Photon Kathaas was an Indian film production company led by director Gautham Vasudev Menon. It was established in 2010 by Menon along with Venky Somasundaram and Reshma Ghatala, who worked as the co-promoters.[1] Its name is derived from Gautham Menon's original company Photon Factory, which had previously co-produced several of Menon's films like Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu and Kaakha Kaakha, its Telugu remake Gharshana and Pachaikili Muthucharam.[2]
 | |
| Company type | Film production |
|---|---|
| PKP.L | |
| Industry | Motion picture |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Gautham Vasudev Menon Venky Somasundaram Reshma Ghatala |
| Website | http://www.photonkathaas.com |
History edit
Photon Kathaas's first venture was Menon's psychological thriller Nadunisi Naaygal,[2] Veppam, and Ram's second directorial Thanga Meengal,[3] co-produced with RS Infotainment. Furthermore, an audio label named Photon Kathaas Music was launched as a division of the company, with newcomer Vijay Ebenezer's Kanden becoming their first release.[4]
Soon after Photon Kathaas teamed up with RS Infotainment to produce Neethaane En Ponvasantham (2012), a romantic drama film featuring Jiiva and Samantha, but the film fared averagely at the box office. In February 2013, Elred Kumar of RS Infotainment filed a legal case against Gautham Menon and Madan claiming that he had entered into an agreement to do a film starring Silambarasan with music by A. R. Rahman in November 2008, during the making of Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa. He noted that they had agreed again in February 2010 to make the film, but now with Allu Arjun in the lead role. However, Elred claimed that both Gautham and Madan had gone on to do other projects even though they had been paid an advance of 40 million.[5] As a result of the litigation, Menon had trouble releasing the rest of Photon Kathaas' productions.
Despite being announced as Photon Kathaas' productions at launch, Premsai's delayed bilingual films, Courier Boy Kalyan (2015) in Telugu and Tamilselvanum Thaniyar Anjalum (2016) in Tamil, were eventually released as films productions by Gautham Menon and his team without a banner. In an interview in November 2016, Gautham Menon revealed that Photon Kathaas had closed. He added there "was a vision, but we faltered because of the films that we did", and made reference to the cases filed by RS Infotainment against the studio.[6]
Filmography edit
Production edit
| Year | Film | Director | Cast | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Nadunisi Naaygal | Gautham Vasudev Menon | Veera, Sameera Reddy | |
| 2011 | Veppam | Anjana Ali Khan | Nani, Karthik Kumar, Nithya Menon, Bindu Madhavi | |
| 2012 | Ekk Deewana Tha | Gautham Menon | Prateik Babbar, Amy Jackson | |
| 2012 | Neethane En Ponvasantham | Gautham Menon | Jiiva, Samantha | |
| 2012 | Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu | Gautham Menon | Nani, Samantha | |
| 2013 | Thanga Meenkal | Ram | Ram, Shelly Kishore, Sadhana |
Discography edit
| Year | Film | Music Director | Director | Cast | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Kandaen | Vijay Ebenezer | A. C. Mugil | Shanthnoo Bhagyaraj, Rashmi Gautam | |
| Veppam | Joshua Sridhar | Anjana Ali Khan | Nani, Karthik Kumar, Nithya Menon, Bindu Madhavi |
Distribution edit
| Year | Film | Director | Cast | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn | Steven Spielberg | Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis | Only in Tamil Nadu |
References edit
- ^ "Vijay gifts cows – Rediff.com Movies". Rediff.com. 8 November 2010. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
- ^ a b "Gautham has his hands full". Deccan Chronicle. 26 July 2010. Archived from the original on 13 November 2010. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
- ^ "Gautham Vasudev Menon - Behindwoods.com". Behindwoods.com. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
- ^ T. Krithika Reddy (12 February 2011). "Arts / Cinema : …cause it's thriller night". The Hindu. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
- ^ "Elred files case against Gautham Menon". The Times of India. 10 January 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
- ^ Parameswaran, Prathibha (14 November 2016). "Gautham Menon made 'Achcham Yenbadhu Madamaiyada' for 'audiences that whistle and clap'". Scroll.in.