

Celluloid chronicles the life of J. C. Daniel, the pioneer of Malayalam cinema, whose passion drives him to create Vigathakumaran, the region’s first film. Facing social prejudice, financial ruin, and personal loss, Daniel’s struggle for artistic recognition becomes a moving tribute to the birth of cinema in Kerala.
Acting
Prithviraj's physical transformation and haunted final scenes.
Direction
Kamal's meta-narrative framing — film about film about erasure.
Production
Painstaking recreation of 1920s Kerala and silent film production.

Director
Kamal
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The real Vigathakumaran (1928) was considered lost until 2005, when a single damaged reel surfaced — Daniel's face never appears in surviving footage.
J. C. Daniel was Dalit; his erasure from Malayalam cinema history until the 1990s reflects broader caste-based exclusion from cultural memory. The film sparked debates about who controls historical narratives.