K. Subramanyam

• Name — K. Subramaniyam • Birth Name — Krishnasamy Subramaniyam • Born — 20 April 1904 • Birthplace — Papanasam, Madras Presidency, British India • Died — 7 April 1971 • Place of death — Madras • Years Active — 1931–1957 • Children — Padma Subrahmanyam • Occupation — Film Director, film producer, and screenwriter

Subramanyam was born in a Brahmin family. Classical Bharatnatyam dancer Padma Subrahmanyam is his daughter.

Subramaniyam contributed to the establishment of the Tamil film industry. He started his film career as a scenarist and producer, working on P. K. Raja Sandow's silent films such as Peyum Pennum. He started Meenakshi Cineton with Alagappa Chettiar, directing his first film Pavalakkodi, in which the Tamil film star M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar debuted. He made a shift with the politically emphatic Balayogini, criticizing the caste system prevalent then. In 1938, he made Sevasadanam, advocating a better deal for women, in 1940 the film Bhaktha Chetha, critiquing untouchability, and in 1945 the war effort film Maanasamrakshanam. His best-known work is Thyaga Bhoomi. Thyaga Bhoomi was a novel by Kalki Krishnamurthy, which was banned by the British government. He also directed the Malayalam film, Prahlada (1941), which was scripted by noted playwright N. P. Chellappan Nair. He was one of the founders of Nadigar Sangam in 1952.

• Pavalakkodi (1934) • Naveena Sadaram (1935) • Naveena Sarangadhara (1936) • Kuchela (1936) • Usha Kalyanam (1936) • Balayogini (1937) • Mr. Ammanchi (1937) • Kowsalya Parinayam (1937) • Sevasadanam (1938) • Thyaga Bhoomi (1939) • Bhaktha Chetha (1940) • Prahlada (1941) (Malayalam) • Ananthasayanam (1942) • Barthruhari (1944) • Maanasamrakshanam (1945) • Vikatayogi (1946) • Vichitra Vanitha (1947) • Kapati Arakshakaya (1948) (Sinhalese) • Gokuladasi (1948) • Geetha Gandhi (1949)