Legend of Tamil Cinema – Samikannu Vincent
Samikannu Vincent was the first person to build a cinema theater in South India. He built the Variety Hall (Now Delite Talkies) in Coimbatore in 1914. Samikannu Vincent was born on April 18, 1883. He was born in Coimbatore. He was working in South Indian Railway as a draftsman-clerk. He happened to see some short films exhibited by French film exhibitor named DuPont. Vincent befriended him and by the time when DuPont wanted to return home, Samikannu Vincent raised enough money with difficulty to buy the Frenchman’s projector, accessories and films. At the age of 22, he resigned his desk job and set up business as film exhibitor. He travelled to villages to exhibit the films he had. The film “Life of Jesus” became a huge hit in the “tent cinema” where he projected his films.
In 1933, Pioneer film company Calcutta and Samikannu Vincent co-produced “Valli”. Since there was also a similar production was in progress in Bombay, the Calcutta version was named as Valli Thirumanam. It had T.P. Rajalakshmi playing the lead role and went on to become a huge hit. He also later co-produced “Sampoorna Harichandra” and “Subhadra Parinayam”. When the historic Central Studio was inaugurated in 1937, Samikannu Vincent joined the team as one of the directors. Besides production he was also involved in equipment distribution and theater management. He was also known for first introducing talkie equipment for his theater in Coimbatore beating Madras.
