T K Pareekutty
1909 - July 21 1969
T K Pareekutty, born in 1909 at Fort Kochi, Kerala was a boat owner and transport contractor, gambled on that intuitive sense, a businessman’s boldness, to produce some landmark films in Malayalam including Neelakuyil.
Pareekutty’s bond with Ramu Kariat made him enter the industry as a producer by joining hands with P Bhaskaran who brought Uroob into the project and together with Kariat began working on the story and script. After the script was finalised they called it Neelakuyil which got released in the year 1954. Pareekutty’s efforts paid rich dividends. Neelakuyil won the President’s Silver Medal for Second Best film. The film set a benchmark for films that followed and Pareekutty Sahib, as he was popularly known, became a role model for future film producers thereafter.
In 1952, he started his own film distribution company named Chandrathara Pictures. Pareekutty went on to produce a clutch of path-breaking films in Malayalam. The list of films includes Rarichan Enna Pauran, Nadodikal, Mudiyanaya Puthran, Moodupadam, Thacholi Othenan, Bhargavinilayam, Kunjali Marakkar, Aalmaram, etc. Mudiyanaya Puthran (1961), Thacholi Othenan (1964), Kunjali Marakkar (1967) won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam.
Pareekutty died on July 21, 1969. The name Pareekutty is etched in the glorious history of Malayalam cinema while Neelakuyil is celebrating its Golden Jubilee.