Thambhuswami Pillai was a Supervisor in the Public Works Department (PWD) during the last quarter of the 19th century at a time when various aspects of modern industry were being introduced in India. He was blessed with a precocious child on Wednesday, the 18th of April 1883 in Coimbatore. Thanks to his father and his own abilities, the son Swamikannu Vincent (1883 - 1942) qualified himself as a draftsman at a tender age of 16. Thambuswami Pilllai's good will earned a technical job for his son at the PWD. After serving for 3 years at Coimbatore, Vincent moved over to Trichy by 1903. Lady luck began to smile on him at Trichy when the Chief Engineer of the South Indian Railways spotted the sketches and drawings of Vincent. The appreciation won him a job and a decent salary at the Railways.
Vincent liked his job but he wanted to be a free bird all his life. It was at this time in March 1905 when he came across a French man who was showing movies with his projector. All of a sudden the French touring cinema entrepreneur had to return to France and he offered to dispose of his cinema equipment for Rs. 2,250. When he came to know about this through a friend, Vincent went on to meet the French man instead of reporting to work. In spite of being jeered at, Vincent purchased the equipment with his Rs. 1,500 and a loan of Rs. 500 from a not-so-well-known person on the condition that it will become 'payable when able'.
The machine known as Kinetoscope ran on carbide jet burners and the films were all one reelers with a maximum length of 600 feet. And, most of them did not relate to a single concept or story. Vincent began showing near the St. Josephs College in Trichy and the first movie was the 'Life of Jesus Christ' in technicolour and it ran for 45 minutes. He began to hit gold and in about 6 months he repaid his loan and also recovered most of his investment. Now the critics became his fans and 'movie man' of Trichy went on to become the pioneer of Indian cinema.
Success encouraged Vincent to take his cinema on a tour to Madurai, Rameswaram, Tirunelveli and Trivandrum in 1906 and he began savouring financial success in a big way thereafter. It was in 1907 that he went to Chennai and showed at the time of Christmas for 75 days and buoyed by a good collection, Vincent went on showing in places like Mumbai, Peshawar, Lahore,Burma, Afghanistan, and Lucknow among other places. His Edison's Cinematograph ensured that he got a warm reception everywhere. By 1909 electric carbon arcs were introduced and a few movie projectors were synchronised with gramophone records which were played behind the screen. Electrically-lit cinema tents and these synchronised pictures were introduced by Vincent for the first time in South India. In 1909, he opened EDISON'S GRAND CINEMAGAPHONE at the Esplanade grounds in Chennai and it was a very big hit.
Vincent took up the distribution for Pathe Projectors and Joyce Electric Bioscope from Madans of Kolkata and thanks to this venture several touring talkies came up in the South. He was the pioneer who encouraged many to take up cinema and finally he moved over to his hometown Coimbatore in 1913 by pitching his tent near the YMCA. Ultimately he built the Variety Hall Theatre in 1914 and it was the first in South India and the second in the country. He had to spend Rs. 500 per month to print handbills and therefore he set up the first electric printing press in town by 1916. Another venture came up in the form of the rice and flour mill in 1919 for it could use his theatre's power generating equipment during the daytime when movies were not shown. In 1922, the Madras Government permitted him to supply electricity to the Stanes School and he used this opportunity to supply power by 1926 to a number of streets and business houses. The permission for the same was granted by Sir C.P. Ramaswami Iyer, the Executive Council Member who was in charge of the power portfolio. Vincent used to spend at least one shift a day at his 'powerhouse ' for he believed in the dictum 'Nulla dies sine linea' (No day without something done).
Vincent continued to invest in the hugely profitable movie sector by acquiring the Edison Theatre by 1927 and he began to show Tamil movies in the new venture while English movies were being shown at Variety Hall. In 1929, Vincent created history once again by introducing talkie machines in Variety Hall and Edison (Later it came to be known as Swami) for the first time in South India. The pioneer believed in quality and service all his life. Vincent was a fabulous showman and he began his foray into movie production with 'Valli Thirumanam' in 1931. He spent a lot of time and took a lot of care in order to ensure the quality of both the artistes and the movie. The movie was a big hit in South India and in countries like Malaya where a number of Tamils had migrated in search of a livelihood. For many years a number of touring talkie operators used to show 'Valli Thirumanam' first for this popular movie had a lot of sentimental value attached to it. This was followed by Harishchandra and other movies.
A number of new entrants who tried to copy Vincent failed simply because they could not match his high standards. Palace Theatre (Naaz now) came up in 1936 for Vincent felt that he should have a theatre each for showing English, Hindi and Tamil movies in Coimbatore. On seeing the deterioration in the quality of cinema Vincent chipped in by participating in the new venture Central Studios. However, he was unable to spend sufficient time in the venture due to ill heath and family reasons. Therefore he quit the venture and R.K. Ramakrishnan Chettiar (major investor), P.A. Raju Chettiar, C.N. Venkatapathy Naidu, S. Bheemiah Chetty etc., took the venture forward through S.M. Sriramulu Naidu.
Swamikannu Vincent became an active member of the Coimbatore society at the age of 32 and he was a pious Christian who truly believed in the maxim, 'Let not the left hand know what the right doeth'. Many came up in life due to his munificence. He fully realised the dignity of labour and took pleasure in working along with his people. According to his grandson Winfred Paul, "My grandfather sent up the Vincent Forces Cinema on Trichy road in order to entertain British soldiers. He had a fleet of cars including a Studibaker, Morris Minor, Ford, Chevrolet and an Austin. Every Friday, the Perur temple elephant Janaki used to be fed with rice and veggies boiled in big andas at our house. The house Variety Hall Palace was located next to the theatre and about 30 family members lived in the house. It was a grand house and my well dressed grandfather used to visit all his ventures. He was dressed in whites all the time. The family erected his statue at Variety Hall and how I wish that it is re-erected on Variety Hall road for it will be a fitting tribute to the great man."
The sons, Paul Jagaraj, Selvaraj and Dhanaraj continued by adding the 'Light House' (Kennedy Theatre) later on and also managing the other theatres at Vadakkanchery (King Touring Talkies), Alandurai (Vincent's Cinema), Kutuparamba (Victory Touring Talkies), Manjeri (Variety Touring Talkies), Erode (Edison's Touring Talkies), Madukkarai (Regimental Talkies), Arakonam (RAF Talkies), Meenambakkam (Victory Talkies), Ernakulam (Menaka Talkies), Wellington (Vincent Cinema), Ootacamund (United Services Cinema), Coimbatore (Evacuee Cinema and others). A commemorative stamp was issued by the Government in the honour of Swamikannu Vincent as part of celebrating 100 years of cinema in India.
Vincent did much to put Coimbatore on the world of cinema and entrepreneurship. It is high time that the city rose to the occasion by instituting an award or establishing an institution or a chair on entrepreneurship at the Bharathiar University in his name.