A confession on the lost print of Vigathakumaran

It was a sibling rivalry that led to the loss of the only print of the first Malayalam movie Vigathakumaran made in 1928 by J.C. Daniel. Harris Daniel, the youngest son of J.C. Daniel, the father of Malayalam cinema, revealed on Monday that he burnt the print because of the presence of his elder brother in the movie.

“My brother used to bully me. By burning the print, I enjoyed the satisfaction of taking revenge on my brother,” Harris Daniel, who was only six years old then, said speaking at the 90th anniversary celebrations of Malayalam cinema in Kozhikode.

He was the guest of honour at the programme. “My father was never recognised when he was alive. His request for a pension from the State government went in vain,” he said. However, he said, he was happy that the highest award in Malayalam cinema was named after his father.

Veterans honoured

A septuagenarian, he was honoured on the occasion along with musician Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri, actors Narayanan Nair and Kuttyedathi Vilasini, singers Sibella Sadanandan, Rakesh Brahmanandan, Ajith Narayanan and Roshni Roopesh, cinematographer Venugopal, scriptwriter Deedhi Damodaran, production controller Shaji Pattikkara, owner of Rajasree recording studio Sunil Bhaskar, Malabar regional secretary of Film Distributors’ Association P.G. Rajesh, film producer and owner of Janaseva Sishu Bhavan Jose Maveli, and Jayanthi J, who wrote a book on J.C. Daniel (Dr J.C. Daniel: Malayala Cinemayude Pithavu).

The celebrations were organised by Malayala Chalachithra Souhruda Vedi in association with Malayalam Television Viewers Association, Lions Club of Calicut and Airocis College of Aviation And Management Studies.

Earlier, former child artiste and director of Composite Regional Centre for differently-abled Roshan Bijlee opened the celebrations.