Veteran Malayalam actor Innocent breathes his last at 75
Veteran Malayalam actor Innocent breathes his last at 75
Malayalam Film Industry is plunged into sadness over the passing away of Veteran actor Innocent on Sunday night 26 March of heart attack. The actor had been undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Kochi since March 3 for breathing issues. passed away on Sunday night
Versatility was his second name. He had portrayed varied characters and delivered dialogues effortlessly. He was a natural actor like Mohanlal. He has acted in over 500 movies in a career spanning over four decades which initself is testament to it. In the final decade of his life, the veteran actor also donned the role of an organiser, politician and parliamentarian.
As a CPM backed Independent, he represented Chalakudy in the Lok Sabha and for several years, he was the president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA). The actor was diagnosed for in 2012 and survived it till his last. He is survived by wife Alice, and son Sonnet Thekkethala.
His body was kept at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium at Kadavanthara in Ernakulam from 8 am to 11 am and at Irinjalakuda Municipal Town Hall from 1 pm to 3.30 pm on Monday for the public to pay homage. He will be laid to rest at the St Thomas Cathedral in Irinjalakuda at 10am on Tuesday
Innocent, who carved a style of his own with his Thrissur dialect, peaked as an actor from 1985 to the late 1990s, when he played a string of roles representing a wide range of characters for directors like Priyadarshan, Sathyan Anthikad, Fazil, and Kamal.
His performances in blockbusters like Kilukkam Priyadarshan, Manichithrathazhu, Azhakiya Ravanan, Ramji Rao Speaking, Nadodikkattu, and Devaasuram are still talked about, even decades after their release.
But, he won his first big recognition with Mazhavil Kavadi, the 1989 film directed by Sathyan Anthikad, for his protrayal of the grim character ‘Kalarickel Kizhamkamthudiyil Shankarankutty Menon’, in a full-fledged role alongside the hero, played by Jayaram.
The role fetched him the state government’s best supporting actor award.
Innocent struggled amidst the dubbing of the film and found it difficult to get his timing and emotions in sync with the dialogues. Finally, Sathyan Anthikad advised him that he would be forced to pray at the Mookambika temple to get Innocent going. To this Innocent, then slowly finding his feet in the industry, retorted, half-jokingly, “Who asked you to cast me in this role? You could have cast some famous actors.”
All said, Innocent had donned myriad roles and penned 5 books
Innocent, along with Oduvil Unnikrishnan and Kuthiravattam Pappu, created a style which no one can emulate,” Sathyan Anthikad in an interview said.
In Azhakiya Ravanan, the scene where Innocent appears before a camera for a film shoot is a classic. It’s almost impossible for another actor to play that scene.
In the early 80’s Innocent made his first steps in showbiz by producing a few Malayalam films mostly serious offbeat films including award-winning Vida Parayum Munpe (Kerala government’s second-best film and Oramakkayi (Kerala government’s second-best film. Lekhayude Maranam Oru Flashback, was considered a landmark movie loosely based on the life of actress Shobha, was also produced by Innocent (along with David Kachapally).
He decided involve himself seriously as an actor and dumped the producer hat, which left him nearly bankrupt. But, it was in the 1972 film Nrithashala that the veteran made his debut, and in Football Champion, the next year, in which he delivered dialogue for the film time on the silver screen. Born Innocent Varied Thekkethala on February 28, 1948, in Irinjalakuda, his early life was ordinary.
He is a school after eighth grade when he found studies very difficult to cope with studies and acting. He later embraced politics by contesting and winning the Irinjalakuda municipal council elections as a Revolutionary Socialist Partybacked candidate in 1979.
He has also authored five books, including Cancer Wardile Chiri (Laughter in the Cancer Ward), in which he has narrated his experiences while undergoing treatment for throat cancer. Notably, mIrin-jalakudakku Chuttum won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Humour in 2020.
His mortal remains Body will be kept at Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium, Kadavanthra, from 8am to 11am today, Monday.
It will be brought to his hometown and kept at the Irinjalakuda Town Hall from 1pm to 3.30pm, and later at his residence.
Meanwhile, the Funeral will be at the St Thomas Cathedral, Irinjalakuda at 10am on Tuesday, 28 March.
RIP Innocent.
News input K.V.Raman
