The year 1914 was an important one in the socio-cultural history of South India. The first cinema theatre was introduced in that year. Named Variety Hall Talkies, it was the first cinema theatre in Coimbatore and became the first theatre of then Madras Province, which included the present Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra. The man who laid the foundation stone for the emergence of a ‘dream factory’ in South India was none other than Samikannu Vincent.
After the 120th birth anniversary of Vincent last week (April 18) and in the light of 100 years of Indian cinema, many film enthusiasts such as R R Srinivasan and Miller gave voice to the demand to make Victoria Public Hall, which once served as a theatre, a museum for films. They have continuously raised their voices till date for the cause of protecting and maintaining the history of cinema.
Speaking to City Express Miller, a film enthusiast, said, “Cinema is considered a reflector of society. Watching cinema has become a part of our culture. But do we have any measures to maintain and conserve its history? The answer is ‘no’. Like not maintaining the history of other aspects like arts, politics and culture, we are also not maintaining the history of cinema. Persons like ‘Film News’ Anandan alone are making some effort to record its history. But even after Anandan there are no persons to continue his work with a love for cinema.” He said, “The museum will serve as a film research facility like the Margaret Herrick Oscar Library in the US.”
Early beginnings
Born on April 18, 1883 in Kottaimedu, Coimbatore, Samikannu worked as a clerk in South Indian Railways from a young age.
He got an opportunity to see some of the silent film shorts screened by French film exhibitor Du Pont and he was attracted to motion pictures. When Du Pont fell ill and decided to return home, Samikannu against all odds raised money and bought the film exhibiting products from him. After resigning his job, Samikannu travelled to nearby areas and exhibited films. The film Yesuvin Vaazhkkai screened by him was well received by the people of those times. He screened that film all over India.
In those days the persons who travelled and screened films were called ‘touring cinema exhibitors’ which probably gave the name ‘touring talkies’ to cinema theatres in later times. He was the first person who took cinema to the poor and the concept of ‘tent cinema’ grew rapidly.
With all the money he earned through the screening of Yesuvin Vaazhkkai, Samikannu decided to build a cinema theatre and the result was Variety Hall Talkies.
Almost a decade after the Lumiere Brothers made the first screening of motion picture in the year 1895, the film movement in the South India began from Samikannu Vincent’s film exhibition and through his theatre Variety Hall Talkies.
In 1933, he co-produced the film Valli Thirumanam starring veteran actress T P Rajalakshmi in the lead. The film was a huge hit. Then in 1935 he produced Harishchandra and Subhadra Parinayam.
Vincent not only introduced cinema to us but he was also the first person to introduce power-driven printing presses and rice mills in Coimbatore. He died in 1942.