Profile

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“A thousand Cielo cars were lined up. Then, a few frames later, a lorry load of Cielos were seen hurtling down a gorging waterfall”.

The scene sent shockwaves in the industry. People were awestruck. The Industry wondered; audience enjoyed the scene with bated breath. It was a sheer thriller. Like the James Bond movies, Kunjumon opened his movies with breath taking scenes that prompted people to be seated before the movie started and would draw the audience to the edge of their seats as the movie unfolds. Such was the impact created by KT Kunjumon on the Cine Industry that it would not be an exaggeration if it is said that such impact was never felt before.

K T Kunjumon is just not another producer, but belongs to a league of legendary producers of Hollywood; Producer par excellence. When asked about the mega scenes he simply said “I’ve always believed that you have to dazzle the audience to lure them into the theatres.”

He is one producer who knows the pulse of his audience. He always created awesome movies, invested huge amounts. From the Hero to the Director, he would normally select very talented artists with huge potential, from among the less known people. Then he makes a formidable, super team out of them. His movies are all big budgeted; all of them are box office hits, mega hits. Most of the present days’ superstars from, Director Shankar, Actors Vijay, Sarathkumar, and Actor Director Prabhu Deva, great music director A R Rahman and lyricists Vairamuthu who are legends in their own right now , once got a break By K T Kunjumon and they broke into big league only through his movies.

All his movies are path breaking and have set bench marks in the cinema Industry. His commitment to delighting the customers is what sets him apart from the other producers. The fact that he is the only producer to have fan following and fan association, stands as testimony to his extraordinary talent as a producer. A tribute to a man ,who gave them so many fabulous movies. He always wanted to be different.

Though he is not formally educated, beyond schooling, his business acumen is stupendous. A very astute student of cine industry; he made good use of his initial days of working as customer interface in Travel and Hotel industry and learnt the techniques of Customer relationship and also about the customer behavioral pattern in very hard ways. His long stint as Cinema distributor helped him to gain insight into Audience preferences and nuances of cinema production.

He is very much a self made man. He says very proudly “Every paisa I have earned is by my sweat and blood”. Thirty Five years of hard grind he underwent in his life and work has inured him to be a good professional. He is branded as a professional producer who always trusts his team, listens to his team, provided spark through his Ideas and discussions, inspired through his encouraging pats, never interfered in their working and only demanded results. He always eggs his people to be innovative, creative and to do something different.

His brainstorming and Ideation techniques are unique and talked about by his team that they bring up so many options to decide upon. That is reflected from the opening and climax scenes of his movies, which have taken the audience to the highest level of involvement. He says with twinkle in his eyes “Once I achieve the audience involvement, they erupt in theatres, enjoy seeing my movies in theatres, I am satisfied that not only I have done justice to the people who come to theatres and realize value for their money but also to the Industry. One of the responsibilities as producers is to make people to view cinema in theatres. The life of a large community of people of Cinema Industry depends on that”. His concern for people of his Industry is unmistakably genuine.

There is something in him, very difficult to emulate is that he works 365 days while his team rest in shifts. His energy level apart from concentration level when on a project is incredible. His success is attributed to his single-minded devotion to his work. “I worship many Gods; but believe in only one God –that is my work. My work is my worship” he says. He strongly believes that when work becomes prayer, excellence manifests. He has proved it many a time by his actions and the results he produced. Kunjumon has a known to have a penchant for working with artists who are upcoming. Notwithstanding his flamboyant image, reputation for opulence; he is very meticulous in his planning and executing his projects .He is reputed to have Eagle’s eyes; seldom anything misses his sight. And he is a producer who knows the game well.

After he became successful as a film distributor and gained in confidence, he tested the waters of Film industry by producing economically budgeted movies in Malayalam and Tamil Then came Gentleman like lightning and thunder; took the industry by storm; Revenue rained. The Industry along with audience was spellbound. People had not stopped talking about it; people were still humming the songs; accolades started to pour in; Kadhalan came with Prabhu Deva, for the first time, in the lead. The Movie was a super-duper .A Music extravaganza. The song ‘Muqala Muqabula’ straight out of a Mexican cow boy movie was a hit beyond imagination. The animation work was done in Hong Kong by S T Venki. With the amount spent to bring out such an extraordinary song sequence, some other persons could have taken a movie. The song was the first in the Indian Cinema to be digitally computerized. Acclaimed as technically innovative and creative, the song was a path breaker. His team adored him for his penchant for applying state of art technologies. Kunjumon always believed that the audience should get only the best as that is what they rightfully deserve.

He sets trends by introducing new techniques in animation, graphics and Dolbhy and Dts in his films. Kunjumon always believed in setting the Thames on fire.

Kadhal Desam in 1996 was produced on a set designed by legendary Thotta Dharani on 72 acres of land in G V Garden, Mahabalipuram at cost of around Rs 2 Crores. The set per se became a hit with the tourists. The music enthralled the audience. The movie redefined the meaning of Friendship and beauty of womanhood.

“Oh! My word. It is very simple message, so beautifully presented. Whole movie was just lovely” was a remark by a student after viewing the movie. Kadhal desam was a trend setter; many movies came after that had its influence lingering at some place or other in the movies.

It was Kunjumon who Introduced Miss Universe Sushmita Sen as an artist to the Indian Cinema viewer through his ‘Ratchakan’. Produced at a maha budget in 1997, Ratchakan was the costliest movie in Indian Cinema, in those times. It was starting of a new era- The Kunjumon era, in Indian Cinema. Indian movie producers were enthused by the success of his movies. Each of Kunjumon’s Movies was a lesson to producers; the grammar of cinema production. Producers gained in confidence and courage to produce mega budgeted movies.

When asked how he would feel about his success, he says “More than from the money that I have made from success of my movies, I am happy and very proud of the fact that the people like Director Shankar, Music Director A R Rahman, Actors Vijay, Sarath Kumar, Director and Actor Prabhu Deva, Arjun who were introduced and given a big break through my movies are now acclaimed greats in their fields and I would always cherish my association with them”

On people behind his success he was very quick; he singled out his wife as very loving and very supportive. “She was God’s gift to me”, he adds.

He was just not a trail blazer in producing movies but also in caring for his people. He was the first in the industry to reward Directors, Assistant Directors, technicians and other staff with Houses, Cars, Two wheelers, rings and what, not including rewards to the audience.

When asked about his memorable moments, Kunjumon said that it was when Ulaganayagan Kamalahasan introduced Kunjumon to Queen Elizabeth as ‘Kunjumon a leading cinema producer’, at the inaugural function of ‘Maruthanayagam’and when Dr K M Cherian introduced him to Mr. Al Gore, the former Vice president of the USA and 2007 Noble prize winner for ‘Peace’ in Chennai.

Not just that Kunjumon is a great Gentleman who walks any distance to help his friends. Kunjumon the Gentleman remembers each step in his life and the friends who helped him and who had been with him through his thick and thin. He worships them. Whenever they got into trouble in life, he reached out to them without waiting for them to seek for his help. No wonder his friends say that Kunjumon is a man with ‘Golden Heart’.

In spite of his incredible success he remains calm, simple and is always accessible to anyone who tries to meet him. He involves himself in a plethora of social service activities.

He never moves on beaten track; he is a path breaker; a trail blazer. He would always say that something extraordinary; a bit special is what the fans would like to see in my movies and that he shall give them more than that they expected .

He is a person who would not rest on his laurels. Kunjumon nurtures dream to produce Hollywood Movie one day.

Philanthropic Activities

Gujarat Earth quake relief fund by Malayalam Panorama.

Chief Ministers Relief fund – Government of Tamilnadu.

K T K Charitable Trust to help the poor people.

Projects handled as Distributor

AVM Productions

Sathya Movies

Kavithalaya Productions

Sivaji Productions

Devar Films

G.V. Films

K.Balaji’s Sujatha’s International

T.Rajendar Films

K.Bakhyaraj Films

And Mani Rathnam Films

Acquired the Distribution rights in Chennai, North Arcot, South Arcot, Chenglepet and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.
Kunjumon was invited for the TASHKANT International Film Festival as Distributor of Kamal Hasan’s film Nayakan, where the film was screened