Film News Anandan

Film News Anandan Biography

Mani, better known as Film News Anandan was a film historian, photojournalist and photographer from Chennai, also known as "walking encyclopaedia" of Tamil cinema. His son Diamond Babu is a film public relations officer and media consultant, who has worked in more than 600 films as public relations officer in Indian cinema, mostly associated with Tamil movies. Mani has also worked as an assistant cameraman in film industry, and had brief stint with theatre writing dialogues and small odd jobs. He has also done a few character roles on big screen.

Film News Anandan was born on a New Year day of 1926 or 1928 (date not clearly known).  His birth name is Mani. His father P. K. Gnanasagaram worked in government service. When Mani was enrolled in school, he gave his name as Anandakrishnan, which became his permanent name. The name was further shortened to Anandan. While doing graduation in arts, he got drawn towards theatre and was active in the field for some time. As he was interested in camera work and photography, he joined as an assistant to C. J. Mohan, and attended his photography classes. He also took the snaps of leading film stars like Sivaji Ganesan at that time.

Anandan worked as a news reporter for Film Chamber, thus marking his successful career in film field. He also turned a photographer for the magazine, Film News, marking a successful beginning. His name was credited as "Film News Anandan", and he kept it as his penname for his profession. As an actor, he appeared in a few credited character roles. He was first seen in 1962 film, Policekaran Magal where he played a police photographer. He played the role of a press reporter in Oomai Vizhigal.

Published: October 30, 2018

Updated: October 30, 2018