• INDIA PLEXING •
Mahasakthi Talkies
Selling Happiness with Every Ticket! The journey of Mahasakthi Talkies is no less than a film script! It's a story of relentless pursuit and undulating passion to keep the light of this cinema glowing against all odds. With the earnest efforts of M Karthi, the third generation theatre owner, Mahasakthi Talkies has been transformed incredibly from the once dilapidated state to a fully air-conditioned facility that proudly welcomes family audience in Ariyalur today.
Dubbed as the Cement city of Tamil Nadu, Ariyalur is also known as a mining town, situated 60 km from Trichy and 270 km south of Chennai. Famous for its rich limestone reserves and surrounded by 10 cement factories, Ariyalur has had its share of the vintage era of touring theatre.
In the Times of Mobile Theatre... Once upon a time, OP Muthiah Pillai of the famed Laila Pictures, a leading distribution company (estd. 1942) ran
a touring cinema. The Cinema was later built as a permanent structure in 1982 by his son M Mahalingam, who named it Sakthi Theatre. After the demise of Mahalingam in January 2000, his son M Karthi, a third generation theatre owner, runs the only cinema in town, along with mother Rajini as the Licensee. "It was an uphill task operating the business with the weekly compounding tax regime in those days. Outdated film projectors and competition for the film box further escalated the costs," reveals Karthi.
In 2006, Sakthi Theatre was renamed Mahasakthi Talkies in the memory of M Mahalingam. The occasion coincided with the release of the movie Sivaji, The Boss. The movie was a landmark film for the theatre as well as for Ariyalur town. It was the first movie to witness both regional and global release simultaneously and ran a full 100 days in the theatre.
"Epitome of Success"
M Karthi and his mother Mrs Rajini Mahalingam
TM-12
March-May 2018
On January 11, 2007, Karthi received the "100 days shield" award from none other than the superstar Rajinikanth himself! Karthi describes this as an "epitome of success" and recognition for all the years of sweat and pain in keeping the "lights of cinematic hope" on for a theatre, which was so passionately run by his father and grandfather.