Dhandayuthapani Films

Dhandayuthapani Films was a film production company from India operated by film producer of Tamil cinema Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar, who founded it to make smaller budget films focused less on famous actor M.G. Ramachandran and more on newcomers/less experienced actors.

1st Logo (May 22, 1964-November 19, 1971)

Visuals: On a background with a lot of mountains, there is a small mountain with three buildings and a temple above it. Suddenly, the door of the temple is opened and a statue comes down the mountain very fast until he arrives to the valley. The statue consists of a kid with a lance and a peacock. Then, a fireball comes from the stairs and goes in front of the statue. The fireball forms a sudden smoke every time it forms "DHANDAYUTHAPANI FILMS" letter-by-letter, and after this, it goes to the kid.

Trivia: The kid is Murghan, a God very claimed in Tamil Nadu.

Variant: There's a closing variant which consists of the finished logo, but there's a zoom in to the statue.

Technique:

• Opening variant: Stop motion.
• Closing variant: Camera-controlled animation.

Audio:

• Opening variant: A slow and repetitive sound of a bell, and some crashes of a cymbal. Deiva Cheyal uses a similar melody, but a little slower, while Kettikkaran has the bell sound faster.
• Closing variant: A rhythmical melody with drums, a nadaswaram (a typical Indian wind instrument) and a less repetitive note of a bell.

Availability: Seen on Deiva Thirumagal, Deiva Cheyal and Kettikkaran.

2nd Logo (September 22, 1972)

Visuals: There is a temple above a big mountain. The camera zooms into the temple, showing the audience a different statue of the same kid (which is in front of the temple and next to a peacock) from the previous logo. Then, a star appears at the statue's left, and it blinks going to the left side of the logo, forming (letter-by-letter, blinking) the yellow text "DHANDAYUTHAPANI FILMS". When the star finishes with the text, it blinks and goes to the kid's left, while "MADRAS-17" is being formed. The star disappears when it blinks on the chest of the kid.

Technique: A combination of live-action and traditional animation.

Audio: The same repetitive sound of a bell, a drum solo and a tune made by violins while the star arrives to the kid.

Availability: Seen only on a Hindi-language film Jaanwar Aur Insaan.

3rd Logo (November 4, 1972-September 24, 1988)

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Visuals: There is a statue of Murghan with smoke rising, on a background that looks like a palace room. As it zooms out, it reveals that the statue is on a yellow and orange flower pedestal, which is on another pedestal, which has the text "DHANDAYUTHAPANI FILMS" and "MADRAS" below.

Starting in 1978, after Devar's death, it shows the same footage of his funeral seen in the Devar Films logo.

Trivia: Madras is the former name of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu's capital, Chennai.

Variants:

• The pedestal color differs each time, possibly due to film deterioration. Deivam has a green pedestal, Gomatha Engal Kulamatha has a darker green pedestal, Vellikizhamai Viratham has a chartreuse pedestal, Thiruvalul has an indigo or dark blue pedestal, depending on the print, Aattukkara Alamelu has a maroon pedestal, and Dharmathin Thalaivan has a purple pedestal.
• The logo is sped up on endings of movies with the logo intact.

Technique: Live-action.

Audio: A similar melody to the closing variant of the first logo.

Audio Variant: A print of Thiruvarul has the melody slower. The melody seems to fade out on endings of movies with the logo intact.

Availability: First seen on Deivam. Seen also on Gomatha Engal Kulamatha, Vellikizhamai Viratham, Rajaa, Thiruvarul, Aattukkara Alamelu and Dharmathin Thalaivan. The logo is seen at the beginning and the closing of these movies.