S. M. Sriramulu Naidu Biography 
S. M. Sriramulu Naidu was a National award winning film director and producer associated with south Indian movies. His full name is Subbarayalu Naidu Munuswami Naidu Sriramulu Naidu. One of the early establishers of Tamil film industry in Coimbatore, he was a businessman who entered film field. His 1954 Tamil film – Malaikkallan, earned national award for best regional film in Tamil language for the year. Sabarimala Ayyappan in 1961 earned national award for best regional film in Malayalam language and both these movies were directed by him. Unfortunately he was one among the three prime accused for the high-profile criminal case - Lakshmikanthan murder case, during the pre-independent era, though he was acquitted later.
S. M. Sriramulu Naidu was born in Trichy in the year 1910. His father worked as a station master in South Indian Railways, who started a bakery by name Davey & Co after his retirement. After his father’s death, Sriramulu Naidu inherited his father’s business. Later he got interested in movies and moved to film world as a producer-director. He started Pakshiraja Studios in Coimbatore, opening a new world of cinema in the Coimbatore city. A baker-turned-filmmaker he made many successful films on big screen. Known as a dynamic and hardworking personality who promoted and managed three motion picture studios, he made films belonging to all south Indian languages.
It was during those days when notorious journalist C.N. Lakshmikanthan launched a film weekly called Cinema Thoothu in 1943. He mainly dissected the personal lives of stars of the Tamil film industry, which included the leadings stars - M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar and N. S. Krishnan and director S. M. Sriramulu Naidu also. The three together submitted a memorandum to the Governor of Madras to revoke the license for the magazine, and was finally forced to stop. He later started a yellow magazine called 'Hindu Nesan' and continued with the same stories, mainly targeting Thyagaraja and others.
When Lakshmikanthan was found dead at a hospital on November 9, 1944, one day after he was stabbed by a group of people, he became one among the prime accused of the murder, the other two being M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar and N. S. Krishnan, who were enjoying the career peak in the mid-1940s. Three were found guilty and were among the eight persons who got arrested. They had to spend thirty months imprisonment before they got acquitted. The arrest and jail term virtually ended the career of both the actors, while S. M. Sriramulu Naidu survived.
Published: N/A
Updated: March 06, 2016
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