. After the success of ''Thennilavu'', Sridhar made ''Nenjil Or Aalayam'', set completely in a hospital and became the first Tamil film to be shot entirely in single set. It also became a box-office success. Chithralaya later produced ''

Kadhalikka Neramillai ''Kadhalikka Neramillai'' () is a 1964 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film produced and directed by C. V. Sridhar, who also conceived and co-wrote its script with Chitralaya Gopu. The film features an ensemble cast consisting of Bala ...

'', the first Tamil film in

Eastmancolor Eastmancolor is a trade name used by Eastman Kodak for a number of related film and processing technologies associated with color motion picture production and referring to George Eastman, founder of Kodak. Eastmancolor, introduced in 1950, was o ...

with a contemporary setting. Though the film initially found no takers, forcing Chithralaya to distribute the film themselves, it became a major success. Gopu, one of the founders of the company, left after receiving more directorial offers. Sridhar's relative C. V. Rajendran was an assistant director in Chithralaya before making his directorial debut with ''

Anubavam Pudhumai ''Anubavam Pudhumai'' () is a 1967 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language comedy thriller film directed by C. V. Rajendran in his debut and written by Chitralaya Gopu from a story by Raju. The film stars R. Muthuraman and Rajasree. It was releas ...

'' by a different studio. ''

Thriveni ''Thriveni'' () is a 1970 Indian Malayalam-language film directed by A. Vincent and produced by C. V. Sridhar through Chitralaya in their only production in Malayalam. The film stars Sathyan, Prem Nazir, Sharada, Savita G. Thampi, and Kaviyoo ...

'' was the only Malayalam film produced by Chithralaya. '' Uttharavindri Ulle Vaa'', unlike Chithralaya's previous ventures, was only produced by Sridhar, and directed by debutant N. S. Chakravarthi. A magazine named after and run by Chithralaya was also founded. Many of Chithralaya's film posters were designed by Eswara Rao, among the most prolific poster designers in India.

Filmography

References

{{Reflist

External links

Chithralaya
at

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Chithralaya
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Film production companies based in Chennai Film production companies of India