The Vikatan Group is an Indian media conglomerate based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Its flagship Tamil-language weekly magazine Ananda Vikatan was launched in 1926.
History Ananda Vikatan was started by Pudhoor Vaidyanadha Iyer in February 1926 as a monthly publication. The issue for December 1927 was not published due to financial difficulties. In January 1928, S. S. Vasan bought the rights from Iyer and relaunched the publication in February 1928 in a new format. He paid at the rate of ₹25 per letter in the Tamil-language name (ஆனந்த விகடன்) of the publication to buy the rights. He built it into a weekly and sales soon rose. Veteran journalist and media personality and Srinivasan's son S. Balasubramanian served as editor, managing director and publisher of the magazine for nearly fifty years till 2006. He also started the "Manavar Thittam" or student journalism scheme that has been active for the last thirty years and counting. He also launched Junior Vikatan, a biweekly Tamil investigative journal in the 1980s. Balasubramanian later served as chairman emeritus of the Vikatan Group after retiring from active involvement and handing over the reins to his son B. Srinivasan.
Publications Ananda Vikatan is the group's flagship magazine. It also publishes various other magazines including Aval Vikatan, Chutti Vikatan, Doctor Vikatan, Junior Vikatan, Motor Vikatan, Naanayam Vikatan, Pasumai Vikatan, Sakthi Vikatan and TimePass. Cinema Vikatan is the group's YouTube channel that covers cinema.
Visual media Television Vikatan Televistas was launched by Vasan Publications in the late 1990s starting with Tamil mega-serials on Sun TV such as Thirumathi Selvam and Thendral. From 2008 to 2016, they have also produced Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada serials for Gemini TV, Surya TV and Udaya TV respectively, all of which are part of the Sun TV Network. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic it withdrew from Sun TV and decided to move and proceed with other channels, too. Since 2021, it has produced and made stories for Star Vijay. It debuted with shows such as Thamizhum Saraswatiyum and Siragadikka Aasai. In 2023, it also debuted in Kalaignar TV with the show Ranjithame.
In 2024, Vikatan Televistas debuted in Hindi television industry by co-producing Udne Ki Aasha for StarPlus.
+TV serials produced by VikatanNameFirst airedLast airedNumber of episodesNetwork Language Akshaya 1999 50 Sun TVTamilPanchavarnakilli2000 Sun TV Pushpanjali 2000 38 Sun TV Anandha Bhavan 2000 60 Sun TV Alaigal 29 October 2001 23 May 2003 403 Sun TV Avargal 6 January 2003 2 November 2007 1077 Sun TV Appa 26 May 2003 21 November 2003 125 Sun TV Kolangal 24 November 2003 4 December 2009 1533 Sun TV Alli Rajyam 16 May 2005 21 July 2006 60 Sun TV Thirumathi Selvam 5 November 2007 22 March 2013 1360 Sun TVNilavilakku1 January 20088 November 20111006Surya TVMalayalam Devatha 12 January 2009 31 May 20131142 Gemini TVTelugu Thendral 7 December 2009 17 January 2015 1340 Sun TVTamil Sravani Subrahmanyam 18 July 2011 27 July 2012 266 Gemini TVTelugu Ilam Thennal Pole 28 November 2011 20 July 2012 170 Surya TVMalayalam Thangali 5 December 2011 4 October 2013 472 Udaya TVKannada Deivamagal 25 March 2013 17 February 2018 1466 Sun TVTamilBhagyalakshmi3 February 201427 August 2016804Surya TVMalayalam Priyamanaval 19 January 2015 11 May 2019 1315 Sun TVTamil Nayaki 19 February 2018 31 October 2020 718 Sun TV Run 5 August 2019 30 March 2020 197 Sun TV Thamizhum Saraswathiyum 12 July 2021 19 April 2024 717 Star Vijay Siragadikka Aasai 23 January 2023 1000+ Star Vijay Ranjithame 17 July 2023 14 December 2024 436 Kalaignar TV Budget Kudumbam 22 January 2024 7 March 2025 100 DD Podhigai Udne Ki Aasha 12 March 2024 800+StarPlusHindi Chinnanchiru Kiliye 21 June 2025 (only initial concept) 250+ Zee TamilTamil Kanaa Kandenadi 19 January 2026 26 June 2026 121 Star Vijay
Films The company ventured into film production as Vikatan Talkie with the comedy film Siva Manasula Sakthi, starring Jiiva and Anuya, in 2009. It was followed by the commercially unsuccessful film Vaalmiki in the same year. The media house still produces a variety of programs for television and has branched out into various streams of media content with an online digital broadcast of snippets of news, views, interviews, etc.
Web series Name First aired Last Aired Number of episodes Network November Story 2021 2021 7 Disney+ Hotstar (Tamil) Uppu Puli Kaaram 30 May 2024 2 January 2025 128 Disney+ Hotstar (Tamil)Brothers and Sisters 27 May 2026 present 4 JioHotstar (Tamil)Lingam 26 June 2026 present 8 JioHotstar (Tamil)
Ananda Vikatan Awards
The awards ceremony has been held since 2008, with the most recent being in January 2019.
References
External links Official Website J-POD: B. Srinivasan of Ananda Vikatan, podcast on Krishna Prasad's jpod