Today's Tamil Cinema : According to the Central Board of Film Certification, the Tamil film industry ranked third in terms of the number of films produced in 2003. In 2005, Kollywood produced three new releases every week on average, and an annual turnover of over Rs.23,205 million from ticket sales of 600 million. Tamil films enjoyed consistent popularity among Tamil speakers in India, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia. Tamil films have recently become popular in Japan, South Africa, Canada, and the UK. For example, Rajini Kant's 'Muthu' was screened for a record period of time in Japan recently.

Many movies like 'Anniyan' and 'Chandramukhi' were simultaneously released in USA. Tamil films enjoy good patronage in the neighbouring southern States like Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In Kerala, Tamil films are released directly in Tamil itself, but in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, the dubbed versions of the films are preferred. Many Tamil films were dubbed into Hindi and other Indian languages. The recent film 'Anniyan' became the first Tamil film to be dubbed into French.


Superstars in Tamil Films :Kamal Hasan and Rajini Kant are the Superstars in Tamil films. There are many other actors like Prabhu, Vijay, Ajith Kumar, Madhavan, Surya, Vikram in the industry. Kushboo, Simran, Jyothika, Asin and Trisha are the recent sensations among actresses.

Rajni Kant : The Superstar RajniKant takes home a salary 35 crore per film. He acts in one film every two years recently. Rajinikanth performs predominantly in leading roles in high-budget and major studio films, ranging from romantic comedies and drama to action thrillers. RajniKant has about 63000 registered Fan Clubs across the world.

Rajini Kant's film 'Sivaji' released on June 15th, 2007, receives huge opening now. It is released in Theatres world wide in approximately 2,900 theatres. Sivaji is one of the most-awaited movies this year. This film credits some of the biggest names like director S Shankar, music director A R Rahman, art director Thotta Tharani, cinematographer K V Anand and many more. The film also stars Shriya opposite him, and has Nayanthara doing an item number. The film, prior to release, has re-written several Indian records at the box-office starting with the most costly production to date with 60 crores, overtaking, the 2002 Bollywood film, Devdas which cost the producer 50 Indian crores.

Kamal Haasan :Kamal Haasan started his career as a child artist. He is an accomplished actor who received India's third highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri for his services to Indian cinema in 1990. His most popular films include Moondram Pirai (1982), Saagara Sangamam (1983), Nayagan (1987), Indian (1996) and Hey Ram (2000). In 2007, Kamal Haasan has attempted to portray ten different characters in his upcoming project, 'Dasavatharam', therefore making the attempt a possible World Record. Kamal is the first actor to turn his fan clubs into registered non-profit service organizations. He acted in many different roles in many films like Indian, Avvai Shanmugi and Hey Ram.