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.

 

18 UNFORGETTABLE CHARACTERS PLAYED BY INNOCENT in Malayalam films

Innocent Vareed Thekkethala, mononymously known as Innocent is one of the most popular comedians working in Malayalam Cinema today. He is among those actors who, despite having the ‘actor’ overshadowing the ‘character’ with his trademark mannerisms and unyielding accent, pull it through effectively every time. Like Mamukkoya and Kuthiravattom Pappu, he has been stuck in an accent muzzle with his obstinate Thrissur lilt that once hung above the head of the Achayan accent in Kottayam Kunjachan and Kayyur Accent in Meenamasathile Sooryan (which could be overlooked as nobody including the scriptwriter got it right there). Nevertheless he is one of our all time favorites, and we do have his different characters etched into our memories each distinct from the other,however slightly like the cards in a deck. Following is a list of some of his most unforgettable characters thus far, many of which have made us laugh till it hurt.

15 MALAYALAM MOVIE CHARACTERS BASED ON REAL PEOPLE

Art imitating life and fact inspiring fiction is no new drill. In fact the earliest artistic creations have to have originated from life. So obviously they’ve been doing this for longer than you think. Biopics and movies based on true events even form a sizable genre, although the allusions to real life are way too direct there, and shall be discussed in a different list altogether. But then there are cases where real people inspire fictitious characters that may not always be exact replicas, and may occasionally even be used with artistic license to tell a different story. Following is a list of such movie characters from the Malayalam cinema based on real people.

15 GREATEST FEMALE CHARACTERS IN MALAYALAM CINEMA

Our cinema without the bulk of feminine presence that has kept us grounded over the years since its very conception would have ended up being merely a testosterone-ridden butch-fest with brutish energy aimlessly whip-lashing in ever possible directions, not to mention the threat of repetitive themes and restricted premises. While critics are going nonstop about the lack of good female characters in films world over, there was luckily no dearth of their powerful presence in Malayalam cinema (overlooking the 2000s maybe) from the time of the melodramatic excesses of the black and white era. They never stopped coming at us as sensual divas, crazy lovers, caring mothers, nagging wives, frightening psychos, despotic leaders and charming prostitutes. Here is a list of some of the most memorable female characters in Malayalam cinema immortalized by our rich tradition of talented actors, although not all of them are brought to fruition solely by the goodwill of the respective actors, as most of them wouldn’t have taken off the ground without the bountiful blessings of a handful of gifted dubbing artists working in the industry.