Gheetha Ammasee, best known by her stage name "Punnagai Poo" Gheetha, is a Malaysian

radio personality A radio personality is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host (North American English), radio presenter (British English) or radio jockey. Radio personali ...

, film producer and

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

, who works in Malaysia and the

Tamil film industry Tamil cinema is the segment of cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to the production of Film, motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the nam ...

in India. Gheetha gained popularity as a radio jockey at the Malaysian radio station

THR Raaga Raaga (formerly THR Raaga, stylised as raaga) is a Malaysian Tamil-language radio station operated by Astro Radio. In 2015, as according to Nielsen RAM Survey Wave #1, THR Raaga maintained its position as Malaysia's leading Tamil-language stati ...

, before launching her own film production studio and venturing into Tamil cinema, becoming recognized as the first female producer from Malaysia. She has also worked as a host for various events and acted in several kollywood films as well as a Malaysian film.

Career

Gheetha Ammasee was born in an Indian Malaysian Tamil family in

Taiping, Perak Taiping () is a town located in Larut, Matang and Selama District, Perak, Malaysia. It is located approximately northwest of Ipoh, the capital of Perak, and southeast of George Town, Penang, George Town, Penang. With a population of 245,18 ...

, Malaysia as the daughter of a plantation owner. She started off as a host on the Malaysian television channel

NTV7 Natseven TV Sdn Bhd, operating as NTV7 is a Malaysian free-to-air television channel owned by Media Prima, Media Prima Berhad. The third private commercial TV station in Malaysia, the network focused on the urban area with various types of ...

on a show called ''Rhythm And Raaga'', before starting her career as a radio jockey at the Malaysian Tamil radio station,

. She has been working at THR Raaga since its inception. Besides her work in radio, she did hosting jobs, produced

telefilm A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a terrestr ...

s and opened her own advertising company called SG. During her time at THR Raaga, she acquired the

sobriquet A sobriquet ( ) is a descriptive nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another. A sobriquet is distinct from a pseudonym in that it is typically a familiar name used in place of a real name without the need for explanation; it may beco ...

''"Punnagai Poo"'', which is Tamil for "smiling flower". Gheetha came to India and established a film production studio named SG Films to produce the film ''

Arinthum Ariyamalum ''Arinthum Ariyamalum'' () is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language crime action film written and directed by Vishnuvardhan. It stars Navdeep, Arya, Prakash Raj, and Sameksha, while Adithya, Sangili Murugan, Krishna, and Yog Japee play pivotal roles. ...

'', directed by Vishnuvardhan, a family friend of hers. She had to release the film on her own since distributors did not have faith in a foreign investor and woman producer. The film became a commercial success, having collected twice its cost at the box office, and ran for 175 days at theatres, while Gheetha got an entry in the

Malaysian Book Of Records The Malaysia Book of Records (or MBR) is a Malaysian project to publish records set or broken by Malaysians. The project complements Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's ' Malaysia Boleh!' (''Malaysia Can!'' in English) campaign. As with the Guinness ...

for being the "first female Tamil movie producer to have produced a Tamil movie in India". Gheetha next funded ''

Kundakka Mandakka ''Kundakka Mandakka'' is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language comedy film directed by Ashokan and produced by SG Films. The film stars Parthiban, Vadivelu, Raai Laxmi, and Mallika. The music was composed by Bharadwaj, while editing was done by Suresh Ur ...

'', a low-budget comedy flick with R. Parthipan and

Vadivelu Kumaravadivel Natarajan (born 12 September 1960) known professionally as Vadivelu, is an Indian actor, comedian and occasional playback singer, having acted mainly in Tamil cinema. He has at least 290 credits to his name. He was a recipient of ...

in the principal roles, through which she was able to introduce five Malaysians actors in Tamil cinema, after which she and Vishnuvardhan decided to collaborate again on the director's next project, ''

Pattiyal ''Pattiyal'' () is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language crime thriller film written and directed by Vishnuvardhan and produced by Punnagai Poo Gheetha. It stars Bharath, Arya, Pooja Umashankar, and Padmapriya Janakiraman while Cochin Haneefa and Sant ...

'', which emerged a financial success, too. After ''Pattiyal'', she took a break from Indian cinema and returned to her job in Malaysia. She co-hosted the ''

Enthiran ''Enthiran'' () is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language science fiction action film co-written and directed by S. Shankar. It is the first instalment in the ''Enthiran'' film series. The film stars Rajinikanth in dual lead roles as a scientist and th ...

'' soundtrack release function held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia alongside actor Vivek in 2010. After a sabbatical of five years, she returned to film production with '' Narthagi'', a drama about

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

people featuring all newcomers, in which she was also seen in a short role. The next year, she produced the female-centric '' Oru Nadigaiyin Vaakkumoolam'' starring

Sonia Agarwal Sonia Agarwal is an Indian actress known for her works predominantly in Tamil cinema and a few Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. She is best known for her performances in films '' Kaadhal Kondein'' (2003), ''7G Rainbow Colony'' (2004) and ' ...

, which featured Gheetha in a lengthier supporting role as a journalist, for which she shot for seven days. She then took on her first lead role in the Malaysian Tamil film ''Maindhan''. Although she had played cameos and supporting roles in her earlier productions, she said that she was not "very much interested" in acting. When director C. Kumaresan offered her the lead female role in ''Maindhan'', she declined initially and went on to dodge Kumaresan for a week before he managed to convince her. Playing an event manager in the film, Gheetha also performed stunts by herself, getting injured in the process. ''Maindhan'' went on to become the highest grossing locally produced Tamil film of all time in Malaysia and saw a theatrical release in India as well; Gheetha was later given the

Edison Award The Edison Award is an annual Dutch music prize awarded for outstanding achievements in the music industry. It is comparable to the American Grammy Award. The Edison award itself is a bronze replica of a statuette of Thomas Edison, designed by ...

in India for Best Overseas Artist. She has co-produced two films, '' Sivappu'' along with Muktha Entertainment, a film revolving around Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu. and '' Kaaval'', in which she also played the female lead for which Malaysian Book of Records gave her an award as the first Malaysian to play the lead in an Indian movie.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gheetha, Punnagai Poo Living people People from Perak Malaysian film actresses Malaysian radio personalities Malaysian film producers Malaysian women film producers Malaysian people of Indian descent Malaysian people of Tamil descent Year of birth missing (living people) Tamil film producers Malaysian expatriate actresses in India Actresses in Tamil cinema 21st-century Malaysian actresses