April 7, 1926 or March 23, 1929? Research for documentary unearths Prem Nazir’s official birthday

Thiruvananthapuram: The birthday of legendary Malayalam movie actor the late Prem Nazir is mentioned as different dates in history books, government records, various publications and websites. However, a team of documentary filmmakers – director R Sarath and writer Vinu Abraham – have now unearthed his official birth date as the 10th day of the Meenam month in the year 1104 as per the Malayalam calendar. The corresponding date in the English calendar is March 23, 1929.
Sarath and Vinu set off on an inquiry into Prem Nazir’s birthday as part of the research for their upcoming English documentary on the legendary actor. They discovered that during the time Prem Nazir was born, dates were recorded as per Malayalam calendar (Kolla Varsha panchangam).

According to Sarath and Vinu, there is a discrepancy in Prem Nazir's birthdate. While Wikipedia lists his birthdate as April 7, 1926, records at the Chalachitra Academy and other sources show different dates. “We wanted to remove the anomaly. In Prem Nazir’s passport, which is with his daughter Rita, the year of his birth is given as 1929. Registers at Sri Chithira Boys School at Chirayinkeezhu (presently Noble Group of Schools) and S B College, Changanassery, where the actor studied, have recorded the actor’s details as, ‘Name: Abdul Khader. Birthday: 10.08.1104.’ This date is as per Kolla Varsham. Prem Nazir’s official name was Abdul Khader. We concluded this was Prem Nazir’s real birthday after noticing the same date on the monument erected in his honour in front of Prem Nazir Memorial Government High School in Chirayinkeezhu,” said Sarath.

Incidentally, the actor’s birthday was recorded as April 7, 1927 in his autobiography ‘Ente Jeevitham’ (My Life) which was published during the actor’s lifetime and re-published several years later. The same date has been mentioned in ‘Ithile Poyathu Vasantham’ (Through Here Passed the Spring), a memoir penned by Prem Nazir’s daughter Laila Rasheed and P Zakir Hussain. At the same time, the horoscope prepared by Mithran Namboodiripad and published in the ‘Cinema’ magazine published in August, 1984, when the actor was still alive, maintained that the actor was born on December 16, 1929.