Cinemaazi remembers S S Vasan on his death anniversary

Prominent producer, director, writer and Gemini Studio founder - S S Vasan passed away on this day, 26th August, in 1969. Born Subramaniam Srinivasan in 1903, in Thiruthuraipundi, Tamil Nadu, he produced several films including the epic Chandralekha (1948) and Avvaiyar (1953). Vasan had initially set up a successful mail order business. He stepped into films when his novel Sathi Leelavathi was made into a film in 1936. Entering film distribution, a couple of years later he founded Gemini Studios. Vasan made a major foray into the Hindi market with Chandralekha, also made in Tamil. This lavish costume drama marked his directorial debut and was one of the most expensive films of its time. Popular Hindi films such as Mr Sampat (1952), Insaniyat (1955), Raj Tilak (1959) and Paigham (1959) followed, as well as family melodramas like Ghunghat (1960), Gharana (1961), Grahasti (1963), and Aurat (1967). He also bought and revamped the popular Tamil Magazine ‘Ananda Vikatan’, which still remains the oldest and most revered Tamil magazines today. Vasan was also President of the Film Federation of India for two terms. Nominated to the Rajya Sabha, he was conferred the Padma Bhushan award by the Government of India in 1969.