Vauhini Studios was an Indian film

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and ...

and studio facility in

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 ...

. It was founded by

Moola Narayana Swamy Moola Narayana Swamy ( 20 August 1950) was an Indian businessman and film producer known for his works in Telugu cinema. He owned several businesses such as Rayalaseema Bank, Rayalaseema Textiles, Cuddapah Ceramics, Cuddapah Electric Company, o ...

and

B. N. Reddy Bommireddy Narasimha Reddy (16 November 1908 – 8 November 1977), professionally known as B. N. Reddy, was an Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He was an early figure in the Telugu cinema. Many of his earlier films like ''Vand ...

(Bommireddy Narasimha Reddy). In later years,

Nagi Reddi Bommireddy Nagi Reddi (2 December 1912 – 25 February 2004) was an Indian film producer and director mainly in Telugu cinema. He set up Vijaya Vauhini Studios in Chennai, which was then Asia's biggest film studio. As his elder brother (who was ...

, owner of Vijaya Productions, acquired Vauhini studios on lease. In 1961, Nagi Reddi purchased Vauhini Studios from Narayana Swamy's son

Moola Venkata Rangaiah Moola Venkata Rangaiah was an Indian film producer, known for his works in Telugu cinema, and Tamil cinema. He was the co-owner Vauhini Studios, along with his father Moola Narayana Swamy, which became one of the largest production companies ...

and merged it with his Vijaya Productions and named it as

Vijaya Vauhini Studios Vijaya Vauhini Studios was one of the premier motion picture movie studios in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is the combination of Vijaya Productions and Vauhini Studios. B. Nagi Reddy (Bommireddy Nagi Reddy) was the founder of Vijaya Produc ...

History

Rohini Pictures was formed by the partnership of

H. M. Reddy Hanumappa Muniappa Reddy (12 June 1892 – 14 January 1960), known as H. M. Reddy, was an Indian film director and producer, known for his works in Telugu cinema. He directed the first Indian multilingual sound film ''Kalidas'' (1931), shot in ...

along with

and

. The latter two had differences with H. M. Reddy and split themselves from Rohini Pictures and established Vauhini Pictures. Narayana Swamy was the Chairman and B. N. Reddy was the Managing Director the company.

K. V. Reddy Kadiri Venkata Reddy (1 July 1912 – 15 September 1972) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who primarily worked in Telugu cinema. He is considered as one of the greatest directors in the history of Telugu cinema. He d ...

, close friend of Narayana Swamy also joined Vauhini Pictures along with them and was also made a partner in the company. Films like ''

Vande Mataram ''Vande Mataram'' (Sanskrit: वन्दे मातरम् IAST: , also spelt ''Bande Mataram''; বন্দে মাতরম্, ''Bônde Mātôrôm''; ) is a poem written in sanskritised Bengali by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in the ...

'' (1939), ''Sumangali'' (1940), ''

Devatha ''Devata'' (pl: ''devatas'', meaning 'the gods') (Devanagari: देवता; Khmer: ទេវតា (''tevoda''); Thai: เทวดา (''tevada''); Javanese, Balinese, Sundanese, Malay: ''dewata''; Batak languages: ''debata'' (Toba) ...

'' (1941) were made on Vauhini Pictures banner in the direction of

K. V. Reddy directed '' Bhakta Pothana'' (1943) for the company as his maiden directorial venture. After the huge success of the film, Narayana Swamy who had interests in other business ventures focused on film production. He made a proposal to the board to confine Vauhini Pictures to

film distribution Film distribution (also known as Film exhibition or Film distribution and exhibition) is the process of making a movie available for viewing by an audience. This is normally the task of a professional film distributor, who would determine the marke ...

and start Vauhini Productions for film production. The proposal was approved, and Narayana Swamy invested 2

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2,2,3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. For ex ...

out of the total capital of 2.5 lakh. Rest of the 50,000 was provided by the family of B. N. Reddy and K. V. Reddy. It was decided that B. N. Reddy and K. V. Reddy would alternately direct films for the production house. When Vauhini Productions made '' Swargaseema'' (1945) as its first production under the direction of B. N. Reddy, K. V. Reddy worked as a production manager for the film. Later, K. V. Reddy directed ''

Yogi Vemana Vemana, popularly known as Yogi Vemana, was an Indian philosopher and poet in the Telugu language. His poems are known for their use of simple language and native idioms. They discuss the subjects of yoga, wisdom and morality. Early life and ...

'' (1947) under Vauhini Productions banner. Around the same time, Vauhini Productions' films were getting delayed due to lack of studio facilities. And so, they decided to build a studio of their own. Narayana Swamy invested the capital required for building the studio while B. N. Reddy took up the responsibility of managing the construction work. Thus, Vauhini Studios came into being. The first film produced by Vauhini Studios was ''

Gunasundari Katha ''Gunasundari Katha'' is a 1949 Indian Telugu language fantasy film produced and directed by K. V. Reddy, starring Sriranjani, Kasturi Siva Rao, Santha Kumari. The script was written by Pingali Nagendra Rao, K. V. Reddy, and Kamalakara Kameswa ...

'' (1949). Narayana Swamy's properties and businesses were seized due to income tax problems. He was fined around 30

. Vauhini studio was hence leased, to Vijaya Productions, to save it from income tax department's attachment. In 1961,

, the Managing Director of Vijaya Productions, purchased Vauhini Studios for 10 lakh from Narayana Swamy's son

and merged it with his Vijaya Productions and named it as

Films Produced

Vauhini Pictures * ''Vande Mataram'' (1939) * ''Sumangali'' (1940) * ''

'' (1941). * '' Bhakta Pothana'' (1943) Vauhini Productions * '' Swargaseema'' (1945) * ''

'' (1947) *

Vaddante Dabbu ''Vaddante Dabbu'' () is a 1954 Indian Telugu-language screwball comedy film directed by Y. R. Swamy. It was produced by Moola Narayana Swamy and presented by H. M. Reddy on Rohini Pictures banner. The film stars N. T. Rama Rao, Sowcar Janaki ...

* ''

'' (1949) * '' Malliswari'' (1951) * '' Pedda Manushulu'' (1954)

References

Bibliography

* Indian film studios Tamil cinema Telugu cinema Buildings and structures in Chennai Indian companies established in 1948 {{film-company-stub