SkyscraperCity Forum banner

Trivandrum | Film/TV/Media News | Developments

837K views 3K replies 191 participants last post by  remobecks 
#1 ·
Trivandrum is the Hub of Malayalam film and TV industry with lots of Film Production Studios and TV Channels. This thread is for the News and Developments of the burgeoning Television and Film industry in Trivandrum.
 
#2 ·
A recent article

Identifying its new facilities for film shoot, film directors return to the capital city of Kerala, Trivandrum. Now, the state capital has become far advanced as a film location. Chitranjali studio is modernized, Prasad colour lab and Vismaya studio have come to life, KINFRA Film and Video Park has become the film industry’s much loved location. A lot of outdoor units have started functioning and a number of good hotels and shopping complexes have groomed the capital city, Trivandrum. These have made the film industry fall in love Trivandrum all over again.
Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala which was the then preferred location of the film industry, due to declining growth and lack of facilities had lost its importance years back. Now the capital city of Trivandrum is regaining its glory as a film location. More than half a dozen films have been shot recently in the capital. ‘The Thriller’, ‘Sakudubam Shyamala’, ‘Sarkar Colony’, ‘College Days’, ‘Kanyakumari Express’ are some films completed here. The Shaji Kailas-Mamootty film ‘August 15’ is being filmed in the capital city.

Years back, Trivandrum was the undeclared capital of Malayalam film industry. Centering on the facilities at Chitranjali, the Malayalam film industry flourished. With the passage of time, the capital could not keep up its modernity. There started a decline in the demand this film location.
Meantime, Kochi attracted the attention of the film industry with its ease of reach. Major and minor film actors started to settle in Kochi. Mammootty, Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi, Kunchako Boban, Dileep, Kavya Madhavan were some of them. As a shooting location, Kochi increased it production facilities. More studio complexes were started to be built. The capital city became a venue for serial production for the television.

Currently, the capital is the best location for the film industry. “We can reach any where by 10 minutes. There’re no traffic blocks”, says G. Suresh Kumar, the General Secretary of the Association of Producers. The capital is a location of beaches, waterways and villages and backwaters. Being the centre of the State politics it has the presence of the Secretariat and this provides originality to the ‘sets’ of popular political films.

url
 
#3 ·
Kerala State Film Development Corporation

The Kerala State Film Development Corporation Ltd. was established in the year 1975. The concept behind the initiation of such a Public Sector undertaking was to give a massive thrust to the development of Malayalam Film Industry and to root and nurture it in Kerala which was then depending and existing in the studios around Kodambakkam, a suburb of Chennai.

Another prime objective of Kerala State Film Development Corporation is to facilitate the growth of good cinema. Chitranjali Studio Complex, inaugurated in 1980 was the first step towards the realisation of these objectives. Chitranjali was truly a pioneer in introducing the latest film technology in South.

KSFDC is the sole production agency for documentary film and video programmes for Government of Kerala. The Documentary and Short Films produced by KSFDC have won many State, National and International Film Awards.

http://www.ksfdc.in/
 
#4 ·
Film Studios

Merryland Studios

Merryland Studios, which played important roles in the history of Malayalam cinema, was opened in 1951 by veteran director-producer P. Subramaniam)
When the visionary and canny entrepreneur P. Subramaniam opened ‘Merryland Studio’ in 1951, Malayalam Cinema was still in its nascent stage.
Film stars, lyricists, composers, directors and technicians entered filmdom through the doors of Merryland. ‘Atmasakhi’ marked the debut of Satyan. Kottarakkara, Raghavan, Bahadur, Miss Kumari, Kaviyur Ponnamma and Sreevidya are some of the stars who shone on the silver screen, courtesy Merryland.

From
 
#23 ·
Merryland Studios

Merryland Studios, which played important roles in the history of Malayalam cinema, was opened in 1951 by veteran director-producer P. Subramaniam)
When the visionary and canny entrepreneur P. Subramaniam opened ‘Merryland Studio’ in 1951, Malayalam Cinema was still in its nascent stage.
Film stars, lyricists, composers, directors and technicians entered filmdom through the doors of Merryland. ‘Atmasakhi’ marked the debut of Satyan. Kottarakkara, Raghavan, Bahadur, Miss Kumari, Kaviyur Ponnamma and Sreevidya are some of the stars who shone on the silver screen, courtesy Merryland.

From
Kamal Hassan started his career here as dance teacher
 
#5 ·
The Chitranjali Studio Complex



Chitranjali is located on a beautiful hilltop at Thiruvallam just eight kms away from Trivandrum, the capital city of Kerala. Seventy five acres of sprawling grounds, of all topographical descriptions, like meadows, fields, coconut groves, barren stretches, cliffs and vantage points from where the sea can be seen, extensive areas where sets of a village, a market, a temple, or anything on a large scale can be put up, all these together make Chitranjali Kerala's only Studio in the holistic sense.

The indoor studio of Chitranjali covers 12,000 Sq. ft making it the second largest floor in Asia. This giant floor is sound proof and has a ceiling 50 ft. high.
Chitranjali is just a few minutes away from the internationally renowned Kovalam beach.
 
#6 ·
Vismayas Max

Vismayas Max Post-production Studio is the first DTS studio in Kerala. The studio is situated in the Vismayas max studio complex at Kinfra Film and Video Park in Trivandrum. The animation studio is well equipped with modern technologies and facilities required for the production houses, which works on feature films, short films and also takes up outsourcing projects for overseas clients. The animation studio has been picked by the international social networking community Facebook to create its video applications.
http://www.vismayasmaxanimations.com/



Accel Animation Studios

The studio with unique ‘motion capture’ facility.

http://www.accelanimation.com/



Toonz Animation

Toonz, a major provider of animation to the top US and European producers, is South Asia’s most admired animation studio and part of the international business conglomerate, Comcraft Group, based out of Geneva. Founded in 1999, Toonz client list includes the biggest names in media and entertainment like Marvel, Hallmark, Paramount, Disney, BBC and Cartoon Network.

Toonz Animation offers its world-wide clientele end-to-end animation services including 3D animation, 2D animation (digital and traditional), Flash, Stop Motion and VFX on a full spectrum of media platforms. The Animation Magazine has heralded the company as one of the top-ten multimedia studios in the world. The sprawling, 18,000 sq ft state-of-the-art studio is based in the electronic city of Technopark in Trivandrum. Over 500 artists work in this facility staffed with top creative professionals from across the world, including Philippines, Singapore, Canada, USA and India.


http://www.toonzanimationindia.com/
 
#8 ·
Recording Studios

Iris Digital

Iris been in Business for well over a decade and have help produce many Albums, Movies, Television serials and other programs. The services offered include recording, mixing, narration recording, movie background scores and many others.
www.irisdigitalstudios.com

SS Digital, Thycaud
An old studio with most modern recording equipments.

AquilA, Vellayambalam

FULL Audio production house & recording studio.
http://aquilarecordingstudios.com/
 
#9 ·
Kannada Movie about the underworld in Trivandrum

Kanteerava Kannada Cast: Duniya Vijay, Rishika Singh, Shubha Poonja Director: Tushar Ranganath

“If you have a chance to save a hundred people by killing one, so be it.” This sets the tone for the movie, which underlines Kanteerava’s (Vijay) struggle to fight the baddies.

Kanteerava (Vijay), born an orphan, is adopted by a family of which he is the caretaker. He makes a trip from his hometown Mysore to Thiruvananthapuram to make peace with the estranged daughter of his foster father and persuade her to come back to the family. But after death strikes her, he makes it his life’s mission to uproot the rowdyism that prevails in Thiruvananthapuram.

Adding a tinge of variety to this action-oriented movie is the love triangle of Kanteerava, Indu (Shubha) and Kasturi (Rishika). In a terrible twist of fate, Indu goes insane and Kanteerava vows to take care of her. It turns out that Indu is the estranged grand-daughter of Kanteerava’s foster father.

Director Tushar Ranganath has done a good job with this movie, which does fall short of expectations the original ‘Simhadri’ had raised. Chakri as the music director has rendered catchy numbers.

Rishika as a newbie has done justice to her role. Vijay steals the thunder with his dialogue delivery and fights. For good dose of action, Kanteerava does strike a chord.


url
 
#10 ·
‘Salt N Pepper’ Is Being Shot At Trivandrum


January 22, 2011: Director Aashiq Abu is now shooting his latest Malayalam movie Salt N Pepper in the capital city Thiruvananthapuram. It is his second movie after his debut release Daddy Cool in 2009.

Salt N Pepper is a masala movie with Lal and Asif Ali in the lead roles. It will also have actors like Shwetha Menon, Baburaj and Mydhili in important supporting roles. This family thriller is supposed to come with good production values.

Syam Pushkaran and Dileesh Nair have written the story of the movie, which is being produced by Lucsam Cinema. Lal Release will be distributing this film, which has lyrics by Rafeek Ahammed and Santhosh Varma.

Malayalee rock band Avial and composer Bijibal have composed the music for the film and Shyju Kahild has done the cinematography. V. Saajan has done the editing of Salt N Pepper, which is set to release in the month of April. Aashiq Abu started shooting the movie on January 3, 2011

Apart from Aashiq Abu’s movie, director Sunil is also shooting his movie Lucky Jokers in the capital city. It is the production debut of Aascar films Ravichandran in Malayalam.

So, these days the capital city is enjoying the glitters of Mollywood stars and will soon be able to see these films on-screen too.

url
 
#13 ·
Kerala State Motion Picture Academy

ACTIVITIES OF KERALA STATE CHALACHITRA ACADEMY

The Government of Kerala has rightly acknowledged the importance of cinema as the most popular art form of the state by constituting an autonomous, non-profit institution Kerala State Chalachitra Academy (Motion Picture Academy of the Kerala State) under the Cultural Affairs Department in the year 1998. The state could proudly claim its status as the first in the country to set up a film academy of its own. Since its inception, KSCA managed the anchorage of good cinema promoting it as a cultural expression. Apart from supporting the thriving Malayalam film industry at home, KCSA enabled Malayalam films to burst on to international screens and create a niche in the international film firmament. It has also opened the windows of world cinema to the cinema onlookers of the state.

A snapshot of the activities organized by the Academy is summarized as follows:

International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK)

The International Film Festival of Kerala, one of the prominent film festivals of India is hosted by the Academy. IFFK has come to be known as Asia's best managed and probably the world’s most people-centered film festival. The Festival attracts representation from the best films, renowned directors, technicians and spectators from all across the globe. The latest edition held during December 2007 saw some 6000 delegates from both within the country and abroad attending and 129 films from 40 countries being screened.

International Video Festival of Kerala (IVFK)

State Film Awards

State TV Awards

more
 
#15 ·
#16 ·
Great initiative to showcase the media industry in Trivandrum which plays host to most of the TV channels and film facilities in Kerala. :eek:kay:

Request the Mods to make the minor copy-edit needed in the thread's title.
 
#18 ·
Media in Trivandrum

even though bit old, the post gives and idea of Media in Trivandrum.


Thiruvananthapuram has long been a center of media in India. Kerala Chandrika, the first newspaper of the State, was published from Thiruvananthapuram in the year 1789. The media also enjoyed the patronage of the Travancore kings. In 1836, Swathi Thirunal, the Travancore king organized a government press in the city [1]. The first Superintendent of the Press was the Rev. Sperschneider. The press was under Samathanam Maistry, one of the first batch of workmen trained in the Nagercoil Press.

Print

More than 30 dailies are currently published from Thiuruvananthapuram, including prominent dailies The Hindu, The New Indian Express, Malayala Manorama, Mathrubhumi, Kerala Kaumudi, Desabhimani, Janayugom, Deepika, Mangalam, Madhyamom and Janmabhoomi.
Additionally, several weeklies, fortnightlies, monthlies, bi-monthlies and quarterlies are published from various parts of the city. Government departments and public sector undertakings also publish fortnightlies and monthlies such as Janapadham, Kerala calling, Vikasana Samanwayam, Kerala Interface, Kerala Karshakan, Vyavasaya Keralam, Grama Deepam, Gramabhoomi, Sahakarana Veedhi, Vidyaarangam, and Panchayat Raj.
The Information & Public Relations Department is the main agency of the government to disseminate information to the public and to provide feedback. At the Government Secretariat, the Department of Information and Public Relations has provided a well-facilitated press room for accredited correspondents. The Tagore Theatre provides both public and private cultural performances and screening of films.

Electronic

All India Radio
The Thiruvananthapuram station of All India Radio (AIR) broadcasts and relays daily programs from 5:55 a.m. to 11:05 p.m. In addition to news bulletins, programs relate to agriculture; rural development; women and child care; health; sanitation, among other topics. Many of the programs are of a cultural nature, having entertainment and educational value. Commercial broadcasts are also aired. FM broadcasting (101.9 MHz), Ananthapuri FM, started from Thiruvananthapuram in 1999.
Private FM Stations
Thiruvananthapuram is catching up with the emerging bandwagon of private FM.Four private FM stations are on air in the capital city.On 28 jan 2008 Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM ( from The Times Group) started its operation.Mathrubhumi launched its Club FM 94.3 the next day.Big 92.7 FM and Kal radio's[Sun TV] SFM 93.5 are also on air as on 29 Jan 2008..

Doordarshan

Thiruvananthapuram Doordarshan (DD) Kendra started functioning from the Tagore theatre with a small transmission unit in the latter half of 1982. Later, a full-fledged centre with a high power transmitter was installed at Kudappanakunnu, eight kilometres from the city. Now it covers the entire state, with channel 4 available across Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia and the America. The DD studios were also set up at Trichur and Kozhikode.

Asianet

Asianet is perhaps the first and biggest private television channel in the State. It started functioning from Thiruvananthapuram in 1993. Today, it has two more channels namely Asianet News and Asianet Plus and is the private television channel which has an uplinking facility in the city. The Global channel came into being first as a segment catering to the Gulf viewers and grew into a 24-hour channel in 2001. The channel was relaunched as Asianet News on May 1, 2003 signifying an increased stress on news and current affairs in deference to viewers' demands. On July 23, 2005 Asianet launched its third channel - Asianet Plus, a complete entertainment channel for the youth. The signals of Asianet cover the entire Indian sub-continent, Sri Lanka, China, the South East Asia, the entire Persian Gulf, the UK, Europe, USA and the lower half of the former Soviet Union. This is virtually half the Globe, reaching sixty-odd countries.

Surya TV
Surya Television started operation from Thiruvananthapuram in 1998 as the second private channel of the State. Though Surya has production facility in Thiruvananthapuram, telecasting is done from Chennai.

Kairali TV

Kairali Television which went on air in 2000, also has its studio and production facilities in Thiruvananthapuram. The telecasting is from Ernakulam. This channel is known for its support to a major political party in Kerala- CPM (Communist Party of India - Marxist). Currently, Mammootty, a major actor in Malayalam, holds the post of MD at Kairali. They are planning to build a new state-of-art building as their Headquarters [2]

Amrita TV
Amrita Television ,launched in 2005, as a 24-hour Malayalam, general entertainment & news satellite channel with a global footprint, has been honoured with 26 State Awards for Excellence in Television--the only channel in India to be bestowed with such a recognition in just two years since inception. Amrita TV has been in the forefront in delivering programmes which are endearing,enriching and entertaining.

In a very short span ,Amrita TV has pioneered tasteful and pathbreaking television content.Be it reality shows that nurture talent and foster shared values; or programmes that showcase and preserve India's culture and ethos;or news features and infotainment that highlight real life challenges and celebrate the human spirit.

Today,Amrita TV is recognised as a unique channel from South India, providing leadership with a difference . Amrita TV has a global footprint covering India,Middle East,USA,Canada,Europe,Australia and parts of South Africa;as also accessible on internet and other platforms.[[3]]

Bharath TV
This multilingual TV channel is run by Bharatheeya Manavik Vijnan Communication Limited. The channel was inaugurated in Trivandrum on August 27 [4]. The channel is now airing test-run programmes, and is expected to start full-fledged operations from January 2007.

JaiHind TV
A new Television Channel, JaiHind TV, is getting ready for launch this year[5]. The channel is based at Trivandrum will have a mix of news and entertainment. The channel is backed by the Congress Party of Kerala[6]. The channel is headed by prominent personalities in the field of journalism.
Asianet Satellite Communications Ltd.
ACV is the largest cable network services company in the state of Kerala, India and one of the largest such companies in the world. It was started in 1993 in Trivandrum. Its cable network services operate from over 40 centres spread throughout Kerala and touch over half a million homes and establishments.

FUNTV
FUNTV the first interactive gaming channel in India started operating in Trivandrum from May 2006 through the major cable TV networks SITI Cable & TCN.

Other Channels
Kiran TV (Youth channel of Surya TV) Asianet Plus (Youth channel of Asianet) and People TV(News and current affairs channel of Kairali TV) also have production facilities and studios in the city.

Jeevan TV, India Vision, ZeeTV, NDTV, ANI, ETV, JAYA TV etc. have their bureaus in Thiruvananthapuram. ACV & City Cable are cable channels which operate from the city. There are two private FM channels, "Radio DC" and "Surya FM" in the city.

Cyber Journalism

Almost all Malayalam dailies like Deepika, Malayala Manorama, Mathrubhumi, Kerala Kaumudi etc. have hosted their online newspapers. The Department of Information and Public Relations maintains its web site [7] and the government’s web portal [8] with updated data.

Film


Kerala State Chalachitra Academy

Kerala State Chalachitra Academy was founded in 1998 for the promotion of Cinema as a cultural expression. The Academy is guided by the motto that Cinema should contribute to the total development of man, both as an individual and as a social being. Besides organising the annual International Film Festival of Kerala in Trivandrum city, the Academy is engaged in a programme of spreading film literacy among the people through the promotion of Film Socieites, publication of books and periodicals, conduct of film appreciation courses, seminars and workshops for students as well as professionals. Work on establishing a Film Archive with the aim of preserving world classics and important films in Malayalam has been started. The annual Kerala State Awards for Film and TV are also conducted by the Academy.

Kerala State Film Development Corporation
Established in 1975 with the objective of giving a thrust to the Malayalam film industry and for nurturing it in the State, the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC) has succeeded in uprooting the Malayalam film industry from Kodambakkam in Chennai and planting it here. The Chitranjali studio complex, inaugurated in 1980 was the first step towards facilitating the growth of good cinema. Facilities are available for 39 processing and printing 35 mm and 16 mm colour and black and white films. Reduction and blowing up equipments are also available. Nagra recorders, latest technology to transfer sound from 16 mm to 35 mm, optical tone magnetic recorders, state-of-the-art video production facilities for non linear editing, six track DTS mixing facility etc. are special facilities of the complex. The recording theatre is equipped with ‘soundscape’ pro-tool work station and Tas cam-D 8000 digital, 24 channel mixing facility. There are four outdoor units. A super mini theatre and Centre for Development of Imaging Technology (C-DIT) are also functioning under the corporation.

C-DIT

The Centre for Development of Imaging Technology (C-DIT), is a Total Solution Provider in information technology for the Government of Kerala. C-DIT also functions as the southern regional video software production facility of the National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC), New Delhi. Web Services, GIS, Video Communication, Animation, Educational Informatics and Optical Image Processing are some exclusive teams that C-DIT offers. Post Graduate Diploma in Science and Development Communication, Post Graduate Diploma in Educational Informatics, Post Graduate Diploma in Multi Media Development, Animation Film Development Course and Short term courses in Digital Still Photography, Digital Sound Recording and Non Linear Editing are the courses conducted by C-DIT.

url
 
#20 ·
I do not know whether it is the right place to say this.. but since it impact development of Kerala, i thought of placing this here.

All these channels are not giving any importance to Malayalam. Most of the time, they broadcast other language songs and movies. This now impacted our adv industry and recently I saw adv casted by other language movie actors [ jose alukkas etc] and adv in other langauges telecasted in Kerala[malabar gold].
 
#30 ·
The Main stream Sound Labs in Trivandrum are... (As i found a small list in the first page)

1.S S Digital
2.Aarbhi
3.Iris
3.Dhwani Wave Station Vanchiyoor
4.Ivan Dreams Karamana and Pothancode
5.Omkar Poojappura
6.Benson Creations Bakery Jn
7.Bhairavi Bakery Jn
8.Aquila Digital Vellambalam
9.Sun Media Sasthamangalam
10.Sree Ganesh Thycaud (Sangeetha Bharathi)
11.Thought Studios Karamana
12.Karma Studio (Of Avial Band) near under pass
13.Mithra Studios Jagathy
14.Sound Lab Press Club Trivandrum Statue

These are only main stream studios completely dedicated to Audio Production... Apart from this so many personal studios and music production stations are their including mine..

And So many new studios are coming up
1. Sasthamangalam
2. Killippalam
3. Pattoor (Dhwani Wave Station New Studio)
4.Tharangini is reconstructing the studio
5.Alfa is reconstructing

And There are so many dubbing studios like Eyedrome, Ammu digital, V-tracks, Vtv, New T.V.,Media City, Sree Subramanya, etc etc...
 
#31 ·
Turn a producer for Rs 500!

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It might sound like the Odessa Collective of the legendary John Abraham and his group. Surprisingly, this time, the idea of a collaborative effort in filmmaking has been put forward not by a group of intellectuals or anarchists, but by a team of employees of Technopark.

With a tagline ‘You can be a film producer with just Rs 500’, these youths are set to realise their dream of making a commercial film by breaking the traditional constraints. Without waiting for a rich producer or anticipating huge profit, they just aim to realise the aim of a genuine film enthusiast.

Not just the way, the subject too is of great importance. P I Bijoy, R Praveen and Prasanth P Nair, employees of SunTech Business Solutions, are pondering over the reason behind the Perumon tragedy of 1988, which has baffled us for years.

The guys conducted a thorough research on the subject and even met one of the lead investigating officers. “But, no! This is not a documentary. The film, titled ‘Island Express’, is a purely commercial film. The script, a fiction in the backdrop of the Perumon tragedy, is ready. We are busy with the pre-production works,” said Bijoy. The film will be jointly directed by Bijoy and Prasanth.

The film, touted to be a thriller, will reveal the real cause of the Perumon tragedy. “For some time, a tornado was said to be the cause of the tragedy. Later, it was found out that some technical snag was the reason. But the exact cause of one of the worst train tragedies in Kerala, which killed 105 people, is yet to be known. This film will tell you the real reason,” Bijoy said.

As part of inviting participation of interested people, the group has created the website www.megawave.in. Those interested can register their names and specify the amount of investment at this site.

“We are planning to market the idea with the support of some FM channels in the coming weeks in Technopark. However, we have got overwhelming support from techies, who have so far offered ` 2.5 lakh. And also, many came forward expressing interest to be a part of our team. I never imagined that techies would be so interested in various aspects of cinema,” Bijoy said.

Interested persons can contribute amounts starting from ` 500. The team is planning to gather around Rs 60-70 lakh.

Bijoy, Praveen, Prasanth and Balu have made short films in the past, which were successfully screened at Technopark. These include ‘The Shadow’ (The story of a cop suffering from somnambulism. The film is about his alter image which acts without his knowledge), ‘Myth’ (about some secrets hidden in the Sri Padmanabha Swamy temple) and ‘Lady in the Dark’ (ghost story).

The technicians who co-operated with the team during the making of these short films will help them in the new venture.

Bijoy and his team are planning to cast freshers in the film. The shooting is planned during the end of this year and the release is scheduled for 2012. If these youths could bring about a wave with this new film, it would script a new chapter in the film history of the State.

url
 
#32 ·
National honour for Nellimoodu HSS

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A rural school from the district has won three awards in the All-India Children’s Educational Audio-Video Festival organised by the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

‘Kalpaadukal’, a documentary produced by the students of the New Higher Secondary School, Nellimoodu, won the awards in the senior secondary category of the festival. The awards were for the best video film, best editing and best research. The documentary was based on the life of Swadeshabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai.India TV chairman Rajath Sharma presented the awards to J Unnkrishnan, the teacher of the school who directed the documentary, at a function held in New Delhi the other day. The film had also won prizes at the State Children’s Educational Film Festival.

url
 
Top