Kattukkaran Varunny Joseph

Kattukkaran Varunny Joseph (Known as also Jose Kattookkaran and shortly, Kattukkaran Varunny) who is known as "Father of Malayalam cinema and theater industry[1]" was an industrialist who established the former film exhibiting company in Kerala named Royal Exhibitors. He started Jose Theatre in Thrissur which is the first permanent theatre in Kerala and Davison Theatre in Kozhikode under Royal Exhibitors.[2] He had established the first electrically operated film projector Jose Electrical Bioscope at Ollur, Thrissur city in 1913.[3][4][5]

Kattukkaran Varunny Joseph
Born27 November 1871
Ollur, Thrissur, Kerala
Died26 May 1925 (1925-05-27) (aged 53)
Thrissur, Kerala, India
NationalityIndian
Occupation(s)Film distribution, businessman
Known forJose Electrical Bioscope

Early life

Varunny was born on 26 November 1871 to a Syrian Christian family in Ollur a suburban area of Thrissur, Kerala, India. He died on 26 May 1925.[1][6]

History of film exhibition

Varunny purchased the first projector and a few movies from railway officer Vincent Paul who bought the setup from a French exhibitor, and had the first showcase in Thrissur, under the banner Jose Bioscope In early 1907. His first exhibition was in Thekkinkadu Maidan in connection with the Thrissur Pooram at the same year. He used a manual projector and a tent that could fit around hundred people at a time, showcasing videos of blooming flowers, horse races and the life of Christ with unrelated narrations that nevertheless astounded the crowd. He toured all of south India with his Jose Bioscope and eventually established the first electrically operated film projection named Jose Electrical Bioscope, with the advent of electricity, in 1913. An unprecedented disaster struck when he lost his bioscope to a storm, when sailing from Mangalore after an exhibition. Not one to give up, K V Joseph founded Royal Exhibitors Company, in partnership with a few others. He also eventually founded Babysun Talkies, laying the foundation for film exhibition in Kerala.[7]

References
  1. വായനാമുറി.കോം. "കാട്ടൂക്കാരൻ വാറുണ്ണി ജോസഫ്: സിനിമ പോലൊരു ജീവിതം". Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  2. കേരള ട്രെൻഡിങ്.കോം. "ആദ്യകാല ചലച്ചിത്രപ്രവർത്തനങ്ങൾ". Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  3. Chelangad, Saju (29 September 2013). "A true adventurer". The Hindu. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  4. "Cinema". Keralawindow. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  5. "History of malayalam cinema". Cinema Malayalam. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  6. Latourette, Kenneth Scott; Brown, L. W. (June 1958). "The Indian Christians of St. Thomas: An Account of the Ancient Syrian Church of Malabar". Pacific Affairs. 31 (2): 199. doi:10.2307/3035220. ISSN 0030-851X. JSTOR 3035220.
  7. ifft.in. "K. W. JOSEPH Awards".
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