ALAPPUZHA: Udaya Studio, where Malayalam has its roots, will now go down in the memory. A convention center or a hotel building could be raised in its place. The land was bought by an NRI.

The statue of Holy Mary that was placed in front of the studio was brought down. The land of the Udaya Studio comprised of eight acres, of which 5.5 acres were sold before. The remaining three acres were bought by VTJ Films owner Joseph fifteen years back. Joseph’s children have now sold this land to an Ambalappuzha native, who is abroad.

The land includes studio floor, cottages where actors stayed and houses. Actor Kunchakko Boban, who hails from the Kunchakko earlier declared that he will revive Udaya Studio. The rights of Udaya Studio and its emblem still rests with the actor.

There were constant requests from within the film fraternity towards the govt to undertake Udaya Studio by including it in the heritage project. There were initial attempts for this when V.S. Achuthanandan held the CM’s office. Nothing materialized from there on.

The visionary in Kunchakko paved the way for Udaya Studio which brought Malayalam Cinema from Madras to Parippally. Kunchakko, a coir merchant came into Malayalam Cinema in the year 1946. Udaya Cinema helped bring down the production cost of movies. Vellinakshathra, released in 1949, was the first film shot here. After ‘Anaswara Ganangal’ in 1986, Udaya Studio was locked down.