# Pakshiraja Studios

Pakshiraja Studios was a motion picture movie studio in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India, established by S. M. Sriramulu Naidu in 1945. The studio predominantly produced movies in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam languages, also having made one Kannada film. The studio had major releases in the 1950s and early 1960s and is well known for some blockbusters of the times.

## History

During the early 1930s, Coimbatore became a hub for some of the south Indian language movies, especially Tamil and Telugu, when the director Naidu and other industrialists started Central Studios. Naidu became the creative head and started making his own movies under the banner of Pakshiraja Films. By the early 1930s, another movie studio, Premier Cinetone Studio was under operation in Red Fields, Coimbatore. In 1945, Naidu left Central Studios and took over the Premier Cinetone Studio located in Puliyakulam Road, Red Fields, Coimbatore. He constructed new floors and infrastructure and made it a fully-fledged movie studio with in-house processing lasoratories.

## Popular movies

The most popular films from that studio was Malaikkallan (1955), starring M. G. R and P. Bhanumathi, and Azaad (1955) starring Dilip Kumar and Meena Kumari, which was the highest grossing film in Bollywood for that year, as well as Kumar and Kumari's first in lighter roles as against their tragic roles in most other movies. Malaikkallan was M. G. Ramachandran's first major box office hit.

## Present status

Movie production in the studio slowly declined since mid 1960s. With Central Studios going out of movie industry some time earlier and declining production at Salem Modern Theaters, Chennai has become the de facto capital for the south Indian movie industry. In 1970, Sriramulu relocated his studio facilities to establish Chamundeshwari Studios in Bangalore.
The studio premises and structures still remain more or less intact with several other establishments housed inside.

## List of movies

Movies listed here are partial list only.
| Year | Title | Language | Cast | Director | Music composer | Others |
| 1947 | Kannika | Tamil | M. S. Sarojini, T. E. Varadan, M. R. Santhanalakshmi, D. Balasubramaniam, N. S. Krishnan, Kali N. Rathnam, T. A. Madhuram | S. M. Sriramulu Naidu | Papanasam Sivan | Story and dialogue by Elangovan |
| 1949 | Pavalakodi | Tamil | T. R. Rajakumari, T. R.Mahalingam, T. E. Varadhan, M. S. Sarojini, N. S. Krishnan, T. A. Madhuram | S. M. Sriramulu Naidu | C. R. Subburaman | Story and dialogue by Elangovan |
| 1950 | Ezhai Padum Padu | Tamil | V. Nagayya, Serukulathur Sama, T. S. Balaiah, V. Gopalakrishnan, T. S. Durairaj, Lalitha and Padmini, Kumari N. Rajam. (a.k.a. Thanjavur N. Rajalakshmi) | K. Ramnoth | S. M. Subbaiah Naidu | Lyrics by Papanasam Sivan, dialogue by Elangovan |
| 1950 | Beedala Paatlu | Telugu | V. Nagayya, Serukalathur Sama, T. S. Balaiah, V. Gopalakrishnan, T. S. Durairaj, Lalitha and Padmini, Kumari N. Rajam. (a.k.a. Thanjavur N. Rajalakshmi) | K. Ramnoth | S. M. Subbaiah Naidu | |
| 1952 | Kanchana | Tamil] | K. R. Ramasamy, Lalitha, Padmini, Duraiswamy, Miss Kumari, Aranmula Ponnamma, T. S. Durairaj | S. M. Sriramulu Naidu | S. M. Subbaiah Naidu | |
| 1952 | Kanchana | Telugu | K. R. Ramasamy, Lalitha, Padmini, Duraiswamy, Miss Kumari, Aranmula Ponnamma, T. S. Durairaj | S. M. Sriramulu Naidu | S. M. Subbaiah Naidu | |
| 1952 | Kanjana | Malayalam | K. R. Ramasamy, Lalitha, Padmini, Duraiswamy, Miss Kumari, Aranmula Ponnamma, T. S. Durairaj | S. M. Sriramulu Naidu | S. M. Subbaiah Naidu | |
| 1952 | Puratchi Veeran (dubbed from Hindi movie Badal) | Tamil | Madhubala, Prem Nath, Purnima, Agha | Amiya Chakravarty | Shankar Jaikishan | Distribution only |
| 1953 | Ponni | Tamil | Sriram, Lalitha and Padmini | A. S. A. Sami and C. S. Rao | S. M. Subbaiah Naidu | |
| 1953 | Oka Talli Pillalu | Telugu | Sriram, Lalitha and Padmini | A. S. A. Sami and C. S. Rao | S. M. Subbaiah Naidu | |
| 1954 | Malaikkallan | Tamil | M. G. Ramachandran, P. Bhanumathi | S. M. Sriramulu Naidu | S. M. Subbaiah Naidu | Story based on the novel by Namakkal Kavignar Va. Ramalingam Pillai. The movie was the first blockbuster hit for Ramachandran, establishing him as a major star. |
| 1954 | Aggi Ramudu | Telugu | N. T. Rama Rao, P. Bhanumathi, R. Nageswara Rao | S. M. Sriramulu Naidu | S. M. Subbaiah Naidu | Story based on the novel by Namakkal Kavignar Va. Ramalingam Pillai |
| 1954 | Azaad | Hindi | Dilip Kumar, Meena Kumari, Pran, Om Prakash | S. M. Sriramulu Naidu | C. Ramchandra | Story based on the novel by Namakkal Kavignar Va. Ramalingam Pillai, Hindi lyrics by Rajendra Krishen. The film was the top grossing Hindi film in the year of its release, and one of the biggest Hindi films in the 1950s. |
| 1954 | ..Thaskaraveeran.. | Malayalam | Thikkurisi Sukumaran Nair | S. M. Sriramulu Naidu | S. M. Subbaiah Naidu | Story based on the novel by Namakkal Kavignar Va. Ramalingam Pillai. |
| 1957 | Bettada Kalla | Kannada | Kalyan Kumar | S. M. Sriramulu Naidu | S. M. Subbaiah Naidu | Story based on the novel by Namakkal Kavignar Va. Ramalingam Pillai. |
| 1959 | Maragatham | Tamil | Sivaji Ganesan, Veenai S. Balachander, Sandhya, Padmini, T. S. Durairaj, T. S. Balaiah, J. P. Chandrababu, C. Lakshmi Rajyam | S. M. Sriramulu Naidu | S. M. Subbaiah Naidu | Dialogue by Murasoli Maran, cinematography by Sailen Bose, art direction by A. K. Sekhar |
| 1960 | Vimala | Telugu | N. T. Rama Rao, K. Savithri | S. M. Sriramulu Naidu | S. M. Subbaiah Naidu | |
| 1961 | Sabarimala Ayyappan | Malayalam | | S. M. Sriramulu Naidu | S. M. Subbaiah Naidu | National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam: Certificate of Merit for Third Best Feature Film in Malayalam |
| 1963 | Kalyaniyin Kanavan | Tamil | Sivaji Ganesan, B. Saroja Devi, M. R. Radha | S. M. Sriramulu Naidu | S. M. Subbaiah Naidu | |