After nearly four decades, Merryland Studio is making a comeback. From 1952 to 1979 the logo of Merryland – displaying Lord Muruga and his peacock – was an invitation for Malayalees to create or see works of artistic value.
The last film produced by Merryland was Hridayathinte Nirangal which had Madhu in the lead role. After this film, released in 1979, Merryland faded away from the Malayalam cinema arena.
Now, Visakh Subramaniam, grandson of Merryland founder P Subramaniam, is leading the effort to revive the legendary banner.
The first film being made by Merryland Studio as part of its rebirth is Love Action Drama produced by Visakh Subramaniam and actor Aju Varghese. It will also be the first film directed by actor Dhyan Sreenivasan. After a long gap, 'lady superstar' Nayanthara will return to Mollywood through this movie, opposite Nivin Pauly.
P Subramaniam, the director, producer and artist, is not much familiar to the new generation. His Merryland Studio was once the state's leading banner along with Udaya Pictures. Till 1979, Merryland produced 69 films, of which 59 were directed by Subramaniam himself.
Almost all the films were big hits and had artistic value also. However, Subramaniam has made a bigger contribution to Kerala than his films.
It was Subramaniam who built the Swami Ayyappan road from Pampa to Sannidhanam parallel to the forest path used by pilgrims for ages.
Merryland had produced the film Swami Ayyappan, which became a huge hit. Subramanian, a devotee of Ayyappa, used the entire profit from the film to build the road.
The Merryland Studio at Nemom was the location for numerous other Malayalam films.
After Subramaniam's death, Merryland Cinemas gradually ceased directing and producing films. Though it made a partial comeback 25 years later, only TV serials were produced.
Swami Ayyappan, Mahabhagavatham, Krishnakripasagaram and Amma were among the 20 serials produced under the banner.
Meanwhile, the company continued its ownership of several theatres in Thiruvananthapuram, including Sreekumar, Sreevisakh, New, Sreepadmanabha, and Sreekarthikeya.
Visakh is the son of S Murugan, P Subrahmaniam's son. He studied engineering but helped his father manage Sreekumar, Sreevisakh, and New theatres.
After familiarising himself with the film field for five years, Visakh decided to produce a film. His efforts received support from close friends Vineeth Sreenivasan, Aju Varghese and Dhyan Sreenivasan.
Though the company formed by Visakh and Aju is named 'Fantastic Films,' the title card of the films produced by it will also display the name 'Sreevisakh Merryland Cinemas release'.