Other Prominent Actors and Actresses : There are many popular actors and actresses in Tamil cinema.

Vijay : Vijay is the young superstar of Tamil cinema. He earned the title 'Ilayathalapathy' in 1996. He has done many blockbusters like Poove Unakkaga, Kadhalukku Mariyadhai, Kushi and Ghilli. He is a good playback singer also.


Surya : Surya is another popular actor in Tamil films. He is the son of Tamil actor Sivakumar and he is married to the fellow actress Jyothika recently. He acted in many popular films like Ghajini, Perazhagan, Kaaka Kaaka, Aaru and June R.

Kushboo : Kushboo was a leading actress in Tamil cinema in the 80's and 90's. She acted opposite to the superstars Rajni Kant and Kamal Haasan in many films. Apart from Tamil movies, she also acted in various movies in Kannada, Telugu, and Malayalam.

Jyothika : Jyothika is a leading Tamil film actress. She is married to actor Surya recently. She is regarded as a Superstar in South Indian Cinema because of her continuous string of hits. She is paid the highest salary among Indian actresses, beating Trisha Krishnan and Kareena Kapoor. Her famous films include Vaali, Rhythm, Kushi, Thenali, Kaaka Kaaka, Arul, Maayavi, Chandramukhi, Vettaiyadu Villaiyadu and Mozhi.

Simran : Simran established herself as an actress of repute in the south Indian film industry. Her notable films include Kanannethere Thondrinal, Vaali and Kannathil Muthamittal. Simran is a versatile dancer.


Playback Singers :There are many famous playback singers in Tamil like S.P.BalaSubrahmaniyam(SPB), Srinivas, K.S.Chitra, P.Susheela, Nityasree Mahadevan and Chinmayi Sripada.

Popular Directors : K.Balachander, Mani Ratnam and Shankar are some of the popular film-makers of the Tamil industry today. There are many other leading names in the industry like K.Bagyaraj, Kathir, Balu Mahendra, Bharathiraaja, C.V.Sridhar, Durai and J.Mahendran.

Music Directors :A.R. Rahman, Illayaraja, Bala Barathi, Gangai Amaran, Karthik Raja, Vidyasagar, Shankar Ganesh and T. Rajendar are some of the popular Tamil Music Directors.

Industry Trends: Average annual film output in Tamil film industry has risen steadily in the 20th century. The Tamil film industry accounts for approx. 1% of the gross domestic product of the state of Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu government has made provisions for an entertainment tax exemption for Tamil movies having pure Tamil word(s) in the title. This is in accordance with Government Order 72 passed on 22 July 2006.

Cinema Halls : There are about 2,400 cinema halls in Kollywood, of which around 125 are located in the Chennai district. Show rentals range from Rs.700 in C-centres to as much as Rs.7,000 in A-centres for an average 700-seat screen. The Tamil film industry is one of biggest and most successful film industries in India. It is also one of the oldest film industries which popularized cinema in India.