Keechaka Vadham is an Indian silent film produced, directed, filmed and edited by R. Nataraja Mudaliar. The first film to have been made in South India, it was shot in five weeks at Nataraja Mudaliar's production house, India Film Company. As the members of the cast were Tamils, Keechaka Vadham is considered to be the first Tamil film. No print of it is known to have survived, making it a lost film.
Painting of Keechaka and Draupadi by Raja Ravi Varma
Rangaswamy Nataraja Mudaliar (1885–1971), was an Indian film director. Popularly known as the father of Tamil cinema, he was a pioneer in the production of silent films. Starting his career as an automobile spare parts merchant, he started the "Indian Film Company Limited" in Madras. In 1917, Mudaliar made Keechaka Vadham, South India's first silent film. Upon critical success of the film, he went on to produce films like Draupadhi Vastrapaharanam (1918), Lava Kusa (1919), Rukmini Satyabhama and Mayil Ravana. After the death of his son in a fire accident in 1923, Mudaliar retired from films. A biographical drama film that direct by Wikramadhithyan will be titled [Thirai Thanthai]
R. Nataraja Mudaliar