“Kathaprasangam artistes were stars in those days. Most of the rooms in that hotel were, however, rented by Kathaprasangam artistes, Rahim noticed, who would be camping there during their December – March season. Within no time, Rahim opened his office in Everest Hotel, which was a kind of hub for film distributors. Paying ₹ 2,000 for the print and six posters along with the distribution rights for Kerala, Rahim boarded the train to Thrissur, where he had no contacts. Then Rahim had that life changing encounter, with a Marwari film distributor who offered the print and distribution rights in Kerala ofĪrappavan, the Sathyan-starrer Malayalam film directed by K Shankar.
He had found the address on the film boxes. And he named his enterprise as ‘Poonam Films.’ It was a random pick, as ‘Poonam’ was a popular name in North India.Īs his very orthodox father never approved of cinema, Rahim was almost thrown out of the provision store.Rahim took a train to Chennai, the film capital of south India, armed only with the address of Bharat Film Corporation, one of the largest film distribution companies there. Soon he started direct distribution rather than pay rent to Abdulla. KT Abdulla was a relative of the famed producer TK Pareekutty of Chandrathara Films.Īt first, the boy took the film boxes to cities like Korba, Chappa, Bilaspur, Jagdishpur and so on. And in no time the young boy formed a tie-up with the local distributor of Malayalam films. Rahim soon realised that he was not cut out to run a provision store. As his academic records plunged, the familypacked him off to his father who was running a provision store in Bhilai. And, down the years, Rahim has become the owner of one of the largest collections of Malayalam film prints.īorn in Kattoor, near Irinjalakuda in Thrissur district, Rahim’s school days were mostly spent lapping up the latest films that were released in Irinjalakuda’s two theatres – Pioneer and Konni. The 16 mm revolution that he had sparked off in Kerala during the 1970s created a unique distributing market for the films that is still very much alive. It will not be hyperbole to say that it was Poonam Rahim, the Cinema Man of Thrissur, who brought cinema out into the open ground from the confines of the theatres. The name appeared on the print, ‘Contact Poonam Rahim for 16 mm projectors and film screening.’
The projector spluttering the light beam, which carried the images of Prem Nazir and Sheela and Sathyan and Sarada on to the white cloth stretched out in front. Until they saw a 16 mm film screening at their local festival ground. It was seen on crumbled walls, electric posts, sides of KSRTC buses and even on heaps of waste. For those of us who grew up in the 70s and 80s, POONAM RAHIM 16 MM (and a telephone number) was a familiar sight, blazing out from all imaginable surfaces.
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