FilmPhase Studios's video: Tamil Celebs and Their Unknown Hobbies

Tamil cinema refers to Indian motion pictures produced in the language of Tamil. Based in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu,[3] the hub of the Tamil film industry is in the Kodambakkam neighbourhood of Chennai. Kollywood is a colloquial term used to describe this industry, the word being a portmanteau of Kodambakkam and Hollywood.[4] Tamil cinema has been described as the second leading industry of South Indian cinema, after Telugu cinema and accounting for the third-largest global box office gross after Hindi cinema (also known as Bollywood) and Telugu cinema among all Indian film industries.[5][6] The first Tamil silent film, Keechaka Vadham, was made by R. Nataraja Mudaliar in 1918.[7] The first talking motion picture, Kalidas, was a multilingual and was released on 31 October 1931, less than seven months after India's first talking motion picture Alam Ara.[8] By the end of the 1930s, the legislature of the State of Madras passed the Entertainment Tax Act of 1939. Tamil cinema later had a profound effect on other filmmaking industries of India, establishing Madras (now Chennai) as a secondary hub for Hindi cinema, other South Indian film industries, as well as Sri Lankan cinema.[9][10] Over the last quarter of the 20th century, Tamil films from India established a global presence through distribution to an increasing number of overseas theatres in Singapore, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Japan, the Middle East, parts of Africa, Oceania, Europe, and North America.[11][12] The industry also inspired independent filmmaking in Tamil diaspora populations in Malaysia, Singapore, and the Western Hemisphere.The Chennai film industry produced the first nationally distributed film across India in 1948 with Chandralekha.[22] They have one of the widest overseas distribution, with large audience turnout from the Tamil diaspora alongside Hindi films. They are distributed to various parts of Asia, Africa, Western Europe, North America and Oceania.[23] Keechaka Vadham (1918) was the first silent film made in South India.[24] Kalidas (1931) was the first Tamil talkie film made in 1931.[25] Kalava was the first Full-length Talkie made entirely in Tamil.[26] Nandanar (1935) was the first film for American film director Ellis R. Dungan[27] Balayogini released in 1937 was considered to be first children's film of South India.[28] It is estimated by the Manorama Yearbook 2000 (a popular almanac) that over 5,000 Tamil films were produced in the 20th century. Tamil films have also been dubbed into other languages, thus reaching a much wider audience. There has been a growing presence of English in dialogue and songs in Chennai films. Tamil films have enjoyed consistent popularity among populations in South East Asia. Since Chandralekha, Muthu was the second Tamil film to be dubbed into Japanese (as Mutu: Odoru Maharaja[29]) and grossed a record $1.6 million in 1998.[30] In 2010, Enthiran grossed a record $4 million in North America. Many Tamil-language films have premiered or have been selected as special presentations at various film festivals across the globe, such as Mani Ratnam's Kannathil Muthamittal, Vasanthabalan's Veyyil and Ameer Sultan's Paruthiveeran. Kanchivaram (2009) was selected to be premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Tamil films have been a part of films submitted by India for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language on eight occasions, next only to Hindi.[31] Mani Ratnam's Nayagan (1987) was included in Time magazine's "All-TIME" 100 best movies list.[32] In 1991, Marupakkam directed by K.S. Sethu Madhavan, became the first Tamil film to win the National Film Award for Best Feature Film, the feat was repeated by Kanchivaram in 2007.[33] Tamil films enjoy significant patronage in neighboring Indian states like Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and New Delhi. In Kerala and Karnataka the films are directly released in Tamil but in Andhra Pradesh they are generally dubbed into Telugu where they have a decent market.[34] There have been instances where dubbed films from Tamil making more profits than Telugu films; dubbed Tamil films had a significant impact over the Telugu box office in 2005 and 2011.[34][35] Many successful Tamil films have been remade by other film industries. It is estimated by the Manorama Yearbook 2000 (a popular almanac) that over 5,000 Tamil films were produced in the 20th century. Tamil films have also been dubbed into other languages, thus reaching a much wider audience. There has been a growing presence of English in dialogue and songs in Chennai films. It is not uncommon to see movies that feature dialogue studded with English words and phrases, or even whole sentences. Some movies are also simultaneously made in two or three languages (either using subTamil movies feature Madras Tamil, a colloquial version of Tamil spoken in Chennai.