Why we’ve seen the last of the first Malayalam film

Harris Daniel can still see before his eyes the blue flames that arose when the last of the film bits burned 83 years ago in 1941 Then as a sixyearold he had held in between his fingers the negatives of Vigathakumaran The Lost Boy 1930 the firstever film to be made in Malayalam directed by his father JC DanielIn 2024 sitting at his residence in Thiruvananthapuram he recounted to me how a historical artefact was lost to an innocent childhood actldquoThe entire film used to be carried around in an iron trunk wherever we went When I asked him his father whether I could play with it he readily gave it to me because he too probably thought that it was no longer useful or important Some of it I cut and exchanged at school for Tamil actor PU Chinnapparsquos images The rest me and my sister used to burn to see the blue flamesrdquo Harris reminiscesA still from Vigathakumaran 1930 the first Malayalam to ever be made directed by JC Daniel Pic courtesyHarris DanielOne scene from all the negatives he has looked at against sunlight still stays in his mind that of a young boy riding his bicycle in front of his house being kidnapped with the boy played by his elder brother Sundaram the first child actor in Malayalam cinemaThe story of JC Daniel the whimsical man who did everything in his powers to create a film when no one in Kerala even thought about it is one of the two rather tragic tales that marked the birth of Malayalam cinema Marthandavarma the second Malayalam film too had to face its share of ill fate But first on DanielDaniel who disappeared from the film scene after his first work would have remained unknown if journalist Chelangatt Gopalakrishnan had not spotted him by chance near the main bus stand at Thiruvananthapuram some decades later Gopalakrishnan was looking curiously at this strange man tucking freshly bought pan into his black coat and entering a bus to Tamil Nadu Right then he happened to overhear someone at the nearby shop pitying the man ldquoHow grandly he would have lived if only he had not made that filmrdquo Gopalakrishnan prodded and realised that this was the man who made a film much before the release of Balan 1938 which was then considered as the first Malayalam filmJC DanielSoon he landed up at Danielrsquos doorstep in Kanyakumari heard his unfortunate story and published an article in a Malayalam weekly recounting the history Although there was some reluctance on the part of the cultural and political establishment initially Gopalakrishnan continued to soldier the fight to get Danielrsquos contribution recognised at some personal peril too which he details in his book Malaysia Cinema Charithram Vichithram The efforts paid off in the 1980s only much after Danielrsquos death in 1975 In 1992 the Kerala government instituted the JC Daniel Award presented to an individual for lifetime contribution to Malayalam cinemaBorn into a family of doctors in 1900 Daniel in his 20s headed to then Madras and then Bombay to understand filmmaking Before long he sold 115 acres of his ancestral property at Panachamoodu in Thiruvananthapuram and bought equipment to set up Travancore National Pictures his film production company and studio at Pattom When the friend who promised to fund his film backed out he was forced to borrow large sums from others Instead of filming a mythological story which was a standard practice in other industries he drew inspiration from real incidents to make Vigathakumaran a silent film The story revolved around the kidnap of a child from a wealthy family in the erstwhile Travancore Kingdom to Ceylon now Sri Lanka and the dramatic events leading up to the reunion with the family a decade later The two trips to Ceylon with the crew to shoot the portions there added to the costDaniel was to score many firsts in Malayalam cinema with Vigathakumaran mdash first filmmaker producer and actor Before him there were a few like Jose Kattookaran who went around pitching tents to hold bioscope screenings for the public in the 1910s using reels procured from outside It was quite a challenge for Daniel to get an actress for the lead role After a fruitless search spanning all the way till Mumbai he zeroed in on PK Rosy a Dalit woman from Thycaud in Thiruvananthapuram The shooting of the film started in 1928 and the first screening was at the Capitol Cinema Hall at Statue Junction on 23 October 1930 some have recorded the first screening as 1928 but an invitation to the screening shared by Danielrsquos son shows this date in 1930A show of casteist intolerance sullied the first screening Savarna men created trouble during the first show because they couldnrsquot accept a Dalit woman playing the character of a Nair woman Rosyrsquos house also was under attack and she had to flee without ever getting a chance to see her face on screen Until her death in 1990 she remained in Nagercoil away from the eyes of the public The film had a few more screenings in other districts but did not make much money Hounded by debtors Daniel had to sell his studio all his equipment his car land and wifersquos jewellery It took a couple of years to recover from this jolt Ever the fighter as he was also trained in kalaripayattu ancient martial form that originated in Kerala he soon took up studies to become a dentist and had a flourishing practice for a while before film dreams struck again This time it did not take off at allldquoBut even in his late years he continued to dream Once I saw him reading the Bible intently When I asked him he told me he was looking for biblical stories to be adapted to the screenrdquo his 81yearold daughterinlaw Susheela tells meJC Danielrsquos life story was adapted to the screen by filmmaker Kamal in Celluloid 2013 It really was a fitting tribute to a pioneer who developed a passion for a nascent art form and cut a path through which many are still walkingExcerpted with permission from Ticket To Kerala The Story of Malayalam Cinema by SR Praveen published by Rupa Publications India