Jose Prakash

Joseph a.k.a Jose Prakash was born in Changanassery as the eldest son, in a family consisting of father KJ Joseph, mother Eliyamma and eight children. Later the family moved to Kottayam. It came as no surprise that Joseph who grew up listening to the Christian devotionals sung by his mother developed a passion for music at a very young age; so much so that music to him was more important than academics. Joseph was a student at the Sacred Heart English Medium School. The students here put up a play for the school Annual Day in which Joseph played a female role and also composed the music for a song in the play.

One day, he sneaked off, unknown to his family to watch a movie, an act for which his father punished him. This prompted him to run away from home along with two friends. The trio then signed up in the British Army and was posted in Ferozpur in Punjab. He served in the Army from 1942 to 1949.

Joseph had the rare distinction of being one of the security guards around the bed of Gandhiji when he undertook a fast in protest against the escalating violence between the Hindu and Muslim communities following partition. During this time, he saw several leaders and statesmen including Jawaharlal Nehru.

Following his retirement from the Army, Joseph set up a Tea Agency near Kottayam. This establishment is run today by his brother Prem Prakash (younger by 18 years), who is an actor and producer in his own right.

Driven by his love for the arts, Joseph set up the Kottayam Arts Club. That was when he got a chance to sing in the movie ‘Shariyo Thetto’. He appeared on screen singing ‘Tharame Thanuvaru’, ‘Vaarmazhaville Vaa’ and Kanneeru Nee Choriyathe’. Thikkurissi who had given screen names for several actors gave Joseph his screen name of Jose Prakash too. Despite singing in Shariyo Thetto, the first movie that saw light with Jose Prakash as a playback singer was the 1952 released ‘Vishappinte Vili’. It was for Prem Nazir that Jose Prakash lent his voice. Although Jose Prakash went on to sing and act in movies such as Premalekha and Devasundari, he soon gave up singing to focus on his acting career.

Jose Prakash was known for the villain roles that he played in Malayalam cinema. It was in ‘Love in Kerala’ produced by KP Kottarakkara that he donned the role of a villain for the first time. With the success of this film, Jose Prakash established himself as Malayalam cinema’s favorite villain.

During these days, Jose Prakash was actively involved in theater too. He first appeared in a professional theater production in 1954. In 1956, he started his own theater troupe called National Theaters in Kottayam in 1956.

Jose Prakash has acted in about 200 films in Malayalam. Acutely diabetic, Jose Prakash’s right leg had to be amputated following an injury from a fall in 2003 in a studio. After this, he did only three films – Ente Veedu Appoontem, Highway Police (2006) and Traffic (2010).

His wife Chinnamma predeceased him. A father of 4 daughters and 2 sons, Jose Prakash died on March 24th, 2012, just a day before the Kerala Government was to bestow the prestigious JC Daniel Award on him.

Prepared by: Remitha Satheesh