We are going to read a motivational story today. You will always get untold tales from us. Can a middle-class family man become a producer in cinema? Is that even feasible? This is the tale.
Two Movie Buffs is a film production company. The owner of Two Movie Buffs is Mr. Raghunathan sir. This production company is located in RA Puram, Chennai 600028. He was born and raised in Chennai and completed his education in Virugambakkam. He had a major obsession with movies from a young age. If we travel back 30 years from today, there were numerous film studios in Virugambakkam. He always wanted to watch cinema shootings and never grew tired of seeing movies being shot. That’s when he developed a passion for movies and became a movie enthusiast.
The family’s eldest son is Raghunathan sir. He has two children and a younger brother who is now an actor named Kayal Chandran. Kayal Chandran began his career on Sooriyan FM and went on to become a well-known actor. Despite coming from a middle-class background, he started his career as a call center representative with TATA Tele Services in 2000 and later joined Aircel’s corporate sales. In 2013, after completing fourteen years in corporate sales, he decided to leave his position as the head of sales for the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
He succeeded as a working professional, but his passion was cinema, and he always wanted to be involved. He decided to launch a film production company in 2015. His father, Mr. P.R. Subramanyam, a banker, stood by him and provided all the support he could as Raghunathan sir embarked on this new venture. They named their company “Two Movie Buffs.” The name might sound a bit unusual, but it represents the two cinema enthusiasts: Raghunathan sir and his brother Kayal Chandran. They are huge movie buffs. So that’s the brief history of Two Movie Buffs (2MB).
They worked together on their debut project, “Gemini Ganesanum Suruli Rajanum,” with Amma Creations, which starred Atharva, the late actor Murali’s son. The second movie was “Party,” directed by Venkat Prabhu, and we are waiting for its release. Officially, however, Two Movie Buffs’ first film was “Thittam Potu Thirudura Kootam,” which surprisingly did not do well in theaters. Following that, Raghunathan sir and Director Ram Bhala worked on a film titled “Vanthan Suttan Repeatu,” which is in the pipeline.
Without a cinema background, Raghunathan sir put in a lot of effort and began pursuing his passion as a producer. However, he faced financial setbacks. It’s unthinkable for someone from a middle-class family to lose crores, don’t you think? Yes, that is exactly what happened. Can you imagine what you would do in this situation?
During this financial crisis, Raghunathan sir lost his father, Mr. P.R. Subramanyam, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022. The pandemic had a major impact on many lives. To him, losing his father was irreplaceable. His father had been a significant support for his business. For the past year, he hasn’t produced any movies and has pressed the pause button on filmmaking. Without his father, Raghunathan sir is working extremely hard to accomplish his goals and balance his roles as a husband, father, and businessman.
Currently, Raghunathan sir is running two other businesses apart from cinema: “Beyond B,” a financial company, and “Ambi’s,” a food catering service. He has given these two tasks his full attention because it took him more than three years to recover from his financial losses in filmmaking. He makes his intentions clear: “I may lose in movies, but I’ll get it back from movies.” Once he has stabilized, he plans to resume making films, viewing it as a second innings. He is confident and is striving toward this goal.
As an industry professional, Raghunathan sir said, “I was in Bangalore for a family function when the movie Maharaja was released, but I did watch the first-day first show because I was already familiar with Nithilan’s work and Vijay Sethupathi is one of my favourite actors.”
Raghunathan sir also acted in a movie produced by Nithin Sathya. The film, “Jarugandi,” starred actor Jai in the lead role, and Raghunathan sir played a small role as an English teacher. He is also set to act in another movie produced by Nithin Sathya.
He has been operating his business from the same location since 2015 and plans to produce films from the same office again. Everyone needs this level of self-assurance at some point in their lives. He is starting over to build his own empire after suffering a significant loss. This is a testament to self-confidence and sustainability. When you truly love something, you become stronger than anything.
A Draft by Vazim Ishaque
