Category: Classic Kovai

The women of Coimbatore were ahead of their times. They were hard working, innovative and result oriented. These women came from all walks of life. Some of them were street vendors and quite a few were flower vendors. Quite a few were tailors, food vendors as well. Many working women added to the lustre of their families in our region. This article hopes to illuminate the memories of the citizens by recalling a few of the fabulous and interesting women who added to the beauty of Coimbatore. Coimbatore had come…

TiE’s (The Indus Entrepreneurs) Holds Coimbatore Vizha It’s celebration time for Coimbatoreans as TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs), Coimbatore chapter is hosting the Coimbatore Vizha to showcase the different facets of Coimbatore’s entrepreneurship. Looking back the stalwarts, who were responsible for making the city to be what it is now is always fascinating. Coimbatore has been an entrepreneurial centre for thousands of years. The entrepreneurs of this region exported fabrics, jewellery and agricultural implements to Rome during the heydays of the Sangam Era. They maintained the trade routes, permitted the Romans…

The poetess divine ‘Andal’ has been an integral part of our culture. She has enriched the Tamil language with her ‘Thiruppavai’. The thirty verses (Thiruppavai) have been part of our lore for centuries. Come ‘Marghazi’ and a number of devotees recite the Thiruppavai on an everyday basis. Long ago, the women of the household used to make tiny cones made of cow dung and place them on a tiny pedestal on every successive day of the Tamil month of Marghazi. Later, the cow dung was made into patties and dried.…

Scenes Were Picturised At Ratnalaya Bungalow @ Race Course Not many are aware that Sivaji-Padmini starrer thriller movie ‘Maragatham’ was made in Coimbatore. Based on ‘Karunkuyil Kunrathu Kolai’ by T.S.D.Sami novel is story knot for the movie. The film had Balachander, Sandya and Chandrababu in the cast and produced by S.M.Sriramulu Naidu, K.R.Sreenivasan, N.Nagasubramaniyam and written by (dialogues) Murasoli Maran. The screenplay and direction was by S.M.Sriramulu Naidu while the music was by S.M.Subbiah Naidu. Shailen Bose had done the cinematography and the movie was edited by Velusamy. It was…

The Central Studios Limited was purchased from R.K.Ramakrishnan Chettiar in the year 1940 by B.Rangaswamy Naidu of Rajalakshmi Mills. He was the only son of R.Bhima Naidu, a leading agriculturist and mill owner. The guarantees of R.Bhima Naidu and B.Rangaswamy Naidu brought in a number of ventures in Coimbatore. Their contribution to the textile industry and the world of cinema is immeasurable. B.Rangaswamy Naidu had got the studio at an attractive price and he put in S.M.Sriramulu Naidu as the Administrator. Dr.S.Srihari, the son of S.M. Sriramulu Naidu used to…

‘Haridas’ created a record of the sorts witnessing three Diwalis from 1944. And Coimbatore takes pride in being filmed at famed Central Studios and the blockbuster movie was directed by Sundar Rao Nadkarni with M.K.Thyagaraja Bhagavathar in the lead role. (The first Super Star of Tamil cinema). The Konkani Brahmin Sundar Rao Nadkarni belonged to Mangalore. He was a busy film maker during the formative years of Indian cinema. Nadkarni began by being a part of Bengaluru based Surya Films, a well known silent movie venture. Subsequently, he moved to…

Jupiter Pictures is among the six companies which created the path for Tamil cinema. The founders, Somasundaram and S.K.Mohideen had an interesting start. Somasundaram or Somu hailed from a mercantile family in Tirupur and his family had been running a prosperous venture. Mohideen known as SK hailed from Keeranur near Madurai. SK, worked in the venture which belonged to the family of Somu and both of them became good friends. They went on to create history by establishing Jupiter Pictures and were therefore known as the ‘Jupiter Twins’. Somu was…

Not many are aware of the fact that Coimbatore was a citadel for movie making. And there were stalwarts whose untiring efforts kept the city alive. Of them P Ramasamy is one of those, whose camera spoke volumes about movies made in this industrial city. Pappaiyya Naidu worked in the Police department for a number of years. His wife Muniyamma was a hard working go getter and she had installed the icon of ‘Muniyappan’ in the police quarters long ago. The couple had ten children – five boys and five…

Golden Era of Premier Cinetone, Kandhan Studios The success of Swamikannu Vincent buoyed many to enter the world of cinema. A number of producers including Vincent, A.N.Marudachalam Chettiar and P.Ramaswamy had to produce their movies in far away Kolkatta and Mumbai. They did so because the studio owners of Chennai just simply refused to let others make movies in their studios. Those were times when a number of studios like Srinivasa Cinetone founded by A.Narayanan would make their own movies in their own studios. This perhaps egged a couple of…

A Boon For Management Institutes To Do A Case Study On Bungalow Management Coimbatore was always known for its unique and innovative management practices. The entrepreneurs of this region used to adopt unconventional methods for managing their enterprises in a time saving and cost effective manner. Chroniclers have written about many of these traits and the earliest to do so was perhaps Nilkan Perumal who had written a number of books including ‘Tamils of Today’ in the year 1957. Fifteen prominent Tamils were featured in this book and the only…