The movie industry is based in Chennai (formerly Madras) and has a long and vibrant history. It produced its first silent film “Keechaka Vaadham” (The Destruction of Keechaka) in 1916. When talkies were introduced in the 1930′s Kollywood was not far behind producing the hit movie “Kalidas.” But it was “Chandralekha” the landmark movie released in 1948 that became a resounding success and left the audiences nationwide clamoring for more. With Chandralekha it was established that Kollywood was here to stay. Chandralekha also has the distinction of being the most expensive Tamil film ever made costing $800,000.

Right from its inception the Tamil movie industry has been connected with politics and many of its characters and movie themes are based on ancient folk ballads of Tamil Nadu. Also many popular politicians of today began their careers in Kollywood like Jayalalitha who was a popular actress before she became Chief Minister and the illustrious M. Karunanidhi who was director and scriptwriter par excellence.

Today you can find many leading ladies of Tamil Cinema like Aishwarya Rai, Bhuvaneshwari, Nayanthara and Anuska hoping to emulate the success of Simran, a highly popular actress of yesteryears. Simran also worked as a model and was brand ambassador for many companies like PepsiCo, Ford Motors, Colgate Palmolive, L’Oreal, Subway and Chandana Brothers. She then went on to consolidate her money by investing in real estate, restaurants and even acquiring 10 percent share in MGM Studios. She plans to open up her own movie production company soon.