TRIBUTE PAID TO THEATRE VETERN G. OMANA

TRIBUTE PAID TO

THEATRE VETERN G. OMANA

Veteran theatre artiste G. Omana, who has been a resourceful female presence in Malayalam theatre for the past half a century, is no more. She was 81.Ms. Omana has been ailing on account of age-related health problems. Her end came on Tuesday,18^th September,2012, morning.A cousin of iconoclastic Malayalam theatre veteran N.N. Pillai, Ms. Omana had been one of the key players of the Viswa Kerala Kala Samithy founded by him. Born on May 18, 1932 as the only child of Velayudhan Pillai and Gouri Amma at Vaikom, she was almost adopted by the legendary theatrical personality at an early age after personal tragedies struck her. She became an integral part of the theatre troupe when Pillai decided to bring his family members to the stage as part of cost-cutting measures. Her entry onto the stage was marked as a 70-year-old character in the drama Aslaamu Alaikkum in 1954. She was only 22 years then.

In addition to the more than 32 theatrical productions by the Viswa Kerala Kala Samithy, Ms. Omana has acted in the films Kapalika and Cross Belt , both being cinematic adaptations of the dramas of the same name, produced by the Samithy, as also Anandabhairavi . Ms. Omana was honoured with the best theatre actress award in 1977 and bestowed with the first Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001 by the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi.Ever since the death of N.N. Pillai in 1995, Ms. Omana has been staying with her nephew and film actor Vijayaraghavan at ‘Dionysia,’ the house that Pillai built.Her funeral was held with State honours. People from cultural and political fields and other walks of life paid their last respects to the veteran.

Prof. John Kurakar