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

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, nativ ...

and

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

, most of them directed by C. V. Sridhar. The company was founded by Sridhar, screenwriter Gopu (who later became known as Chithralaya Gopu), cinematographer A. Vincent 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'' 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 Balaia ...

'', 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 on ...

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 C. V. Rajendran (12 March 1937 – 1 April 2018) was an Indian film director and producer who worked in the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi film industries. He was a cousin of famous director C. V. Sridhar. Film career He worked ...

was an assistant director in Chithralaya before making his directorial debut with '' Anubavam Pudhumai'' by a different studio. ''

Thriveni ''Thriveni'' is a 1970 Indian Malayalam-language film, directed by A. Vincent and produced by C. V. Sridhar via Chitralaya, the company's only film in the language. The film stars Sathyan, Prem Nazir, Sharada, Savita G. Thampi and Kaviyoo ...

'' was the only Malayalam film produced by Chithralaya. ''

Uttharavindri Ulle Vaa ''Uttharavindri Ulle Vaa'' () is a 1971 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film, directed by N. S. Chakravarthi in his debut, produced by Sridhar and written by Gopu. The film features an ensemble cast including Ravichandran, Nagesh, Then ...

'', 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