How much did “The Boss” make out of his Magnum Opus!

         The adage “Where the bugle blows, there is a show” nicely sums up the reputation which Gemini Studios enjoyed with audience till mid-70s. Subramaniam Srinivasan (S.S.Vasan) of Gemini Studios, who started his movie career with a Telugu Film, achieved Pan India fame after his”Chandralekha” became a sensational hit in all languages. But as per the scan below, the media and entertainment baron did not make much from his Magnum Opus. I strongly recommend movie fanatics to watch the ~1.5hr video by Mr. Venkatesh Ramakrishnan (link provided below) to know more about “The Boss & his Bugle Boys”!

Few vignettes:

     *Mr. Vasan, respectfully addressed as “the Boss” by his employees, apparently destroyed the career of Kanchanamala (the original “Baalanaagamma”) for refusing to work with one of the directors hired by the studio.

     *A.V. Meyyappan Chettiar, B.Nagi Reddy & S.S.Vasan were apparently considered as the trinity of South Indian Film Industry in 1940s-50s.  As the chieftains of the three biggest studios in Madras, they apparently had an underlining agreement of subduing actors and technicians who troubled any one of them.

    *Gnanasundari”, his next film, was a disaster of epic proportion as the Brahmanical dialect of the cast did not go well with the targeted audience – Christians.