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 has predominantly produced movies in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam languages, also having made one Kannada film. The Studio had major releases in 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 & Telugu when S. M. Sriramulu Naidu and other industrialists started Central Studios. Then popular movie director became the creative head and started making his own movies under the banner Pakshiraja Films. By the early 1930s another Movie studio 'Premier Cinetone Studio' was under operation in Red Fields, Coimbatore. In 1945 S. M. Sriramulu Naidu left Central Studios and took over the Premier Cinetone Studio located in Puliyakulam Road, Red Fields, Coimbatore. He further constructed new floors and infrastructure and made it a full-fledged Movie Studio with in-house processing labs.Popular Movies
The most popular hits to come from that studio was M. G. R and Banumathi starrer Malaikkallan in 1955 and the Dilip Kumar, Meena Kumari hit Azaad, which was the highest grosser in Bollywood for that year. Also this movie was the first for Dilip Kumar and Meena Kumari in lighter roles as against their tragic roles in most other movies. Malaikkallan was M. G. R's first major box office hit.Present status
The movie production in the studio slowly declined since mid 60's. 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 all 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 was several other establishments are 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 & Dialogues 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 & Dialogues by Elangovan |
| 1950 | Ezhai Padum Padu | Tamil | Chittor V. Nagaiah, Serukulathur Sama, T. S. Balaiah, V. Gopalakrishnan, T. S. Durairaj, Lalitha and Padmini, Kumari N. Rajam. | K. Ramnoth | S. M. Subbaiah Naidu | Lyrics by Papanasam Sivan, Dialogues by Elangovan |
| 1950 | Beedala Paatlu | Telugu | Chittor V. Nagaiah, Serukalathur Sama, T. S. Balaiah, V. Gopalakrishnan, T. S. Durairaj, Lalitha and Padmini, Kumari N. Rajam. | 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 | 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 M. G. 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 film hit in its decade |
| 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 | Dialogues by Murasoli Maran, Cinematography by Sailen Bose, Art Director was 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 |