| Type | Film production |
|---|---|
| Industry | Motion pictures |
| Founded | 1947 |
| Founder(s) | Kunchacko K. V. Koshy |
| Headquarters | Pathirappally, Alappuzha, Kerala |
| Key people | Navodaya Appachan Boban Kunchacko Kunchacko Boban |
Udaya Studios is the oldest film production studio in the Malayalam language film industry of India. It was established in 1947 by director-producer Kunchacko (1912–1976) and film distributor K. V. Koshy in Pathirappally, Alappuzha in Kerala. The studio influenced the gradual shift of Malayalam film industry from its original base of Madras, Tamil Nadu to Kerala, now considered a miletsone in the history of Malayalam film industry. [1][2], and the first film of studio was Vellinakshatram (1949). [3]
The films, produced at the studio, were produced under the banner of K & K Combines, and later under Excel Productions (also spelt X. L. Productions). Udaya's professional rivalry with P. Subramaniam's Merryland Studio was quite famous.[4]
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Kunchacko established a film production company, "Udaya Pictures" in 1942, though he continued production at traditional the base of Malayalam film, Chennai, but it all changed in 1947 when he came together with film distributor K. V. Koshy and established Udaya Studios in Alleppey (Alappuzha), and in time the studio also set up its own distribution network. Soon it has a string of successes with blockbusters like, Thacholi Othenan, Unniyarcha, Palattu Koman, Aromalunni and Kannappanunni, and became a household name. [5][2][6]
After Kunchako's death in 1976, his son director Boban Kunchacko, took over the functioning, but after his death in 2004 at the age of 55, the studio saw some bad days. However Kunchacko Boban soon became an established Malayalam film actor[7] and revived the studio in 2009, and it reopened as "Uday Soorya Hi-tech Film City".[1]
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