Celebrating Vincent Samikannu on ‘Cinema Theater Day’

This year, ‘Cinema Theater Day’ was celebrated in Chennai on April 18. Senthil Nayagam, Ananthavaradharajan Nagarajan & Thirunavakkarasu Kannan of FN Entertainments initiated to celebrate Vincent Samikannu’s birthday in a special way. Ace director Bhagyaraj was invited to be a part of this event along with the team of ‘Vaagai Sooda Vaa’. The film ‘Vaagai Sooda Vaa’ was previewed during the event to celebrate best films in the industry. Dignitaries thanked the team for giving an opportunity to be a part of the event.


Let’s look at the contributions of Vincent Samikannu in South India:

Vincent Samikannu was born on April 18,1883 in Coimbatore. He worked as a draftsman clerk in South India Railways. After watching few French short films by his French exhibit and friend DuPont, Samikannu’s interest turned towards Cinema. He saved enough money to buy Frenchman’s projector, Accessories and films.

He quit his job at the age of 22 and became a film exhibitor. He also travelled around villages to project the films in a tent theater which he had with him. One such film, which became a huge hit was ‘Life of Jesus’.

Vincent Samikannu travelled around Malaysia and Singapore and made people to watch his films in a tent theater which was lit with a dim light. He built a small theater in his hometown in 1914 and named it as Variety Hall. Vincent Samikannu joined as one of the directors of renown Central Studio in 1937. He is called as the first person for introducing Talkie equipment for his theater by beating Madras.

Samikannu died in the year of 1942. His ‘Variety Hall’ in Coimbatore is now called as ‘Delite Theater’. Thirunavakkarasu Kannan wanted to bring cinema theaters and film industry closer together. He initiated to celebrate Vincent Samikannu’s birthday as ‘Cinema Theater Day’ since 2014.

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