ABSTRACT
When cinema appeared at the beginning of the twentieth century as a new
entertainment form in south India, print media was already flourishing. The
nationalist movement had triggered an upsurge in journalism, both in Eng-
lish and Tamil. Dailies, magazines and fictional literature had built up a
regular readership. Articles, serials and short stories were a popular com-
ponent of magazines and there was an active publishing industry producing
books including novels. Along with the print media, electricity and tele-
phones were coming into use. The beginning of movies thus coincided with a period of momentous changes, politically and otherwise.