Tamil cinema (also known as the Kollywood, the Tamil film industry, the Cinema of Tamil Nadu or the Chennai film industry) is the film industry based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, dedicated to the production of feature films in the Tamil language. It is based in Chennai's Kodambakkam area, where several South Indian film production companies are headquartered. With reference to this, the industry is also colloquially referred to as Kollywood, a portmanteau of Kodambakkam and Hollywood. Tamil cinema is known for being India's second largest film industry in terms of films produced, revenue and worldwide distribution, with audiences mainly including people from the four southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka, placing the industry among the largest in the world.

Silent films were produced in Chennai since 1917 and the era of talkies dawned in 1931 with the film Kalidas. By the end of the 1930s, the legislature of the State of Madras passed the Entertainment Tax Act of 1939. Tamil cinema later had a profound effect on other filmmaking industries of India, establishing Chennai as a secondary hub for Telugu cinema, Malayalam cinema, Kannada cinema, and Hindi cinema. In its modern era, Tamil films from Chennai have been distributed to various overseas theatres in Singapore, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Malaysia, Japan, Oceania, the Middle East, Western Europe, and Northern America. The industry also inspired filmmaking in Tamil diaspora populations in other regions, such as in Europe and Canada.

Shruti Haasan (born January 28, 1986) is an Indian actress, singer and music composer who has worked in South Indian film industry and Bollywood. Her parents are noted actors, Kamal Haasan and Sarika.

As a child artist, she sang in films and appeared in a guest role, before making her adult acting debut in the 2009 action drama, Luck. She later went on to win critical acclaim for her role in the Walt Disney fantasy film, Anaganaga O Dheerudu, Oh My Friend and 7aam Arivu. In 2012, she starred in Gabbar Singh, Telugu remake of Dabangg.

She has also continued her stint in music through work as a singer in Indian languages, a career in music direction beginning with her father's production Unnaipol Oruvan and her own music band and album.

Shruti Rajalakshmi Hassan was born to actors Kamal Hassan and Sarika in Chennai, India. Her younger sister Akshara represents India nationally for Ballroom Latin dancing. Haasan studied at Abacus in Chennai and moved to Mumbai to study psychology at St. Andrew’s College.

Venkat Kumar Gangai Amaren (born on 7 November 1975), better known by his stage name Venkat Prabhu is an Indian filmmaker, who has worked as an actor, director and playback singer in the Tamil film industry. After completing his education, he began pursuing an acting career, with his first three ventures, featuring him in a starring role, failing to release, following which he began appearing in character roles. He hogged spotlight for the first time when he turned director with the summer hit Chennai 600028 (2007). He achieved further commercial successes with his subsequent directorials Saroja (2008) and Mankatha (2011).