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{{short description|Indian actor (1898–1979)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = C. I. Parameswaran Pillai
| image =
| birth_date = {{birth year|1898}}
| birth_place = [[Aluva]], [[Kingdom of Cochin]]
| death_date = {{death year and age|1979|1898}}
| death_place =
| known_for = first theatre person from Kerala to win [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]]
| father =
| mother =
| spouse =
| children =
| relatives =
| occupation = Actor
| awards = [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] (1960)
}}
'''C. I. Parameswaran Pillai''' was an Indian actor from Kerala. Winning the national honor [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] in 1960, he is the first theatre person from Kerala to win this award.

==Biography==
C. I. Parameswaran Pillai was born in 1898 at [[Aluva]] in present-day [[Ernakulam district]] of Kerala.<ref name="Oxford">{{Citation |last=Lal |first=Ananda |title=Pillai, C. I. Parameswaran |date=2004 |work=The Oxford Companion to Indian Theatre |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195644463.001.0001/acref-9780195644463-e-0491 |access-date=2025-07-10 |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195644463.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-564446-3|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Pillai, who had shown a talent for acting in plays since his school days, became active in amateur theatre scene during his college years.<ref name="VANCHIYOOR">{{Cite book |last1=Sankar |first1=Dr Achuth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8XYpEAAAQBAJ&dq=ci+parameswaran+pillai&pg=PA146 |title=VANCHIYOOR VIGNETTES: Local History of a Bygone Village |last2=Sankar |first2=Adithya |date=2021-04-15 |publisher=Adithya Sankar |isbn=978-93-5426-581-5 |language=en |pages=146–147}}</ref>

Pillai, a [[Socialism|socialist]] by political affiliation, contested the 1954 [[Rajya Sabha]] elections from the [[Travancore–Cochin]] assembly constituency as a [[Revolutionary Socialist Party (India)|Revolutionary Socialist Party]] candidate and lost to N.C. Shekhar of the [[Communist Party of India]].<ref name="Deshabhimani">{{Cite web |title=ആരൊക്കെയാണ് ഇക്കൂട്ടത്തിലെ കമ്മ്യൂണിസ്റ്റുകാർ ? കേരള സംഗീതനാടക അക്കാദമി രൂപീകരണ ചരിത്രത്തെക്കുറിച്ച് ബൈജു ചന്ദ്രൻ എഴുതുന്നു |url=https://www.deshabhimani.com/special/news_68/1114405 |access-date=2025-07-10 |website=[[Deshabhimani]] |language=ml}}</ref>

Parameswaran Pillai died in 1979.<ref name="VANCHIYOOR" />

==Career==
Parameswaran Pillai began his theatrical career by acting in English plays, and later entered the Malayalam theatre stage.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Das |first=Durga |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bLEZAAAAYAAJ&q=ci+parameswaran+pillai+Drama |title=Eminent Indians who was Who, 1900-1980, Also Annual Diary of Events |date=1985 |publisher=Durga Das Pvt. Limited |language=en}}</ref><ref name="VANCHIYOOR" /> He was elected as the first vice-president of the [[Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi]], when it was formed in 1958 under the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala.<ref name="Deshabhimani" /> When the Kerala government officially started giving [[Kerala State Film Awards|film awards]] in 1969, the award selection committee was headed by Parameswaran Pillai.

Pillai acted in two Malayalam films, the unreleased 1951 film ''Thyagaseema'' and the 1953 film ''Ponkathir'', directed by E.R. Cooper.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Profile of Malayalam Actor CI Parameswaran Pillai |url=https://ml.msidb.org/displayProfile.php?category=actors&artist=CI%20Parameswaran%20Pillai |access-date=2025-07-10 |website=ml.msidb.org}}</ref> ''Tyagaseema'' was also [[Prem Nazir]]'s first film. It was Pillai who suggested Prem Nazir to this film and changed his name from Abdul Khader to Prem Nazir.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZsWq3Jnelc |title=C I Parameshwaran Pillai made Abdul Khader Prem Nazir {{!}} Sreekumaran Thampi |date=2019-04-27 |work=Kaumudy TV | publisher= [[Kerala Kaumudi]] group|access-date=2025-07-10 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

==Awards and honors==
Winning the Sangeet Natak Akademi award, in 1960, he is the first theatre person from Kerala to win this award.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sinha |first=Biswajit |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kloqAQAAIAAJ&q=Aravindaksha+Menon+Sangeet+Natak+Akademi |title=South Indian Theatre |date=2007 |publisher=Raj Publications |isbn=978-81-86208-54-0 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Oxford" />

The C I Parameswaran Pillai Endowment Award, a yearly award instituted by [[Kerala Sangeeta Nataka Akademi]] for acting is named after him.<ref>{{cite web |title=C. I. Parameswaran Pillai Memorial Endowment Award |url=https://www.keralaculture.org/ciparameswaran-pillai-awards/477 |website=www.keralaculture.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170407211017/https://www.keralaculture.org/ciparameswaran-pillai-awards/477 |archive-date=7 April 2017 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=archive |first=From our online |date=2012-05-16 |title=Kerala Sangeeta Nataka Akademi fellowships, awar |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2011/Feb/05/kerala-sangeeta-nataka-akademi-fellowships-awar-224913.html |access-date=2025-07-10 |website=The New Indian Express |language=en |archive-date=2025-05-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250531201316/https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2011/Feb/05/kerala-sangeeta-nataka-akademi-fellowships-awar-224913.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2013-11-10 |title=Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi announces Kalashri awards |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/kerala-sangeetha-nataka-akademi-announces-kalashri-awards/article5335032.ece |access-date=2025-07-10 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X |archive-date=2025-07-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250709103105/https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/kerala-sangeetha-nataka-akademi-announces-kalashri-awards/article5335032.ece |url-status=live }}</ref> The road in front of the Thiruvananthapuram District Court in [[Vanchiyoor]] is named after him.<ref name="VANCHIYOOR" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Winners of Kerala}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pillai, C. I. Parameswaran}}
[[Category:1898 births]]
[[Category:1979 deaths]]
[[Category:Malayali people]]
[[Category:Indian stage actors]]
[[Category:Male actors in Malayalam cinema]]
[[Category:Indian male film actors]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]]

C. I. Parameswaran Pillai - Revision history

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