>Kailash29792 at 13:54, 14 April 2021

2021-04-14T13:54:59Z

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{{short description|Indian film producer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Lena Chettiar
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name = S. M. Letchuman Chettiar
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Managiri, [[Sivaganga district]], [[India]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=Guy |first=Randor |author-link=Randor Guy |date=20 December 2001 |title=Studios – the scene of action |work=[[The Hindu]] |url=https://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mp/2001/12/20/stories/2001122000100200.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=17 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625061949/http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mp/2001/12/20/stories/2001122000100200.htm |archive-date=25 June 2018}}</ref>
| nationality = [[Indian people|Indian]]
| occupation = Film producer
| years active = 1934–1960
| spouse =
| children =
| parents =
| relatives =
}}

'''Lena Chettiar''' (born '''S. M. Letchuman Chettiar''') was an Indian film producer from [[Chettinad]] known for his works in [[Tamil cinema]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 May 2013 |title=The story of Lena Chettiar, the used-car dealer who turned into a film producer! |url=https://tcrcindia.com/2013/05/03/the-story-of-lena-chettiar-the-used-car-dealer-who-turned-into-a-film-producer/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402014046/https://tcrcindia.com/2013/05/03/the-story-of-lena-chettiar-the-used-car-dealer-who-turned-into-a-film-producer/ |archive-date=2 April 2019 |access-date=17 June 2019 |website=The Cinema Resource Centre}}</ref>

== Career ==
S. M. Letchuman Chettiar hailed from the Nattukottai Nagarathar clan in Chettinad.{{sfn|Guy|2016|p=206}} Early on in his career, Lena was known for staging plays in southern Tamil-speaking areas and was a used car dealer, who became the first person to circulate [[handbill]]s about cars in Tamil. He advised [[M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar]], a stage actor, against producing films. Bhagavathar's first film ''[[Pavalakkodi]]'', which ran well in Tamil-speaking areas of India and Ceylon (now [[Sri Lanka]]), marked the debut of Lena as a film producer.<ref name="prabhavathi" /> Soon after the release of ''Pavalakkodi'', Lena moved to and managed his own production unit titled Krishna Pictures, which marked the Tamil debut of [[P. Kannamba]].<ref name="Krishnan Thoothu" /> Lena was never credited as producer in any of his films as he was an "undischarged insolvent" in the later half of his life, because of which he could not carry on any business under his name. According to historian [[Randor Guy]], he died "unsung and unhonoured".{{sfn|Guy|2016|p=208}}

== Filmography ==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year
! Film
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{Tooltip|Ref.|References}}
|-
|1934
|''[[Pavalakkodi]]''
|style="text-align:center;"|<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ramarkrishnan |first=Venkatesh |date=22 December 2019 |title=Those Were The Days: Pavalakodi, the first Tamil talkie blockbuster that launched the first superstar |url=https://www.dtnext.in/News/TopNews/2019/12/22043225/1205271/Those-Were-The-Days-Pavalakodi-the-first-Tamil-talkie-.vpf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224061755/https://www.dtnext.in/News/TopNews/2019/12/22043225/1205271/Those-Were-The-Days-Pavalakodi-the-first-Tamil-talkie-.vpf |archive-date=24 December 2019 |access-date=24 December 2019 |website=[[DT Next]]}}</ref>
|-
|1940
|''[[Krishnan Thoothu]]''
|style="text-align:center;"|<ref name="Krishnan Thoothu" />
|-
|1944
|''[[Prabhavathi]]''
|style="text-align:center;"|<ref name="prabhavathi" />
|-
|1949
|''[[Krishna Bhakthi]]''
|style="text-align:center;"|<ref>{{Cite news |last=Guy |first=Randor |author-link=Randor Guy |date=15 February 2008 |title=Krishna Bhakthi 1948 |work=[[The Hindu]] |url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-cinemaplus/krishna-bhakthi-1948/article3022555.ece |url-status=live |access-date=24 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230164630/http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-cinemaplus/krishna-bhakthi-1948/article3022555.ece |archive-date=30 December 2017}}</ref>
|-
|1953
|''[[Marumagal (1953 film)|Marumagal]]''
|style="text-align:center;"|<ref name="marumagal" />
|-
|1953
|''Ammalakkalu'' ([[Telugu language|Telugu]])
|style="text-align:center;"|<ref name="marumagal" />
|-
|1955
|''[[Kaveri (1955 film)|Kaveri]]''
|style="text-align:center;"|<ref>{{Cite news |last=Guy |first=Randor |author-link=Randor Guy |date=19 October 2013 |title=Kaveri (1959) |work=[[The Hindu]] |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/cinema-columns/kaveri-1959/article5251239.ece |url-status=live |access-date=9 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161022201721/http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/cinema-columns/kaveri-1959/article5251239.ece |archive-date=22 October 2016}}</ref>
|-
|1956
|''[[Madurai Veeran (1956 film)|Madurai Veeran]]''
|style="text-align:center;"|<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kantha |first=Sachi Sri |date=22 December 2013 |title=MGR Remembered – Part 13 – Ilankai Tamil Sangam |url=https://sangam.org/mgr-remembered-part-13/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224061754/https://sangam.org/mgr-remembered-part-13/ |archive-date=24 December 2019 |access-date=24 December 2019 |website=[[Ilankai Tamil Sangam]] |authorlink=Sachi Sri Kantha}}</ref>
|-
|1958
|''[[Mangalya Bhagyam]]''
|
|-
|1960
|''[[Raja Desingu]]''
|style="text-align:center;"|<ref>{{Cite news |last=Guy |first=Randor |author-link=Randor Guy |date=15 August 2015 |title=Raja Desingu (1960) |work=[[The Hindu]] |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/tamil-film-raja-desinghu-1960-featuring-mgr/article7544279.ece |url-status=live |access-date=9 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200101004641/https://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/tamil-film-raja-desinghu-1960-featuring-mgr/article7544279.ece |archive-date=1 January 2020}}</ref>
|}

== References ==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="prabhavathi">{{Cite news |last=Guy |first=Randor |author-link=Randor Guy |date=10 December 2011 |title=Prabhavathi 1942 |work=[[The Hindu]] |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/prabhavathi-1942/article2704053.ece |url-status=live |access-date=17 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161017110559/http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/prabhavathi-1942/article2704053.ece |archive-date=17 October 2016}}</ref>
<ref name="Krishnan Thoothu">{{Cite news |last=Guy |first=Randor |author-link=Randor Guy |date=20 April 2013 |title=Krishnan Thoothu 1940 |work=[[The Hindu]] |url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/cinema-columns/krishnan-thoothu-1940/article4636614.ece |url-status=live |access-date=17 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200125061208/https://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/cinema-columns/krishnan-thoothu-1940/article4636614.ece |archive-date=25 January 2020}}</ref>
<ref name="marumagal">{{Cite news |last=Guy |first=Randor |author-link=Randor Guy |date=22 December 2012 |title=Marumagal 1953 |work=[[The Hindu]] |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/chen-cinema/marumagal-1953/article4229126.ece |url-status=live |access-date=24 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224061755/https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/chen-cinema/marumagal-1953/article4229126.ece |archive-date=24 December 2019}}</ref>
}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite book |last=Guy |first=Randor |title=Memories of Madras: Its Movies, Musicians & Men of Letters |publisher=Creative Workshop |year=2016 |isbn=978-81-928961-7-5 |editor-last=Gopal |editor-first=T. S. |location=Chennai |author-link=Randor Guy}}

{{Chettinad}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian film directors]]
[[Category:Film directors from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Indian lyricists]]
[[Category:Screenwriters from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Tamil film directors]]
[[Category:Tamil film poets]]
[[Category:Tamil film producers]]
[[Category:Tamil screenwriters]]

Lena Chettiar - Revision history

>Kailash29792 at 13:54, 14 April 2021