Kovaithambi (born 28 November 1940) is an Indian film producer and politician who was active primarily in the 1980s, in

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 ''Kollywood' ...

Early life

Kovaithambi was born on 28 November 1940 to Perumal Udayar and Sunthayi Ammal, a farming couple belonging to the Udayar caste. He did his schooling at the R. S. Puram Corporation Boys Higher Secondary School, Coimbatore. During that period, he was fascinated by the speeches of politicians such as

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...

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 ...

M. Karunanidhi Muthuvel Karunanidhi (3 June 1924 – 7 August 2018) was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011. He was popularly referred to as Kalaignar (Art ...

E. V. K. Sampath Erode Venkatappa Krishnasamy Sampath( – 23 February 1977), usually referred to as ''E. V. K. Sampath'' was a prominent politician from Tamil Nadu, India. He was an advocate of the Dravidian Movement of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy and was conside ...

, V. R. Nedunchezhiyan,

Nanjil K. Manoharan Nanjil K. Manoharan (February 1929 – 1 August 2000) was an Indian politician and former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu. He was Tamil Nadu's minister of Finance during 1977–1980 and minister of Revenue during 1996–2000. ...

and

K. Anbazhagan Kalyanasundaram Anbazhagan (19 December 1922 – 7 March 2020) was an Indian Tamil politician. He was a long-standing leader of the Dravidian movement and was the General Secretary of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party (DMK) for nine terms. He h ...

. He also wrote and starred in many school plays.

Career

Politics

Kovaithambi joined the

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK) is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former chief mini ...

(AIADMK) when it was formed by M. G. Ramachandran. Between 1977 and 1986, Kovaithambi served as the AIADMK's Coimbatore District Secretary. From 1980 to 1984, he served as the

Perur Perur is a major residential neighbourhood and cultural hub of the city of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, India. It is located on the banks of Noyyal River, which divides the settlement into equal halves. History Perur had been a prominent trading ...

constituency MLA. Kovaithambi left the AIADMK in 1988, following the death of Ramachandran in 1987. As of 2009, Kovaithambi was the state executive president of the Tamil Nadu Parkava Kula Sangam (TNPKS), an "umbrella body for the Udayar, Moopanar and Nainar communities".

Cinema

In 1981, Kovaithambi established Motherland Pictures, and the first film produced by this company was R. Sundarrajan's directorial debut ''

Payanangal Mudivathillai ''Payanangal Mudivathillai'' (; ) is a 1982 Indian Tamil-language romance film written and directed by R. Sundarrajan. The film stars Mohan and Poornima Jayaram, with Rajini, S. Ve. Shekher, Poornam Viswanathan, Rajesh and Goundamani in supp ...

'' (1982), which became a silver jubilee hit; Kovaithambi was credited for the film's story. He went on to produce more commercially successful films in the 1980s including ''

Ilamai Kaalangal ''Ilamai Kaalangal'' () is a 1983 Indian Tamil-language film written and directed by Manivannan. The film stars Mohan, Sasikala and Rohini. It was released on 19 August 1983. Plot Rosie and Raghu are college mates that fall in love. Rosie ...

'' (1983), ''

Idaya Kovil ''Idaya Kovil'' () is a 1985 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language film directed by Mani Ratnam, starring Mohan (actor), Mohan, Ambika (actress), Ambika, Radha (actress), Radha and Goundamani. The score and soundtrack were composed by Ilaiyaraa ...

'' (1985), and ''

Udaya Geetham ''Udaya Geetham'' (; ) is a 1985 Indian Tamil-language thriller film directed by K. Rangaraj. The film stars Mohan, Lakshmi and Revathi, with Goundamani, Senthil, Anand Babu, and Prathapachandran in supporting roles. It revolves around a sing ...

'' (1985). After ''

Chembaruthi ''Chembaruthi'' () is a 1992 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by R. K. Selvamani and produced by Kovai Thambi. The film stars Prashanth and Roja (in her Tamil debut), while Mansoor Ali Khan, Nassar, Radha Ravi, ...

'' (1992), Kovaithambi took a sabbatical from producing. In 2008, he attempted a comeback with ''Yen Ippadi Mayakinay'', which ultimately never released; Kovaithambi's comeback film instead became ''

Uyirukku Uyiraga ''Uyirukku Uyiraga'' () is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language film directed by Vijaya Manojkumar and produced by Kovaithambi. The film stars Sanjeev, Sharan, Preethi Das and Nandhana. Cast * Sanjeev as Suriya * Sharran as Karthik * Preethi Das ...

'' (2014).

Personal life

Kovaithambi is married to Sita. Both are founders of Motherland Matriculation Higher Secondary School.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{IMDb name, id=1718065 1940 births Indian film producers Living people Tamil film producers Tamil Nadu politicians