More movies are in the offing for the Tamil film buff as TV networks take to film production. After years of speculation, Sun TV network has finally ventured into film production and distribution.

The Kalanithi Maran controlled media conglomerate which dominates the television market in the south, already has a presence in print media, FM Radio and DTH. They also have the biggest Tamil film library in the world holding the telecast rights of nearly 3000 Tamil films.

According to a recent market study, television channels which have their own film production units will rule, as cinema has far more reach than soaps or reality shows.

The entry of corporates into Kollywood and the launch of new Tamil channels have further intensified the competition between television channels for film content. At a glittering function in Chennai last week, the COO of the company Hansraj Saxena unveiled the logo and announced the setting up of Sun Pictures and also talked about its future moves. As of now, their first release will be Atlantic Cinema’s Kadhalil Vizhundaen, which has the chartbuster Vijay Antony number Nakku Mukka.

The film is to be the launch pad of Boys Nakul as hero. They also have two Jeeva films — Thenavattu and Siva Manasilla Sakthi (SMS) — and Sundar C’s Thee and Narain’s Pookada Ravi.

Hansraj Saxena, popularly known as Sax, is Kalanithi Maran’s right-hand man, the one behind the network and all its channels in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. Sax is on first name terms with most Kollywood stars and producers. He says, “For the last three years, we have been looking to set up our own film production and marketing company. We feel the time is now ripe as Kollywood is booming and small movies made on a reasonable budget are also doing good business. Added to that, we needed to create content for our network, and producing our own films makes good business sense.”

It is a Hollywood style studio management system that is being followed by them. The company funds independent producers who have a decent proposal, after Sax and his team clear the script and the actors. The nitty-gritty of production and daily hassles of shooting and completing the project on time is the responsibility of the line producer.

According to Sax, “At the end of the day, it is the opening a film gets that matters, so we will use all our resources for that.”
Recently, after Junglee Music and the FM channels made the Vijay Antony composed song Nakku Mukka, from Kadhalil Vizhindaen an anthem of sorts, Sun Pictures, who were marketing the film, decided to re-shoot it giving it a rich look.

Now, they will be premiering the song on all television channels, a week before the film’s release later this month. Sax says, “We are gung-ho about Tamil cinema, where new faces and ideas are being accepted.”
Sreedhar Pillai