Tamil cinema, also known as
Kollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, a widely spoken in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a neighbourhood in Chennai, and Hollywood. The first Tamil silent film,
Keechaka Vadham, was directed by R. Nataraja Mudaliar in 1918. The first Tamil talking feature film,
Kalidas, a multilingual directed by H. M. Reddy was released on 31 October 1931, less than seven months after India's first talking motion picture
Alam Ara.