K. T. Kunjumon (born 15 November 1953) is an Indian film producer and writer, politician active 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
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...
films. He began his career co-producing several Malayalam films, often working with director
P. G. Viswambharan
Plamthottathil Gangadharan Viswambharan (1947 – 16 June 2010) was an Indian film director who worked in Malayalam cinema. Viswambharan directed 63 Malayalam films, in a career spanning close to four decades.
Career
For a decade, P. G. Vi ...
. His first
Kollywood
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' ...
project,
Pavithran's
Suriyan
''Surieyan'' () is a 1992 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Pavithran, and produced by K. T. Kunjumon. The film, starring Sarathkumar and Roja, revolves around IPS officer Surieyan who is forced to flee after being fr ...
as
Sarathkumar
Sarathkumar Ramanathan (born 14 July 1954) is an Indian actor, politician, filmmaker, and singer. He has acted in more than 130 Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. He has won two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and three Filmfare Awards S ...
's first solo lead role was a success. Kunjumon's second venture,
S. Shankar
Shankar Shanmugam (born 17 August 1963), credited as S. Shankar or his mononym Shankar, is an Indian filmmaker who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. He is one of the most prolific and highest paid film directors in India. His films typicall ...
's directorial debut ''
Gentleman
A gentleman (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man) is any man of good and courteous conduct. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the ra ...
'' was a major success and set several records for Tamil film production. His subsequent films, ''
Kaadhalan'' (1994) and ''
Kadhal Desam
''Kadhal Desam'' () is a 1996 Indian Tamil-language action romance film written and directed by Kathir and produced by K. T. Kunjumon. The film starred Vineeth and debutant Abbas in the main leads, along with actress Tabu (in her Tamil debut ...
'' (1996) were also successful, while ''
Ratchagan
''Ratchagan'' () is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language romantic action film written, produced by K. T. Kunjumon, and directed by Praveen Gandhi. It stars Nagarjuna and Sushmita Sen, alongside Raghuvaran, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Vadivelu and Gir ...
'' (1997) became the most expensive Tamil film ever made on release.
Career
After finishing his school education, Kunjumon worked in the travel agency business and then the hotel industry, before he became a film producer. He entered to film industry as a distributor and distributed approximately 350 films in different languages, in Tamil and Malayalam. He dubbed many films from Tamil to Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi. He produced Malayalam films in the late 1980s and began to produce Tamil films from 1991. He owned the film production company A.R.S.Movies Pvt Ltd. His debut Tamil film as producer was ''Vasanthakala Paravai'' (1991) which became successful, he then went on to produce successful big-budgeted flicks such as ''
Suriyan
''Surieyan'' () is a 1992 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Pavithran, and produced by K. T. Kunjumon. The film, starring Sarathkumar and Roja, revolves around IPS officer Surieyan who is forced to flee after being fr ...
'' (1992), ''
Gentleman
A gentleman (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man) is any man of good and courteous conduct. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the ra ...
'' (1993), ''
Kadhalan
''Kadhalan'' ( ) is a 1994 Indian Tamil-language romantic thriller film written and directed by S. Shankar and produced by K. T. Kunjumon. The film stars Prabhu Deva and Nagma (in her major Tamil cinema debut), while Vadivelu, Raghuvaran, ...
'' (1994) and ''
Kadhal Desam
''Kadhal Desam'' () is a 1996 Indian Tamil-language action romance film written and directed by Kathir and produced by K. T. Kunjumon. The film starred Vineeth and debutant Abbas in the main leads, along with actress Tabu (in her Tamil debut ...
'' (1996).
Kunjumon was well known for suggesting director
S. Shankar
Shankar Shanmugam (born 17 August 1963), credited as S. Shankar or his mononym Shankar, is an Indian filmmaker who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. He is one of the most prolific and highest paid film directors in India. His films typicall ...
to rewrite the climax of ''Gentleman'' based on the assassination of former Sri Lankan President
Ranasinghe Premadasa
Sri Lankabhimanya Ranasinghe Premadasa ( si, රණසිංහ ප්රේමදාස ''Raṇasiṃha Premadāsa'', ta, ரணசிங்க பிரேமதாசா ''Raṇaciṅka Pirēmatācā''; 23 June 1924 – 1 May 1993) was t ...
, much to the dissatisfaction of Arjun, who felt that his heroism would get diluted. However, Kunjumon was adamant about the climax and it was shot as per his wish.
In 1990, he was appointed as Kerala AIADMK State Secretary by
J. Jayalalithaa.
Kunjumon announced a venture titled ''Kodiesvaran'' in 1996, which would mark the acting debut of his son, Eby Kunjumon. The film started production the following year with Eby appearing alongside
Simran
Simran (Gurmukhi: ਸਿਮਰਨ; hi, सिमरण, सिमरन ; from Sanskrit: , ''smaraṇa'', 'to remember, reminisce, recollect'), in spirituality, is a Sanskrit word referring to the continuous remembrance of the finest aspect of ...
, with Hindi actress
Karisma Kapoor
Karisma Kapoor (born 25 June 1974) is an Indian actress, who works in Hindi films. A member of the Kapoor family, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Film Award and four Filmfare Awards.
Kapoor made her acting de ...
making a guest appearance in an
item number
In Indian cinema, an item number or item song is a musical number inserted into a film that may or may not have any relevance to the plot. The term is commonly used within Indian films (Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, and Be ...
. The film's music album and trailer were released in early 1999, but Kunjumon's financial troubles meant that the film failed to have a theatrical release. Likewise, a proposed project titled ''En Idhayathil Nee'' starring Eby opposite
Shalini
Shalini (born 20 November 1979), also known as Baby Shalini, is a former Indian child artist and actress who predominantly worked in Malayalam and Tamil films. During the 80s, Shalini was the most successful child artist in the Malayalam film i ...
did not begin production despite being announced in late 1998. Another production titled ''Swasam'' was launched with Eby and
Priyanka Trivedi
Priyanka Upendra (née Trivedi) is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Kannada Language films.
Early life
Priyanka was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata). Her mother is from West Bengal and father from Uttar Pradesh. She spent ten yea ...
, and began filming schedules in 2001, but also failed to complete work. In 2005, he contemplated remaking ''
Thotti Jaya
''Thotti Jaya'' is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language gangster drama film written and directed by Durai and produced by Kalaipuli Dhanu. The film stars Silambarasan and Gopika, while Pradeep Rawat (in his Tamil debut) essays a supporting role. The s ...
'' (2005) in Telugu with Eby in the lead role, but later opted against making the venture.
Kunjumon's last two released films are the
Vijay-starrers ''
Nilaave Vaa
''Nilaave Vaa'' () is a 1998 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by A. Venkatesh and produced by K. T. Kunjumon. The film stars Vijay and Suvalakshmi in the main lead roles, while Sanghavi, Raghuvaran and Manivannan play oth ...
'' (1998) and ''
Endrendrum Kadhal
''Endrendrum Kadhal'' () is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written, directed and co-produced by Manoj Bhatnagar. The film stars Vijay and Rambha with Raghuvaran, Nizhalgal Ravi, Bhanupriya, Radha Ravi, Charle, and Dham ...
'' (1999), both of which costed less than his previous venture, ''
Ratchagan
''Ratchagan'' () is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language romantic action film written, produced by K. T. Kunjumon, and directed by Praveen Gandhi. It stars Nagarjuna and Sushmita Sen, alongside Raghuvaran, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Vadivelu and Gir ...
''. In an interview in 2006, Kunjumon lamented the failure of the two films starring Vijay for his bankruptcy, stating he lost 1.5 and 1.75 crore rupees respectively on those two projects and added that Vijay's father
S. A. Chandrasekhar had gone back on an agreement they had made about the rights of the films. The producer announced a comeback in 2008 and began working on a film titled ''Kathalukku Maranamillai'', also operating as the film's script-writer. Starring rookie actors Tejas,
Meera Nandan
Meera Nandan is an Indian actress who appears mainly in Malayalam films. She also appeared in a few Tamil and Telugu films.
Early life
Meera Nandan was born as Meera Nandakumar on 26 November 1990 as the daughter of Nandakumar and Maya at P ...
and
Madalasa Sharma
Madalsa M Chakraborty (born 26 September 1991) is an Indian film and television actress best known for portraying Kavya Shah in Star Plus's ''Anupamaa''.
Personal life
Madalsa Sharma was born to actress Sheela Sharma and film producer and di ...
, the film was completed in 2009 but did not have theatrical release.
In an interview in 2018, Kunjumon said that he might no longer be able to replicate his film world successes of the 1990s, citing as reasons a string of failed projects and changes in the world of film production world that meant individual film producers no longer got the respect they deserved. He however added that he was happy that the people he had introduced to the film world had become successful and wished them well.
Filmography
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunjumon, K. T.
Tamil film producers
1953 births
Living people
Indian film producers