Cinema of South India

The Cinema of South India is used to refer collectively to the five film industries of South India, the Tamil, the Telugu, the Kannada, the Malayalam, and the Tulu film industries, as a single entity. They are based in Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kochi and Mangalore respectively.

Although developed independently for a long period of time, gross exchange of film performers and technicians as well as globalisation helped to shape this new identity, which competes with other film industries in the world. The largest industry are the Tamil and the Telugu film industries, which are responsible for 55% of all film revenues in South India as of 2013. The industry is regulated by the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce.

In 1897, a European exhibitor first screened a selection of silent short films at the Victoria Public Hall in Madras. The films all featured non-fictional subjects; they were mostly photographed records of day-to-day events. In Madras (present-day Chennai), the Electric Theatre was established for the screening of silent films. It was a favourite haunt of the British community in Madras. The theatre was shut down after a few years. This building is now part of a post office complex on Anna Salai (Mount Road). The Lyric Theatre was also built in the Mount Road area. This venue boasted a variety of events, including plays in English, Western classical music concerts, and ballroom dances. Silent films were also screened as an additional attraction. Swamikannu Vincent, an employee of the South Indian Railways in Trichy, purchased a film projector and silent films from the Frenchman Du Pont and set up a business as film exhibitor. He erected tents for screening films. His tent cinema became popular and he travelled all over the state with his mobile unit. In later years, he produced talkies and also built a cinema in Coimbatore.

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