salem top10 special Modern Theatres

While at Leeds, Sundaram was a frequent visitor to an English nobleman’s family. This friendship changed his lifestyle. Sundaram began using liquor and non-vegetarian food. This nobleman also introduced Sundaram to a filmmaker, who ignited in Sundaram a passion for cinema.

Meanwhile, Sundaram fell in love with Gladys, the daughter of the nobleman, and they got married. He completed his course, obtained the degree and returned to Salem along with his English wife. His very conservative relatives were reluctant to accept this relationship. And Sundaram was refused any role in the family business.

Sundaram was not frustrated. He decided to start a film studio. In 1936, he set up Modern Theatres, which went on to play a significant role in South Indian cinema. He bought equipment from Bombay Talkies and also managed to lure two technicians from there, S.Nottani, who was film editor and cameraman Bude Gushwalker, to work for him at Modern Theatres.

The first released film made at Modern Theaters was Sathi Ahalya, directed by Nottani. But, this film flopped. Sundaram’s financial position became precarious and he decided to sell out the studio to clear huge debts. That was when he happened to see an advertisement in The Hindu released by A. Sundaram Pillai for the Madras Malayali Association. This proved to be a turning point in Sundaram’s life.

A tie-up with Sundaram Pillai paved the way for Balan. The profit that Sundaram got from Balan helped him make a comeback to the film industry. Later, he produced and directed several films in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Sinhalese. A total of 96 films were produced at Modern Theaters of which 56 of them were directed by Sundaram. He also produced and directed the first Tamil colour movie Alibabavum Narpadhu Thirudargalum (1956). Sundaram was actively involved in the activities of the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce and later became its president.

After the first film Sundaram never had to experience financial failures. He remained a successful producer-director, financially stable, till his death on August 30, 1963.

Tamil Nadu’s trailblazing Modern Theatres studio spun romances, period dramas and colour films

The company initially made some of its films, including Draupadi Vastrapaharanam (1934), Dhruva (1935) and Nalla Thangal (1935), in Kolkata, since the South did not have as many production facilities as the North. Sundaram set up his own studio, The Modern Theatres Limited, in 1936 on the Yercaud Road on the outskirts of Salem. The first production was Sathi Ahalya (1937).

An early breakthrough for the studio was the PU Chinappa-MV Rajamma-TS Balaiah starrer Uttama Puthiram (1940). Based on Alexander Dumas’s The Man in the Iron Mask and a Hollywood film with the same name released in 1939, Uttama Puthiram saw singing star Chinnappa play a double role, one of the earliest of its kind in Tamil cinema. Sundaram managed to get away with a patriotic song based on Bharathi’s Senthamizh Naadenum Podhiniley even though the British had banned the Tamil poet’s works.

Modern Theatres went from strength to strength in the forties with such productions as Bhakta Gowri (1941), Arundati (1943), Burma Rani (1944), Chithra (1945), Sulochana (1946) and Athithan Kanavu (1948). Sundaram joined forces in 1948 with the American-born filmmaker Ellis R Dungan for Dungan’s final two Tamil films in India, Ponmudi (1949) and Manthiri Kumari (1950). Their collaboration, however, had mixed results. Ponmudi, a story of lovers (played by Madhuri Devi and Narasimha Bharathi) who overcome parental opposition, shocked audiences with its intimate scenes. In spite of the film being his strongest in India, Dungan was attacked for corrupting Tamil values.

Manthiri Kumari, three quarters of which was finished by Dungan before he returned to America and subsequently completed by Sundaram, fared better. The movie’s success was instrumental in boosting the chances of its lead actor and future superstar MG Ramachandran. Manthiri Kumari is based on a play by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi, who also wrote the screenplay and its rhetorical and alliterative dialogue. Manthiri Kumari is an early DMK movie that emphasises the party’s political ideology. The king is a puppet and the Brahmins, represented by the priest (MN Nambiar) and his son (SA Natarajan), are the villains. MGR typically played the loyal commander in chief and moral guardian of the kingdom’s subjects.

More interesting were the strong roles played by Madhuri Devi in Ponmudi and Manthiri Kumari. She initiates the romance in Ponmudi, runs away from home to trace her lover and leads a rescue party when he is kidnapped. In Manthiri Kumari, she matches swords with her villainous husband (Natarajan) and finally pushes him over a cliff when she realises that he is evil beyond repair.

Modern Theatres was involved with one of the earliest Indo-American co-productions, a sci-fi jungle adventure called The Jungle (1952). Dungan initiated the project as associate producer, and the film was shot entirely in India. Its indoor scenes were shot on the studio lot itself, while outdoor sequences were filmed in Mysore, Yercaud and Hogenakkal. The Jungle starred Hollywood actors Rod Cameron, Marie Windsor and Cesar Romero along with MN Nambiar, David Abraham and Hindi silent movie star Sulochana.

Although Modern Theatres mainly supplied escapist entertainment, Sundaram always had an eye on the future. Modern Theatres did not only produce the first Malayalam talkie, Balan (1938), but also the first colour films in Tamil (#Alibabavum40 #Thirudargalum #in1955) and Malayalam (Kandam Becha Court in 1961). Alibabavum 40 Thirudargalum, based on the Arabian Nights tale, blended melodious songs, exciting fighting scenes and a suspenseful climax. Apart from MGR and Bhanumathi in the lead roles, the movie also boasts of a memorable villainous turn by PS Veerappa as the heartless Abu Hussain. Waheeda Rehman made one of her earliest appearance on film here in a dance number, Salaam Babu.

#Alibabavum40 #Thirudargalum #in1955

Sundaram died in 1963 at the age of 56. His son, R Sundaram, took over the studio. The Tamil film industry had by then entirely moved to Chennai, but Modern Theatres held its own in Salem. The highlight of the films produced during this period were the James Bond-inspired spy thrillers such as Vallavan Oruvan (1966) and its sequel CID Shankar (1970), starring Jaikishankar.

Modern Theatres’ last production was Vetri Namathe (1982). A construction firm took over the studio premises, and a housing complex has replaced one of the greatest dream factories of Tamil cinema. Only the iconic arch remains.