Tragedy after the Actor’s Death

The death one of the great character artistes of Malayalam cinema immediately laid bare the hypocrisy among his peers.

Thilakan, one of the great character artistes of Malayalam cinema, passed away recently, and it immediately laid bare the hypocrisy among his peers. For some time now, he had been in conflict with the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) and Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA). It started when Thilakan flouted their directive to not work with a director they had banned. In turn, he found himself banned. Often, he was invited for compromise talks and then humiliated. He once had an open fight with actor-turned-minister KB Ganesh Kumar. The superstar duo of Mammootty and Mohanlal also conspired in between to keep Thilakan from getting film offers. But though he was in his 70s, Thilakan staged a comeback with an outstanding performance in Indian Rupee. After his death, you saw the very same people who had victimised him waxing lyrical on his talents and contribution to Malayalam cinema. Ganesh Kumar lamented that Thilakan’s demise was a huge loss. Mammootty was contrite and said he had lost Thilakan much before his death and was still unable to understand why. Mohanlal recalled how he learnt acting from Thilakan, but there were no words of repentance. Office bearers of AMMA and FEFKA kept away from obits in the media.

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