A brief note on Malayalam theatre artist Sebastian Kunjukunju Bhagavathar

Sebastian Kunjukunju Bhagavathar was a film actor, stage actor and singer from Alappuzha, Kerala. He is the elder brother of Alleppey Vincent, an actor associated with early talkies of Malayalam and played the role of Shanku in Malayalam’s first talkie, Balan. Vincent’s name is credited as the first voice to be recorded in Malayalam cinema, when his words, ‘Good Luck everyone’ became the first phrase to be recorded for Balan. The brothers are credited for early association with Malayalam talkies, and hence form a part of history of Malayalam cinema.

He is also credited to the breaking of many stereotypes in Malayalam theatre till then. He was active in the first phase of professional drama in Kerala, when music operas were quite common. He along with his co-actor Ochira Velukkutty broke that trend to stage their first play, Karuna, based on Kumaran Asan’s masterpiece, giving a new direction to Malayalam theatre. The show broke all records and was successfully staged more than 7000 shows. Sebastian lived during the period, 1901-1985.

Sebastian Kunjukunju Bhagavathar was born on 9th February 1901 in Ambalappuzha, Alappuzha district. Pollayil Vincent and Margarita were his parents. He was married to Marykutty. Sebastian completed his primary schooling from his village, followed by Leo XIII School in Alappuzha and St. Albert’s High School in Ernakulam. He got active in the field of arts and theater during his stay in Ernakulam, when he joined a Tamil drama troupe and toured several parts of Tamil Nadu. Later he paid less attention to his studies, and was drawn towards the world of theatre. He returned to his village to look after his ailing father.

After his marriage to Marykutty in 1923, she supported his career as a theatre artist. Kunjukunju’s first lead role was in the stage play, Njanasundari. For the next few years, he couldn’t earn good roles from theater. In 1929 he got opportunity to play the role of Adam, for the play Parudeesa Nashtam while Ochira Velukkutty, an actor played the female part of Eve. In those days, females rarely acted in dramas. He earned success through this play, and series of plays such as Satyavansavitri, Alliarjuna, Kovalan Charitram, Nallathanka, and Harishchandra just followed. In the year 1930, he along with Ochira Velukutty, staged the play, Karuna which was then regarded as a trendsetter.

When talkies came into existence in the late 1930s, and his younger brother became a part of it, he too joined the film stream. He did playback singing for a few movies in 1940 and also played a few roles on screen till early 1960s.