20 OF THE MOST MEMORABLE ROLES PORTRAYED BY THILAKAN IN MALAYALAM FILMS

 

Padma Shri Surendranath Thilakan, mononymously known as Thilakan, is an actor beyond compare and is undoubtedly one of the greatest in India. He is one of the key figures that shaped the modern Malayalam Cinema to its present form bringing realistic acting to the table during the nascent stages of its evolution. Extremely dexterous and versatile, there is not a genre that he has not mastered in looking at his illustrious career that won him numerous accolades on the way. While he was unnerving as the depraved stepfather in Namukku Parkkan Munthitithoppukal, he was also hilarious as the paranoid villain in Nadodikkattu and heartbreaking as the father of the doomed hero in Kireedam at the same.

 

It would be a hopeless effort to compare his roles based on performances, as they were all par excellence. So following is a list of 20 of the most memorable roles played by this acting behemoth that stayed with us all these years after his departure.

 

7 FANTASY FILMS IN MALAYALAM that are worth seeing

film Njan Gandharvan

For a people that viewed anything slightly deviating from the normal with distrust or sarcasm, creating something that challenged realism altogether remained a dare forever. In cinema, fantasy has never been a successful Malayali staple, although it was tried one too many times, and not entirely without occasional successes. But they never earned the appreciation that films with realistic themes did, maybe owing to the alien nature of its subject matter, or due to a general incompetence in convincingly executing the essential surreal imagery. However this had not completely deterred our filmmakers, who occasionally used fantasy to form the spine of narration as in the form of the apparition of St. Francis in Pranchiettan & the Saint and the comic plot line with the lead ghosts in Ayushkaalam and Pappan Priyapetta Pappan. But to step a few serious paces ahead, the challenge was mostly to stay within the confines of realism and put forward the idea of fantasy unhurriedly and as matter-of-factly as possible. Following is a list of such bold attempts in Malayalam language that were both indigenous enough to involve the audience and effective enough to enchant them, far from the glitz and magnanimity of its Hollywood parallels that had long owned the genre.