How it worked in technology
The Hindu
It was quick to adopt advances from the West even in its nascent period
Tamils may not have played any role in inventing camera and film technology, but Tamil cinema was quick to adopt technological advances from the West even in its nascent period. Today, the Tamil film industry is on a par with the advanced film industry in the world — a majority of the theatres screen films through digital projectors, movies are shot with advanced and hi-tech digital cameras and advanced visual effects and other film technology are routinely used in Tamil movies.
Film historian Theodore Bhaskaran notes that even before Swamikannu Vincent screened films in Tiruchi in 1905 and Nataraja Mudaliyar made Tamil cinema’s first film in 1916, a few short films (each lasting 10-12 minutes) were screened at Victoria Public Hall, Chennai, by M. Edwards in 1897, two years after Lumiere Brothers invented and demonstrated ‘moving images’ in France.
Film historians note that Tamil cinema’s status today as one of the most influential in India is the result of Tamil film entrepreneurs closely following film technology trends in the West and adopting them quickly to improve quality and reduce costs. For instance, Pragati Pictures’ Nandakumar (1938) was the first south Indian film to introduce playback singing.