Becoming right into a given position is a dream for any actor, however those that match too properly into a task usually discover themselves solid in additional of the identical. For, they grow to be that position, making it inconceivable for filmmakers to consider anybody else of their place. Actor Kaviyoor Ponnamma, who handed away on Friday on the age of 79, was one such actor. Over a six decade interval, she got here to embody the position of the mom in Malayalam cinema.
From first enjoying that position in her early twenties, generally as mom to actors elder to her, she performed mom to generations of actors from Prem Nazir onwards, in over 300 movies. However, regardless of being caught within the typecast roles, she explored each attainable shade of it, from the grieving mom to the scheming one and at instances the playful mom.
Within the crowd of latest reminiscence are forgotten her earlier memorable turns, like that of Narayani, the oracle’s spouse in M.T. Vasudevan Nair’s Nirmalyam (1973), who struggles to care for a poverty-stricken household. The climactic sequence of the movie, through which the oracle spits at a goddess idol, continues to be spoken about, however main as much as that scene was Narayani’s outburst at him after poverty compelled her to do one thing dishonourable — “You’re the one who turned me into this state at this age. The fireside on this family remained unlit once you had been busy serving the goddess. When my kids went hungry, the goddess didn’t deliver both rice or cash.”
Memorable roles
That second, early in her profession, may be essentially the most subversive certainly one of hers on display screen, however coming an in depth second could be the position of the mom of Balan, performed by Mammootty, in Thaniyavarthanam (1987). In one of the crucial heartbreaking sequences of motherly love in Malayalam cinema, she provides a morsel of rice laced with poison to her son to stop him from being branded as a lunatic and locked up by the superstitious members of the family. In Kodiyettam, she performed a single mom who eyes the protagonist Sekharankutty with a touch of need.
Uncommon onscreen bond
However, it was with Mohanlal that she shaped one of the crucial standard mother-son duos on display screen. From the mom of Sethu within the tragic Kireedam to the mother-like determine who calls for the character performed by Mohanlal to make a sacrifice for the sake of her personal son, the 2 shared a really uncommon onscreen bond. In His Highness Abdullah (1990), her psychological sickness makes her assume him to be her personal useless son. Her position as Andrew’s mom, ready endlessly for her son, in In Harihar Nagar stays a painful reminiscence in a movie in any other case remembered for its humour.
Began as a singer
Younger Ponnamma’s singing expertise opened the doorways to cinema. As a 12-year-old, she started as a vocalist in Thoppil Bhasi’s play Mooladhanam. Quickly, she was requested to play the lead position within the basic play. After stints at varied drama troupes, together with KPAC, she debuted in motion pictures with Sreerama Pattabhishekam (1962). Inside three years, she had certainly one of her first mom roles in Thommanum Makkalum, through which Sathyan and Madhu had been her sons. She gained the Kerala State Movie Award for Second Finest Actor 4 instances.
Late in her profession, in certainly one of her final appearances on display screen, she and Nedumudi Venu performed a crooked couple in Aanum Pennum (2021). The Ponnamma we witnessed in that movie, with a touch of mischievous evilness, reminds us that perhaps, Malayalam cinema didn’t totally utilise her potential by seeing simply the mom in her.
Revealed – September 20, 2024 09:24 pm IST