The Beginning Guide
K W Joseph built this hall in 1907. Jose Electrical Bioscope, the first electrically operated film projector was also established in Thrissur by Jose Kattukaran in 1913. Other major cities in Kerala soon followed suit. English, Hindi and Tamil films were exhibited in those days as movies were not made in Malayalam until 1928.
Vigathakumaran released in 1928, was the first Malayalam film. It was a silent film which was produced and directed by a businessman J C Daniel who was a novice in the field of cinema.The film failed economically but it was a noteworthy effort as this man chose to take a socially relevant subject for his film instead of mythologies, the subject that ruled the arena of Indian cinema. The failure of the film discouraged Daniel from producing films again.
The second Malayalam film was Marthandavarma which was based on the novel in the same name by C V Raman Pillai. It was produced by Sunderrajan in 1933. This film too failed because of a legal confrontation.
The first talkie in Malayalam was Balan, released in 1938, produced by a Tamilian T R Sundaram and directed by S Nottani. A melodramatic film Balan was more a Tamil film than a Malayalam film. The film was a success and this created a base to the Malayalam film industry. Jnanambika released in 1940 followed Balan. After Prahlada(1941) Malayalees had to wait for seven years for the release of the next Malayalam film. Nirmala (1948) directed by P J Cherian was the film that set the trend of song 'n' dance sequences in Malayalam films. The lyrics of the songs in the film was penned by the legendary Malayalam poet G Sankara Kurup.
