Batlagundu Subramanian Ramiah (24 March 1905 – 18 May 1983) was a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

writer, journalist, and critic from

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

, India. He was also a script and dialogue writer in

Tamil film 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 ''Kollywood' ...

Biography

B. S. Ramiah was born in

Batlagundu Batlagundu is a town in Nilakottai block in Dindigul district in the Madurai Region state of Tamil Nadu, India. The name Vetrilaikkundru (Betel leaf hill) later transformed and changed to Vathalagundu. The town is the major gateway to Kodaika ...

in 1905. He came to

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 ...

in 1921. He was involved in the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

and was jailed for his participation in the

Salt Satyagraha The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi. The twenty-four day march lasted from 12 March to 6 April 1930 as a di ...

. His first short story ''Malarum Manamum'' (lit. The flower and the scent) was published in ''

Ananda Vikatan ''Ananda Vikatan'' is a Tamil-language weekly magazine published from Chennai, India. History and profile ''Ananda Vikatan'' was started by Late Pudhoor Vaidyanadhaiyar in February 1926 as a monthly publication. The issue for December 1927 wa ...

'' in 1933 (it won third prize in the magazine's short story competition). He worked in the literary magazine ''Manikodi'' and was a writer in the literary movement of the same name. He was a contemporary of ''

Manikodi ''Manikkodi'' was a Tamil non-fiction literary weekly that was published from 1933 to 1939. Founded by Stalin Srinivasan, V. Ramaswami Iyengar and T. S. Chockalingam, the magazine was noted for its expertly-written articles by eminent authors l ...

'' writers like C. S. Chellappa, Va. Ramasamy,

Pudumaipithan C. Viruthachalam (25 April 1906 – 30 June 1948), better known by the pseudonym Pudhumaipithan (also spelt as Pudumaipithan or Puthumaippiththan), was one of the most influential and revolutionary writers of Tamil fiction. His works were charac ...

and Ku. Pa. Rajagopalan. During 1935–38 and later briefly in the 1950s he ran the magazine himself. He has written a number of short stories, novels and plays. According to C. S. Chellappa Ramiah wrote 304 short stories in total. Most of his plays were written for S. V. Sahasranamam's "Seva Stage" drama troupe. His works have been published in ''Ananda Vikatan'', ''

Kalki Kalki ( sa, कल्कि), also called Kalkin or Karki, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. He is described to appear in order to end the Kali Yuga, one of the four periods in the endless cycle of exist ...

'', ''

Kumudam ''Kumudam'' is a Tamil weekly magazine published in Chennai, India. It was founded in 1948 by S.A.P. Annamalai, and his close friend and confidante P.V. Parthasarathy. Now the magazine is published under the Kumudam Group, which also publishes ...

'', ''

Dina Mani ''Dinamani'' is a Tamil daily newspaper. The newspaper was established in 1933 and is owned by The New Indian Express Group. The first edition was published on 11 September. It is printed and published from Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Dharm ...

'', ''Gandhi'', ''Jeyakodi''. In 1982, he was awarded the

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

for

for his literary history of the ''Manikodi'' movement – ''Manikodikalam'' (lit. The Manikodi Era).Tamil Sahitya Akademi Awards 1955–2007

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...

Official website. He also wrote a number of original screenplays for Tamil films and a few of his works were also made into films.

Partial bibliography

Non-fiction

* ''Manikodikalam'' (literary history) * ''Cinema...?'' (1943)

Plays

* ''Therotti magan'' * ''Policekaaran maga1'' * ''President Panchatcharam'' (adaptation of

Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...

's ''

The Government Inspector ''The Government Inspector'', also known as ''The Inspector General'' ( rus, links=no, Ревизор, Revizor, literally: "Inspector"), is a satirical play by Russian dramatist and novelist, Nikolai Gogol. Originally published in 1836, the pla ...

'') * ''Malliyam Mangalam'' * ''Poovilangu'' * ''Panjali sabadham'' * ''Kalappali''

Novels

* ''Vithiyin vilayattu komala'' * ''Kailasa Iyerin kedumathi'' * ''Premaharaam'' * ''Nandha Vilakku'' * ''Thinai vidaithavan'' * ''Sandhaipettai''

Filmography

* ''Boologa Rambai'' (1940) * ''

Madanakamarajan ''Madana Kama Rajan'' () is a 1941 Indian Tamil-language adventure film directed by B. N . Rao and produced by S. S. Vasan. It was the first film for Vasan as producer for Dindugal Amirtham Talkies. Plot ''Madana Kama Rajan'' is tale of the adv ...

'' (1941) * ''Baktha Naradhar'' (1942) * ''Kubera Kusela'' (1943) * ''Paranjothi'' (1945) * ''Saalivahan'' (1945) * ''Arthanaari'' (1946) * ''Visithira Vanidha''(1947) * ''Dhana Amaravathi'' (1947) * ''Mahatma Udangkar'' (1947) * ''

Devadasi In India, a devadasi was a female artist who was dedicated to the worship and service of a deity or a temple for the rest of her life. The dedication took place in a ceremony that was somewhat similar to a marriage ceremony. In addition to taki ...

'' (1948) * ''Rathan Kumar'' (1949) * ''Maaya Rambai'' (1952) * ''

Amar Amar may refer to: People Given name * Amar (British singer) (born 1982), British Indian singer born Amar Dhanjal * Amar (Lebanese singer) (born 1986), born Amar Mahmoud Al Tahech * Amar Bose (1929–2013), Founder of Bose Corporation * Amar Gup ...

'' (1954) * ''

President Panchatcharam ''President Panchaksharam'' is a 1959 Indian Tamil-language comedy film directed by A. Bhimsingh and written by B. S. Ramiah. It is based on the play of the same name written by Ramiah, itself adapted from the 1836 play ''The Government Inspecto ...

'' (1959) * ''Raja Magudam'' (1960) *''

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 7 ...

'' (1962) * ''

Panathottam ''Panathottam'' () is a 1963 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by K. Shankar. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran and B. Saroja Devi. It was released on 11 January 1963. Plot Selvam is arrested on a false charge of passing coun ...

'' (1963)