P.R.S. Pillai

Pangappattu Ramanatha Pillai Sivashankara Pillai, popularly known as P.R.S. Pillai, was an Indian director and producer of documentary and feature films, active from the early 1940s to 1982.

Pillai won the national award for the best educational film for Virginia Tobacco, produced by the Films Division in 1962.

Pillai co-directed the Malayalam film Thiramala (1953) with Vimal Kumar and was also involved in producing it under the banner of Kalasagar Films. It was also one of the earliest movies of Malayalam actor Sathyan.

Thiramala is considered the first Malayalam film to feature a double climax, presenting a happy ending for viewers in the Malabar region and a sad ending for those in the southern part of the state.

Later, Pillai directed and produced several short films for the Films Division; his notable works include Wheel of Prosperity (1955), In the Coal Mines (1958), Emergency Relief (1959), and the national award-winning Virginia Tobacco (1962).

Founder-chairperson of KSFDC/Chitranjali Film Studio

In 1975, Pillai became the first chairperson of the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC). The organization was founded to promote Malayalam cinema and move its production activities from Chennai to Kerala.

Around 1977, Pillai, along with G. Vivekanandan, the then KSFDC managing director, identified land for a government-owned film studio under KSFDC about seven kilometers from Trivandrum city.

The studio founded on the site was named Chitranjali ("Chitra" meaning picture and "Anjali" meaning offering in various Indian languages) Film Studio. Pillai became the founder-chairperson of the studio.

Personal Pillai’s family includes his wife Dr. Rajam, son Shankar Mohan, daughter-in-law, and grandson. Dr. Rajam has done significant work in Kerala in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities for more than three decades.

Shankar Mohan is a filmmaker, alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), and former director of the K.R. Narayanan National Institute of Visual Science and Arts, Kottayam, Kerala, serving for three years until 21 January 2023.

Filmography Director – documentaries Wheel of Prosperity (1955) In the Coal Mines (1958) Emergency Relief (1959) Virginia Tobacco (1962)

Director – feature films Thiramala (1953) Cancerum Laingika Rogangalum - tr: Cancer and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (1981) Oru Kunju Janikkunnu – Mathrukaa Kudumbam - tr: A Child is Born – A Model Family (1982)