TOLLYWOOD CREW
Related Articles
Aloysius Vincent was an Indian Cinematographer and Director of Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films.
Vincent was born in 1928 in Calicut, then part of Madras Presidency. He was trained under Cinematographer Kamal Ghosh and was initially associated with Gemini Studios. He started his career in Tamil cinema and shot to fame with the Sivaji Ganesan-starrer ‘Uthamaputhiran’. Vincent teamed up with C. V. Sridhar in masterpieces such as ‘Kalyana Parisu’, ‘Nenjil Or Aalayam’, ‘Kaadhalikka Neramillai’, ‘Sumaithaangi’ and ‘Then Nilavu’. He then became a freelancer and achieved success in Malayalam and Telugu films. He established himself as one of the leading cinematographers in South India and also earned a name in Hindi films. At a time when cinematography was in its infancy in Indian cinema, he experimented with camera angles and placements. He succeeded in bringing in the kind of visuals that were not seen before in South Indian films.
In 2003, the Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC) awarded him an Honorary Membership, along with K. K. Mahajan and V. K. Murthy.
From the mid-1960s on he directed some 30 movies including the landmark Malayalam films ‘Bhargavi Nilayam’, and ‘Murappennu’. He also won the Filmfare Best Cinematographer Award for ‘Prem Nagar’ (1974) starring Rajesh Khanna. His penultimate Malayalam movie were the 1985 3D film ‘Pournami Ravil’ and ‘Kochu Themmadi’ (1986). He is best known for directing Tamil films like ‘Engalkku Kalam Varum’, ‘Thulabharam’, ‘Iru Veedugal’ and Jayalalitha’s 100th film ‘Thirumangalyam’.
Vincent died on 25 February 2015 at the age of 86. He is survived by his wife and two cinematographer sons–Jayanan Vincent and Ajayan Vincent–and daughters, Sumithra Maria and Snehalatha Marie.
