Still from Tamil movie ‘En Manaivi’
One of the best sources for early 20th century Madras is cinema. The black and white era occasionally gives us rare gems, even though most of these films were shot in studios. A real gem among them is En Manaivi from 1942. AV Meiyappan was behind it, though his famous AVM studios were still in the lap of time at that time. After leasing Admiralty House in Mandaveli from the Maharaja of Vizianagaram, he produced films there under the banner Pragati Pictures.
Meiyappan had tried his hand at filmmaking several times and undeterred by early disasters, he stuck with it until he found success. En Manaivi was one of his first hits. It was based on Samshay Kallol, a Marathi play by GB Devala, which was based on Moliere’s 17th-century French one-act verse play Sganarelle, or The Self-Deceived Husband. The plot revolves around suspicion between two couples, which leads to many comical situations. The lead pair was Sarangapani and KR Chellam. It is interesting to see that the core of the story – a woman fainting on the street and a portrait landing in the wrong hands – remains unchanged across the original and Indian versions.
AV Meiyappan | Photo Credit: Hindu Archives
But it is Madras that sparkles all over Tamil cinema. The casting credits feature a quick sequence of cinematic shots of some prominent locations in the city. We have what looks like a ghostly Egmore station, followed by the busier but still pretty empty Central. The camera then pans to what is now the Muthuswami Iyer Bridge, named after the first Indian to become a judge of the Madras High Court. From here, with a furiously pedaling cyclist, we see the anatomy block of the Madras Medical College, popularly known as the Red Fort. Although the MMC has moved on and this building is waiting to be converted into a museum, we can see that the view has remained essentially unchanged.
Next we move to China Bazaar (NSC Bose) Road where the intersection with Broadway (Prakasam Salai) can be seen with the tram crossing. A close look shows one more of the Esplanade’s six boundary pillars standing on a corner. She disappeared along with four of her companions, leaving the one near Dare House as the survivor. We see trams running along the same road, with the old buildings of the Madras Christian College still standing – Anderson’s Church, College Hall and College House, of which only the former remains. We also see glimpses of the Supreme Court and the Faculty of Law.
Main station in the 1940s | Photo Credit: Hindu Archives
The camera seems to pan to Esplanade Road where we see the Travancore Maharaja Park with his statue. The park later became the Broadway Bus Stand and the statue was moved to Gandhi Nagar where it stands in the shadow of the Ananthapadmanabhaswami Temple. The Raja Annamalai Manram space is an empty lot, but next to it stands the elegant Madras House (now Chennai), once the headquarters of Burmah Shell and now insurance offices.
Kodambakkam station is shocking – not a soul is around as a commuter train arrives. The road next to it is wide and confusing, you can see a few houses on it. This was clearly somewhere in the boondocks when the dialogue in the film is about traveling from Madras to Kodambakkam. The Mylapore Kapaliswarar temple is seen only in passing, but the camera lingers on Thiruneermalai for a long time. The temple and the hill are the same, but the GST Road is just a two-way country road with lots of trees and bushes around. The war memorial has only a central tower and the circular colonnade appears partially built. Again only a few people around and no vehicles of any kind. The Connemara Hotel, then the only five-star establishment in town, appears in pristine white and full Art Deco glory. Next comes Gemini Studios – AVM’s film shows Gemini, its rival.
Broadway intersection in the 1950s | Photo Credit: Hindu Archives
Luxury soap fame R. Padma appears as a maid and sings a song about the wonders of the city. The first deals with loudspeakers set up in the Marina where the public can listen to radio broadcasts. Next is Meenambakkam, where vehicles “not guided by bulls actually cross the sky” and land. When this line is sung, a flight is shown landing at the airport. Finally, the dome of the Supreme Court is shown acting as the third lighthouse of Madras, flanked by a second, Doric column.
Madras looks like a different world. We have come a long way from there to today’s Chennai in just 85 years or so. Many of the changes have undoubtedly been for the better, but sometimes you miss the huge open spaces.
(Sriram V. is a writer and historian.)
Published – 18 Feb 2026 06:30 IST