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{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| name = K. T. Kunjumon
| image =
| caption =
| birth_place = [[Kerala]], [[India]]
| years_active = 1993– 2008
| occupation = Producer, writer
}}

'''K. T. Kunjumon''' (born 15 November 1953) is an Indian film producer and writer, active in [[Tamil cinema|Tamil]] and [[Malayalam cinema|Malayalam]] films. He began his career co-producing several Malayalam films, often working with director [[P. G. Viswambharan]]. His first [[Kollywood]] project, [[Pavithran (Tamil film director)|Pavithran]]'s [[Suriyan]] as [[Sarathkumar]]'s first solo lead role was a success. Kunjumon's second venture, [[S. Shankar]]'s directorial debut [[Gentleman (1993 film)|Gentleman]]'' was a major success and set several records for Tamil film production. His subsequent films, ''[[Kaadhalan]]'' (1994) and ''[[Kadhal Desam]]'' (1996) were also successful, while ''[[Ratchagan]]'' (1997) became the most expensive Tamil film ever made on release.

==Career==
After finishing his school education Kunjumon worked in the travel agency business and then the hotel industry, before he became a film producer. He entered to film industry as a distributor and distributed approximately 350 films in different languages, in Tamil and Malayalam. He dubbed many films from Tamil to Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi. He produced Malayalam films in the late 1980s and began to produce Tamil films from 1991. He owned the film production company A.R.S.Movies Pvt Ltd. His debut Tamil film as producer was ''Vasanthakala Paravai'' (1991) which became successful, he then went on to produce successful big-budgeted flicks such as ''Suriyan'' (1992), ''Gentleman'' (1993), ''Kadhalan'' (1994) and ''Kadhal Desam'' (1996).

Kunjumon was well known for suggesting director [[S. Shankar]] to rewrite the climax of [[Gentleman (1993 film)|''Gentleman'']] based on the assassination of former Sri Lankan President [[Ranasinghe Premadasa]], much to the dissatisfaction of Arjun, who felt that his heroism would get diluted. However, Kunjumon was adamant about the climax and it was shot as per his wish.<ref>{{Cite web|date=May 12, 2020|title=Tuesday Trivia: Assassination of Sri Lanka President inspired the climax of Shankar's Gentleman|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/regional-cinema/story/tuesday-trivia-assassination-of-sri-lanka-president-inspired-the-climax-of-shankar-s-gentleman-1677164-2020-05-12|access-date=2020-06-15|website=India Today|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

Kunjumon announced a venture titled ''Kodiesvaran'' in 1996, which would mark the acting debut of his son, Eby Kunjumon. The film started production the following year with Eby appearing alongside [[Simran Bagga|Simran]], with Hindi actress [[Karisma Kapoor]] making a guest appearance in an [[item number]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Rediff On The NeT, Movies: Madras calling|url=https://www.rediff.com/entertai/1998/oct/13ss.htm|access-date=2020-06-15|website=www.rediff.com}}</ref> The film's music album and trailer were released in early 1999, but Kunjumon's financial troubles meant that the film failed to have a theatrical release. Likewise, a proposed project titled ''En Idhayathil Nee'' starring Eby opposite [[Shalini Kumar|Shalini]] did not begin production despite being announced in late 1998.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Rediff On The NeT, Movies: Gossip from the southern film industry|url=https://m.rediff.com/movies/1998/oct/28ss.htm|access-date=2020-06-15|website=m.rediff.com}}</ref> Another production titled ''Swasam'' was launched with Eby and [[Priyanka Trivedi]], and began filming schedules in 2001, but also failed to complete work.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Archive News|url=https://www.thehindu.com/archive/|access-date=2020-06-15|website=The Hindu|language=en}}</ref><ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20010810101743/http://www.rediff.com/entertai/2001/jan/27tamil.htm</ref> In 2005, he contemplated remaking ''[[Thotti Jaya]]'' (2005) in Telugu with Eby in the lead role, but later opted against making the venture.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Behindwoods : K T Kunjumon produce a new film|url=http://www.behindwoods.com/News/12-5-05/kt_kunjmon.htm|access-date=2020-06-15|website=www.behindwoods.com}}</ref>

Kunjumon's last two released films are the [[Vijay (actor)|Vijay]]-starrers ''[[Nilaave Vaa]]'' (1998) and ''[[Endrendrum Kadhal]]'' (1999), both of which costed less than his previous venture, ''[[Ratchagan]]''. In an interview in 2006, Kunjumon lamented the failure of the two films starring Vijay for his bankruptcy, stating he lost 1.5 and 1.75 crore rupees respectively on those two projects and added that Vijay's father [[S. A. Chandrasekhar]] had gone back on an agreement they had made about the rights of the films.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Tamil movies : KT Kunjumon alleges Vijay for his bankrupt. What’s Vijay’s reaction?|url=http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movie-articles/movies-02/20-06-06-k-t-kunjumon.html|access-date=2020-06-15|website=www.behindwoods.com}}</ref> The producer announced a comeback in 2008 and began working on a film titled ''Kathalukku Maranamillai'', also operating as the film's script-writer. Starring rookie actors Tejas, [[Meera Nandan]] and [[Madalasa Sharma]] , the film was completed in 2009 but did not have theatrical release.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Tejas’s high profile debut - Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Tejass-high-profile-debut/articleshow/3673067.cms|access-date=2020-06-15|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=New pair in Kunjumon’s comeback film|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/2008/nov/04/new-pair-in-kunjumons-comeback-film-4171.html|access-date=2020-06-15|website=The New Indian Express}}</ref>

In an interview in 2018, Kunjumon said that he might no longer be able to replicate his film world successes of the 1990s, citing as reasons a string of failed projects and changes in the world of film production world that meant individual film producers no longer got the respect they deserved. He however added that he was happy that the people he had introduced to the film world had become successful and wished them well.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/kt-kunjumon-and-25-years-of-gentleman/article24482821.ece|title=KT Kunjumon and 25 years of ‘Gentleman’|last=Ramanujam|first=Srinivasa|date=2018-07-21|work=The Hindu|access-date=2018-08-12|last2=Menon|first2=Vishal|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190823082049/https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/kt-kunjumon-and-25-years-of-gentleman/article24482821.ece |archive-date=23 August 2019}}</ref>

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Year
! Film
! Director
! Language
! class="unsortable"|Notes
|-
|1985 || ''[[Ee Thanalil Ithiri Nerum]]'' || [[P. G. Viswambharan]] || Malayalam ||
|-
|1985 || ''[[Ee Lokam Evide Kure Manushyar]]'' || [[P. G. Viswambharan]] || Malayalam ||
|-
|1987 || ''[[Ivide Ellavarkkum Sukham]]'' || [[Jeassy]] || Malayalam ||
|-
|1988 || ''[[Oozham (1988 film)|Oozham]]'' || [[Harikumar (director)|Harikumar]] || Malayalam ||
|-
|1988 || ''[[Adholokam]]'' || [[Thevalakkara Chellappan]] || Malayalam ||
|-
|1988 || ''[[Unnikrishnante Adyathe Christmas]]'' || [[Kamal (director)|Kamal]] || Malayalam ||
|-
|1988 || ''[[Mrithunjayam]]'' || Paul Babu || Malayalam ||
|-
|1988 || ''[[Simon Peter Ninakku Vendi]]'' || [[P. G. Viswambharan]] || Malayalam ||
|-
|1989 || ''[[Adharvam]]'' || [[Dennis Joseph]] || Malayalam ||
|-
|1989 || ''[[Prayapoorthi Aayavarkku Mathram]]'' || [[Suresh Heblikar]] || Malayalam ||
|-
|1989 || ''[[Prabhatham Chuvanna Theruvil]]'' || N. P. Suresh || Malayalam ||
|-
|1990 || ''[[Ponnaranjanam]]'' || [[Babu Narayanan]] || Malayalam ||
|-
|1991 || ''[[Aakasha Kottayile Sultan]]'' || [[Jayaraj]] || Malayalam ||
|-
|1991 || ''[[Vasanthakala Paravai]]'' || [[Pavithran (Tamil film director)|Pavithran]] || Tamil ||
|-
|1991 || ''[[Mr & Mrs (1992 film)|Mr & Mrs]]'' || Sajan || Malayalam ||
|-
|1992 || ''[[Suriyan]]'' || [[Pavithran (Tamil film director)|Pavithran]] || Tamil ||
|-
|1993 || ''[[Gentleman (1993 film)|Gentleman]]'' || [[S. Shankar|Shankar]] || Tamil || [[Filmfare Award for Best Film – Tamil|Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Film]]
|-
|1994 || ''[[Sindhu Nathi Poo]]'' || Senthamizhan || Tamil ||
|-
|1994 || ''[[Kaadhalan]]'' || [[S. Shankar|Shankar]] || Tamil ||
|-
|1996 || ''[[Kadhal Desam]]'' || [[Kadhir]] || Tamil ||
|-
|1997 || ''[[Sakthi (1997 film)|Sakthi]]'' || [[R. Raghuraj|Raghuraj]] || Tamil ||also story writer
|-
|1997 || ''[[Ratchagan]]'' || [[Praveen Gandhi]] || Tamil ||also story writer
|-
|1998 || ''[[Nilaave Vaa]]'' || [[A. Venkatesh (director)|A. Venkatesh]] || Tamil ||
|-
|1999 || ''[[Endrendrum Kadhal]]'' || [[Manoj Gyan|Manoj Bhatnagar]] || Tamil ||
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|id=0475198}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunjumon, K. T.}}
[[Category:Tamil film producers]]
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Indian film producers]]

K. T. Kunjumon - Revision history

imported>Niceguyedc at 08:31, 29 August 2021