Krishnasamy Subramaniyam (20 April 1904 – 7 April 1971) was an Indian film director of the 1930s and 1940s. Dancer

Padma Subrahmanyam Padma Subrahmanyam (born 4 February 1943, in Madras), is an Indian classical Bharatanatyam dancer. She is also a research scholar, choreographer, teacher, Indologist and author. She is famous in India as well as abroad; several films and documen ...

is his daughter.

Biography

Subramanyam was involved in the establishment of the

Tamil film industry Tamil cinema is the segment of cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to the production of Film, motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the nam ...

. He was born in a

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

family. He started his film career as a

scenarist A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and producer, working on

P. K. Raja Sandow Raja Sandow (born P. K. Nagalingam) was an Indian actor, film director and producer. He began his career as an actor in silent films and later became a prominent actor and director in Tamil language, Tamil and Hindi films of the 1930s. He is co ...

's silent films such as '' Peyum Pennum''. He started Meenakshi Cineton with

Alagappa Chettiar Sir Alagappa Chettiar (6 April 1909 – 5 April 1957) was an Indian businessman and philanthropist. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award in India, in 1956. Early life Chettiar was born in Kottaiyur in the Siv ...

, directing his first film ''

Pavalakkodi Pavalakkodi may refer to: *Pavalakkodi (1934 film), a Tamil language Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the ...

'', in which the Tamil film star

M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar Mayavaram Krishnasamy Thiyagaraja Bhagavathar (1 March 1910 – 1 November 1959), also known by his initials as M. K. T. was an Indian actor and carnatic singer. Critics and film historians acknowledge Bhagavathar as the "First superstar of Ta ...

debuted. He made a shift with the politically emphatic ''

Balayogini ''Balayogini'' ( ''Girl Saint'') is a 1937 Indian film made in Tamil and Telugu languages. It was directed by K. Subramanyam. It is one of the earliest Tamil films to be set in a contemporary social setting and to advocate reformist social pol ...

'', criticizing the

caste system A caste is a fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (endogamy), foll ...

prevalent then. In 1938, he made ''

Sevasadanam ''Sevasadanam'' () is a 1938 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by K. Subrahmanyam. It is one of the early Tamil films to be set in a contemporary social setting and to advocate reformist social policies. This was the first film for M. ...

'', advocating a better deal for women, the saint film ''

Bhaktha Chetha ''Bhaktha Chetha'' () is a 1940 Tamil language film directed and produced by K. Subrahmanyam. The film featured Papanasam Sivan as the titular character with G. Subbulakshmi, Kothamangalam Subbu, S. R. Janaki and Master R. Thirumalai playing s ...

'', critiquing

untouchability Untouchability is a form of social institution that legitimises and enforces practices that are discriminatory, humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative against people belonging to certain social groups. Although comparable forms of discrimin ...

and the war effort film '' Maanasamrakshanam''. His best-known work is '' Thyaga Bhoomi''. ''Thyaga Bhoomi'' was a novel by

Kalki Krishnamurthy Ramaswamy Krishnamurthy (9 September 1899 – 5 December 1954), better known by his pen name Kalki, was an Indian writer, journalist, poet, critic and Indian independence activist who wrote in Tamil. He chose the pen-name "Kalki", the future i ...

, which was banned by the British government. He also directed the

Malayalam film Malayalam cinema, also referred to as Mollywood, is a segment of Indian cinema dedicated to producing films in the Malayalam language, primarily spoken in Kerala and the Lakshadweep islands. It encompasses both the mainstream film industry ...

Prahlada Prahlada () is an asura king in Hindu scriptures. He is known for his staunch devotion to the preserver deity, Vishnu. He appears in the narrative of Narasimha, the lion avatara of Vishnu, who rescues Prahlada by disimboweling and killing hi ...

'' (1941), which was scripted by noted playwright N. P. Chellappan Nair. He was one of the founders of

Nadigar Sangam The Nadigar Sangam (), officially known as the South Indian Artistes' Association (), is a Trade union, union for film, television, and stage (theatre), stage actors in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, based in Chennai. Formed in 1952, the grou ...

in 1952.

Filmography

* ''

'' (1934) * ''

Naveena Sadaram ''Naveena Sadaram'' is a 1935 Tamil language film directed and produced by Krishnaswami Subrahmanyam. The film featured S. D. Subbulakshmi in the lead role. The film is an adaptation of the Kannada stage play ''Sadarame''. Papanasam Sivan was i ...

'' (1935) * '' Naveena Sarangadhara'' (1936) * ''

Kuchela Sudama (), also known as Kuchela (), is a childhood friend of the Hindu deity Krishna. The story of his visit to Dvaraka to meet his friend is featured in the Bhagavata Purana. In their legend, Sudama and Krishna study together as children ...

'' (1936) * '' Usha Kalyanam'' (1936) * ''

'' (1937) * ''Mr. Ammanchi'' (1937) * ''Kowsalya Parinayam'' (1937) * ''

'' (1938) * '' Thyaga Bhoomi'' (1939) * ''

'' (1940) * ''

'' (1941) (Malayalam) * '' Ananthasayanam'' (1942) * '' Barthruhari'' (1944) * '' Maanasamrakshanam'' (1945) * '' Vikatayogi'' (1946) * ''

Vichitra Vanitha ''Vichitra Vanitha'' () is a 1947 Indian Tamil-language film produced and directed by Krishnaswami Subrahmanyam. The film stars B. S. Saroja and S. Krishnaswamy. Plot The story tells the fun and misunderstanding between people due to mistaken i ...

'' (1947) * ''Kapati Arakshakaya'' (1948) (Sinhalese) * ''

Gokuladasi ''Gokuladasi'' () is a 1948 Indian Tamil-language film directed and produced by K. Subrahmanyam. The film stars C. Honnappa Bhagavathar and M. V. Rajamma in lead roles, with T. R. Ramachandran, N. Krishnamurthi, Lalitha, and Padmini in supp ...

'' (1948) * '' Geetha Gandhi'' (1949)

References

External links

* * - A rare song sung by Subrahmanyam from the film Ananthasayanam (1942) {{DEFAULTSORT:Subrahmanyam, K. Film directors from Tamil Nadu Tamil film directors Tamil-language film directors Malayalam film directors 1904 births 1971 deaths People from Thanjavur district 20th-century Indian people Odia film directors