GV Films

GV Films is an Indian film production and distribution company headed by Ishari K. Ganesh. The firm had been a leading production studio in the Tamil film industry in the 1990s and had been founded by G. Venkateswaran as Sujatha Films in 1986.[1][2]

GV Films
TypeFilm production
Film distribution
IndustryEntertainment
Founded1989—present
FounderG. Venkateswaran
Headquarters
Chennai
,
India
Key people
Ishari K. Ganesh
ProductsMotion pictures
(Tamil)

History

Film industry

Sujatha Films was set up in 1986 by G. Venkateswaran, a chartered accountant, as a film production and distribution company. Operating as a family production house, Venkateswaran's brother Mani Ratnam also often assisted on the production work of films that he directed for the studio.[3] Sujatha Films became GV Films as it became the first publicly listed company from the Indian media industry in 1989.[4]

The early films by the studio saw frequent collaborations with Mani Ratnam and Visu, as well as with composer A. R. Rahman. Films including Anjali and Thalapathi were among the studio's most notable films.[5]

GV Films produced Suhasini Maniratnam's first film Indira (1995) featuring Anu Hasan and Arvind Swamy in the lead roles. The film did not perform well at the box office, prompting GV Films to stop production and prioritise distribution ventures.[6] However, some distribution ventures including Aalavandhan (2001) and Baba (2002) were also expensive failures.[7][8]

GV Films made a return to production in the early 2000s, first working on the making of Thamizhan (2002) directed by debutant Majith. The film featured Vijay and Priyanka Chopra in her first acting role. Further films that the studio worked on included Vasanth's Yai! Nee Romba Azhaga Irukke! (2002) and K. Bhagyaraj's Chokka Thangam (2003) with Vijayakanth. All three films did not perform well commercially.[9] Subsequently, Venkateswaran came under pressure from film financiers. In April 2003, Venkateswaran committed suicide at his residence in Chennai.[10][11]

Following Venkateswaran's death, the studio continued to produce media content under the same name. Notably, actress Manisha Koirala was briefly a board member as the studio attempted to make a comeback through Hindi film content and 3D television serials.[12] The studio launched a big budget Hindi film directed by Mahesh Manjrekar starring Sanjay Dutt in late 2005, though it was later stalled.[13] Kasthuri Shankar also worked with the studio and assisted on the oversight of the production of Urchagam (2007).[14] The studio returned to prioritising distribution ventures and instead chose to make small budget films such as Kaivantha Kalai (2006) and Thirudi (2006).[15] In 2015, GV Films held a ceremony in Mumbai to mark 25 years since its founding.[16]

Other ventures

In 1993, GV Films worked on bringing Michael Jackson to India for two live concerts to be held in Bombay and Madras on December 8 and 10 in aid of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. The event was later cancelled prompting the studio to suffer heavy losses and begin litigation.[17][18][19]

In 2000, GV Films paid $43.6 million to acquire about 8,000 international titles from a seller's offshore investment company Pinewood Films. This included the masters for non-exclusive internet, DVD and theatrical rights. The deal was considered the biggest catalogue buyout by an Indian company.[20] During the same period, GV Films entered into a joint venture with UK internet portal Asian Online.[21]

As of 2020, the group of companies is headed by Ishari K. Ganesh.[22]

Filmography

Film production
as Sujatha Films
Title Year Language Director Cast Synopsis Ref.
Mouna Ragam 1986 Tamil Mani Ratnam Mohan, Revathi, Karthik
Agni Natchathiram 1988 Tamil Mani Ratnam Prabhu, Karthik, Amala
as GV Films
Title Year Language Director Cast Synopsis Ref.
Vedikkai En Vadikkai 1990 Tamil Visu Visu, S. Ve. Sekhar, Ravi Raghavendra
Anjali 1990 Tamil Mani Ratnam Shamili, Raghuvaran, Revathi
Thalapathi 1991 Tamil Mani Ratnam Rajinikanth, Mammootty, Arvind Swamy
Neenga Nalla Irukkanum 1992 Tamil Visu Nizhalgal Ravi, Bhanupriya, Visu
May Maadham 1994 Tamil Venus Balu Vineeth, Sonali Kulkarni, Manorama
Indira 1995 Tamil Suhasini Anu Hasan, Arvind Swamy, Nassar
Thamizhan 2002 Tamil Majith Vijay, Priyanka Chopra, Ashish Vidyarthi
Yai! Nee Romba Azhaga Irukke! 2002 Tamil Vasanth Shaam, Sneha, Rajiv Krishna
Chokka Thangam 2003 Tamil K. Bhagyaraj Vijayakanth, Soundarya, Prakash Raj
Ullam Ketkumae 2005 Tamil Jeeva Shaam, Arya, Laila, Asin, Pooja
Matichya Chuli 2006 Marathi Atul Kale-Sudesh Manjrekar Sudhir Joshi, Vandana Gupte, Ankush Choudhary
Kaivantha Kalai 2006 Tamil Pandiarajan Prithvi Rajan, Sruthi, Pandiarajan
Thirudi 2006 Tamil K. Shankar Kathir, Dhanya Mary Varghese
Urchagam 2007 Tamil Ravichandran Nandha, Sherin, Dinesh Lamba
TN 07 AL 4777 2009 Tamil A. Lakshmikanthan Pasupathy, Ajmal, Simran

Film distribution

In addition to the production of films since 2010, GV Films has also been involved in distributing films of other production houses across certain regions.

References
  1. "Celluloid Deities: The Visual Culture of Cinema and Politics in South India - PDF Free Download". epdf.pub.
  2. May 31, Kavitha Shetty; May 31, 1990 ISSUE DATE; October 7, 1990UPDATED; Ist, 2013 19:08. "Glamour and quick money draw professionals from other fields to Tamil cinema". India Today.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. Rangan, Baradwaj (December 10, 2013). Conversations with Mani Ratnam. Penguin UK. ISBN 9788184756906 – via Google Books.
  4. "Corporate film producer GV commits suicide | undefined News - Times of India". The Times of India.
  5. Team, AnimationXpress (November 1, 2006). "Mayavi, a stereoscopic series on Jaya TV".
  6. "rediff.com, Movies: Gemini strikes gold at the Tamil marquee". www.rediff.com.
  7. "Film producer GV commits suicide". www.rediff.com.
  8. Pearson, Bryan (May 18, 2003). "Tamil coin crunch leads to suicide".
  9. "rediff.com: Movies: The K Bhagyaraj interview". m.rediff.com.
  10. May 19, Arun Ram; May 19, 2003 ISSUE DATE; June 26, 2003UPDATED; Ist, 2012 12:45. "Kollywood producer Venkateswaran suicide raises fears of box-office losses, empty theatres". India Today.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. Govardan, D. "A private affair" – via The Economic Times.
  12. "Manisha Koirala joins the board of GV Films". Indian Television Dot Com. November 15, 2005.
  13. https://web.archive.org/web/20070217010019/http://www.chennaionline.com/film/Newlaunches/2005/10gvfilms.asp
  14. "Flashback friday: Kasthuri Shankar shares a throwback picture with Sherin Shringar; says she was the latter's 'boss' once - Times of India". The Times of India.
  15. "Annual report" (PDF). www.gvfilms.in. 2007. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  16. "Mallika Sherawat attends GV Films Limited (GVFL)'s silver anniversary bash in Mumbai - Times of India". The Times of India.
  17. "Gv Films Sues Michael Jackson". October 19, 1996 – via Business Standard.
  18. "Sena's HIStory Reversed | Outlook India Magazine". magazine.outlookindia.com/.
  19. "With MJ gone will his event managers survive?". mid-day. July 1, 2009.
  20. "India's GV Films pact for 8,000 titles | Hollywood Reporter". www.hollywoodreporter.com.
  21. Lall 2000-02-21T11:59:00+00:00, Bhuvan. "India's GV, Asian Online form webcasting venture". Screen.
  22. "G.V. FILMS LIMITED - Company, directors and contact details | Zauba Corp". www.zaubacorp.com.
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