Sri Lankan Tamil cinema, the

Tamil language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of P ...

film industry in Sri Lanka, has remained relatively small with fewer than 100 films produced.Sri Lankan Tamil Cinema and the Search for a Distinct Identity
4 December 2013 by D.B.S. Jeyaraj (originally published in the Indian newsmagazine ''Frontline'' on 13–26 February 1999 Vol 16-No 04 as part of the Symposium on Sri Lanka’s Cultural Experience) The Tamil film industry in Sri Lanka is not as developed as

Sinhala cinema Sri Lankan cinema encompasses the Sri Lankan film industry. It is a fledgling industry that has struggled to find a footing since its inauguration in 1947 with ''Kadawunu Poronduwa'' produced by S. M. Nayagam of Chitra Kala Movietone. Sri Lanka ...

or its Indian counterpart, the

Tamil cinema 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 ''Kollywo ...

of Kodambakkam,

Chennai 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 ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

. There is much competition from Tamil films from

, India as well as obstacles from the long running ethnic civil war in Sri Lanka. Tamils contributed significantly to

as well as Indian

. Only a few

films were produced in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Earlier Tamil movies produced were all most destroyed or unrecovered due to civil war. A Sinhalese film was dubbed in Tamil on 29 December 1951. The movie Samuthayam (Society), an adaptation of

C.N. Annadurai Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai (15 September 1909 – 3 February 1969), popularly known as Anna also known as Arignar Anna or Perarignar Anna (''Anna, the scholar'' or ''Elder Brother''), was an Indian Tamil politician who served as the fo ...

’s ''Velaikkari'' was made in 16 mm and technicolor. It was shown in 1962 and 1963. Thottakkari (Plantation Woman), released on 28 March 1962, was the first Sri Lankan Tamil film in the standard 35 mm format. It included speeches by

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

s S. Thondaman and Azeez and was directed by Krishnakumar who also played the film's male lead. As a rebirth of Sri Lankan Tamil cinema a comedy / thriller movie ‘'

Komaali Kings ''Komaali Kings'' () is a 2018 Sri Lankan Tamil language black comedy thriller film written and directed by King Ratnam in his directorial debut and co-produced by Ganesh Deivanayagam, Bawadharani Rajasingham and R. Selvaskandan for Picture This ...

’' was announced on 23 January 2016. The team says "‘Komaali Kings’ is an attempt to rekindle and re-establish nostalgic memories of the hay days of Sri Lankan Tamil Cinema".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tamil Cinema Cinema of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan Tamil culture Tamil cinema

See also

References