P. Ramdas

P. Ramdas had short innings in Malayalam film industry. He was a screenwriter and even a director in Mollywood. He got associated with a film ‘Newspaper Boy‘ that released in 1955. He was born in December 1933.

The film serves an inspiration for college students who are now prepared to make their career shine in the film industry. Today, we have many media schools that teach young generations about the technique of filmmaking.

But in those days, there was hardly any school or college that could inspire one to make a film. But this really happened in 1955 in Kerala when the total production programme from script writing to direction was handled and finished by students.

These students were from Adarsh Kalamandir and the movie was written and directed by P. Ramdas. Its screenplay adapted from a short story written by Ramadas himself. The film holds a unique record of world’s first commercial film made by the student.

The film was a social drama on the lives of a printing worker and his family, which Ramdas was just in the age of 22. The film was not very successful but attracted the public as two child artistes Master Moni and Master Narendran stole the eyes of audiences by fine performances.  

P Ramdas often heard that Raj Kapoor Rajkapoor is a film maker and movie director from >> Read More... was the youngest director so he wanted to take the same honor and hence he directed this movie thinking he could beat Raj Kapoor's record by making this movie. To make this movie he took the support of all colleagues who were associated with him in stage dramas but he had to think hard about arranging suitable camera to film the movie.

He got an Avery camera and ferrograph tape recorder from England. But the camera became useless and only the tape recorder was helpful in mixing the sound techniques. Ramdas had faced a tough time in distributing the film as he felt the distributors would intervene with the film script.

Ernakulam-based R. S.Pictures and Kottayam-based Variety Pictures paid him Rs 50,000 as a token amount then in purchasing the rights of the film. This film also inspired Malayalee director Pradeep Nair Pradeep Nair is a famous Indian Director, Writer, >> Read More... to make a 14-minute documentary titled 'Oru Neorealistic Swapnam' that detailed about the making of this film ‘Newspaper Boy’. To preserve the original screenplay of the movie, D.C, Books published the screenplay in a book which was edited by screenwriter John Paul.

After ‘Newspaper Boy’, he made two more films Nirapara in 1976 and Vadaka veettile Aditi in 1981. Due to financial constraint, he stayed away from cinema proceedings  for the rest of his life.

Ramdas was felicitated by ‘JC Daniel Award’ in 2007 by Kerala government. He breathed his last after a prolonged illness on 27 March 2014.