THILAKAN- MALAYALAM CINEMA’S ACTING POWER HOUSE

THILAKAN- MALAYALAM CINEMA’S ACTING POWER HOUSE

After battling multiple organ failure for over a fortnight now, Thilakan breathed his last in a private hospital here at 3.35 a.m. on Monday,24^th September,2012, leaving behind a rich oeuvre of films, almost every single one of them epitomising his powerful histrionic capabilities. Thilakan, who had suffered a stroke some years ago, had returned to the stage and cinema after treatment, but his health deteriorated some weeks ago. He was admitted to a hospital in Thrissur with fever a month ago and brought here later in a critical condition. He leaves behind wife and six children. Thilakan’s body was kept at Victoria Jubilee Town Hall in the city from 11 a.m. to enable the public to offer their last respects to the thespian. Wreaths were placed on the body on behalf of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Defence Minister A.K. Antony. Speaker G. Karthikeyan, Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan, Culture Minister K.C. Joseph and Minister for Cinema K.B. Ganesh Kumar led the mourners. The cremation was held with State honours at the electric crematorium in the city.

Seventy-seven-year-old Surendranath Thilakan, a man of rough edges on and off screen, but whose courage and convictions remained resolute even in the face of ostracism from his chosen vocation, acted in nearly 200 films during his four-decade-long film career and won accolades and several awards on the way. The nation honoured him with the Padma Shri in 2009.Thilakan began as a student political activist and his acting career was an extension of his activism. He began his professional life in theatre and left a strong imprint as a theatre artiste before moving into films in the early 1970s. He did not look back till he faced the wrath of his colleagues in cinema a few years ago. Pushed to the margins, the battle-hardened veteran returned to theatre, only to bounce back with some stunning performances over the past one year and more.Although Thilakan made his debut in cinema in 1972 with Periyar, it was with award-winning director K.G. George’s Kolangal (1981) that he truly arrived in tinsel town. It was followed by Yavanika, another masterpiece from Mr. George. The film went on to attain cult status in Malayalam cinema.Thilakan made a huge impact with films such as Moonnampakkam, Panchagni,Dhwani, Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam, Namukku Parkkan Munthirithoppukal, Rithubhedam, Jathakam, Nadodikkattu, Kireedom, Kattukuthira, Perunthachan, Santhangopalam, Gamanam, Sandesam,Kilukkam, Sphadikam, Veendum Chila Veettukaryangal, Ekantham, Indian Rupee and Ustad Hotel.

Thilakan won the national award for the best actor in a supporting role forRithubhedam in 1988. He won the State award for the best actor twice, forPerunthachan (1990) and Gamanam and Santhanagopalam (1994). He was the recipient of the State award for the second best actor on six occasions, beginning with Yavanika (1982) and the last for Kattathoru Penpoovu (1998).Ekantham fetched him a special jury award in 2007.

Surendranath Thilakan was a born rebel. He rebelled against his father, whose patriarchal ways disgusted him; against his mother, who tried to control him with her love; with colleagues, who tried to tame him with organizational discipline.And, like an orphaned child trying again and again to get his act together, Thilakan rebelled against himself, putting together, bringing down and reinventing himself in myriad roles he donned.“He was born to act,” says his childhood friend Samuel Zacharia who lives at Chotti, near Mundakayam “Acting was everything for him, the only solace in a life scarred by intense emotional volatility, for which he sacrificed everything else,” he says.He should know. Just a year younger, he was with Thilakan at Mundakkayam where he spent his early years. As the second of the six children of Devayani and T.S. Kesavan, estate writer at TR&T Co, Thilakan enjoyed a middleclass lifestyle and the family was regarded high in society, he said.

The artiste in Thilakan was identified by his lower primary school teacher at St. Louis School, Mariyakkutty Aasatty, who encouraged her ward to act in one-act plays, remembers Mr. Zacharia. They had acted in school plays together and, later, gave shape to the Mundakayam Dramatic Club. Thilakan, now ‘Mundakayam Thilakan’, was the producer, director, and the central character.The rehearsal camps were his ‘worlds’ where he dominated his friends with his acting and directorial skills. He would print publicity materials and went round sticking bills announcing the drama. “He was totally immersed in theatre,” said Mr. Zacharia. The first drama, Jeevvitham Avasanickunnilla, had Thilakan as a tyrannical father and Mr. Zacharia, as his son. Thilakan enacted a similar character years later - Chacko Master in Malayalam movie, Sphadikom. Both had shades of his own father who refused to acknowledge his son’s sensibilities. “Estate officials were like slave drivers at that time, strict and often tyrannical,” Mr. Zacharia remembers.

Acting and theatre were taboo for the middleclass family and his passion for acting cost Thilakan dearly, when it interfered in his relation with his own mother. In an interview he remembered: There were days when he had to go without food as his mother refused to provide him. While his siblings were sleeping after sumptuous dinner, he had to sneak out, get raw tapioca from their garden to douse his hunger.Feeling an outcaste, Thilakan left home at the age of 19, for a life as actor. The rebellious streak followed Thilakan in his student days. He remembered at a public function here two years back - he was dropped from a school drama while in Kottayam but Thilakan got special permission, wrote a new play, cobbled up a new team and took the first prize in the competition.His college days saw Thilakan honing his histrionic talents when he first came into contact with the school of method acting in Hollywood films but had to drop out from studies as he was found ‘indisciplined’ by the college authorities.

His career took him to leading theatre groups such as Kaladasa Kalakendram, KPAC, and Geedha before he entered the films. While the past three decades saw Thilakan donning roles after roles in Malayalam and south Indian films, he came back into the maternal lap of his beloved theatre once again in 2010- when he once again felt orphaned by his colleagues in the industry.It was the time when the actor was suffering a boycott from the industry. His well-wishers in Ambalappuzha gave shape to a theatre group Akshara Jwala Theatres under whose banner the drama Itho Daivangalude Swantham Naadu?was presented in more than 100 venues.Thilakan, enacting an aging freedom fighter, collapsed on stage at Chirayinkeezh. But, in his usual style Thilakan rebelled against his doctors who advised a week’s rest and was ready for the next show at Punalur. Picking Thilakan’s finest performances is not an easy task. There are just so many.Here is rewinding to some of Thilakan’s unforgettable roles (that include his own picks).

Achuthan Nair in Kireedom

In a film that had the dimensions of a Shakespearian tragedy, written by Lohithadas, he gave everything he had to play a man whose only ambition in life was to see his son doing better than him. With Mohanlal also coming up with one of his finest-ever performances, the Sibi Malayil film remains one of the best-acted Malayalam films of all time.“Mohanlal contributed a great deal towards my performance in Kireedom,” Thilakan had admitted.

Title role in Perunthachan

One of MT’s greatest scripts demanded an exceptionally gifted actor and debutant director Ajayan found one in Thilakan. He played, with enviable ease, the complex character of the master carpenter who kills his own son. “I was charged up to do the film after reading the script,” Thilakan had said. “It was disappointing to miss out on the national award for it.”

Cheriyachan in Gamanam One of his least-watched films, but one of his best. As a man who is abandoned by his wife and children because of a misunderstanding, he gave a heart-wrenching performance.

Paul Pailokkaran in Namukku Parkkan Munthirithoppukal

In one of Malayalam cinema’s finest-ever love stories, directed by Padmarajan, he played one of the scariest villains. “The role of the cruel man who rapes his stepdaughter was not easy to play,” Thilakan had said.

Kochuvava in Kattukuthira

It was a role - of a poor, lower caste man’s rise to power and his revenge - that was immortalised on stage by Rajan P. Dev. “It was an extraordinary character written by S.L. Puram originally for the stage, and I knew comparisons with Rajan P. Dev would be inevitable but I was able to make Kochuvava memorable in my own way,” Thilakan had said.

Krishna Kurup in Santhanagopalam

In the role of a man who has to feign his own death so that his family could benefit, he was brilliant. He relied more on his expressions than the dialogues, which were not many. “I would not have been able to make the film without Thilakan; nobody else could have played that role,” said its director Sathyan Anthikad.

Grandfather in Moonnam Pakkam

It is not everyday that a mainstream Malayalam cinema could be conceived with an 85-year-old man as the hero. But, then, Padmarajan is no ordinary director, Thilakan no ordinary actor. “I could surprise Padmarajan with some of my scenes in the film, like the one in which I was holding the clothes of my dead grandson,” Thilakan had said.

Vakkachan in Yavanika

Among his earlier works, the role of the theatre manager in K.G. George’s masterpiece, stood out. “I could contribute to the film not just as an actor; I was glad to share my experiences from theatre with George for the making of the film,” Thilakan had said.

Mooppil Nair in Rithubhedam

The cruel patriarch, another strong character M.T. wrote, was safe in Thilakan’s hands. “I used my eyes to bring out the character’s evil mind, and the director, Prathap Pothen, did not even know it while shooting,” he had said.

Retired judge in Kilukkam

This Priyadarshan film may have belonged to Mohanlal, Jagathy Sreekumar, and Revathy, but some of its funniest scenes featured Thilakan. Remember the way Thilakan throws away in fear the horror fiction he was reading, cursing its author! “It is among my favourite films,” Thilakan had said. “The humour in ‘Kilukkam’ was of the highest class.”

The list of unforgettable characters Thilakan played could go on and on, in films such as Sandesam, Parinayam, Sphadikam, Nadodikkattu, Sanmanassullavrkku Samadhanam, Veendum Chila Veettukaryangal, Kolangal, Jathakam, Ekantham, Radhamadhavam, Mukhamudra, Kauravar, Dhwani, Panchagni, Kudumba Vishesham, Mookkillatha Rajyathu, Kudumba Puranam, Kattathoru Penpoovu, Indian Rupee, Ustad Hotel’…

The Speaker, Ministers, representatives of various political parties and people from all walks of life on Monday mourned the death of veteran actor Thilakan.

Condoling the death of Thilakan, Speaker G. Karthikeyan said Malayalam cinema had lost one of its greatest actors ever and that the characters he had emoted on screen would live forever.

Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, Electricity Minister Aryadan Mohammed, and Social Welfare Minister M.K. Muneer condoled the death of Thilakan and said that his loss would be felt deeply by the film and theatre world which he had dominated for over three decades.

Labour Minister Shibu Baby John, in his condolence message, said through his inimitable style of acting, Thilakan had left his indelible stamp on Malayalam cinema. Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash and IT Minister P.K. Kunhalikutty said he had been the pride of Malayalam cinema and Kerala and that his loss left a huge void in the cultural arena.

Tourism Minister A.P. Anil Kumar said the courage and conviction that he had shown in holding on to his ideals till his end was unparalleled.

Minister for Water resources P.J. Joseph said the characters that Thilakan had given life to on screen would remain forever with Malayalis. Cultural Affairs Minister K.C. Joseph said Thilakan was an actor par excellence, who had enriched cinema and theatre.

Finance Minister K.M. Mani said in his passing, an epoch had ended in Malayalam cinema

Health Minister V.S. Sivakumar said Thilakan’s feat in Malayalam cinema and theatre world was unparalleled. Union Minister for Food and Civil Supplies K.V. Thomas said Thilakan had enriched Malayalam cinema with his strong and powerful characters.

RSP general secretary T.J. Chandrachoodan said Malayalam cinema had lost one of its best talents.

State Secretary of the CPI(M) Pinarayi Vijayan, expressing his deep sadness over the demise of Thilakan, said he had been an actor who never forgot his social responsibility and one who breathed life into every character that he portrayed.

CPI State secretary Pannian Raveendran said an extraordinary actor aside, Thilakan had always lived in the hearts of people.

Shashi Tharoor, MP, said Thilakan was a great actor whose contributions to the film field would be remembered for long

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Ramesh Chennithala, Bharatiya Janata Party State president V. Muraleedharan, former Minister for Water Resources N.K. Premachandran, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member M.A. Baby, RSP State secretary M.A. Aziz, MLA, secretary of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi P.V. Krishnan Nair, KPAC president K.E. Ismail, Kerala Lalitha Kala Akademi secretary Sreemolanagaram Mohan, AITUC Kerala State Council general secretary Kanam Rajendran, general secretary of Purogamana Kala Sahithya Sangham V. N. Murali, Thiruvananthapuram Bar Association, All Kerala Cinema Serial Artists’ and Workers’ Association, Banner Film Society expressed their deep anguish over the passing away of Thilakan.

Prof. John Kurakar