Malayalam screenwriter-actor Madampu Kunjukuttan passed away on Tuesday. He was 81. The acclaimed writer was taken to a private hospital in Thrissur after he developed high fever. He was later diagnosed with the coronavirus.
A native of Thrissur, Madampu Kunjukuttan was a multi-talented person. He had studied Hasthyaayurvedam (treatment of elephants), taught Sanskrit at school and even worked as a priest at a temple. He also worked at Akashavani (All India Radio) and television channels. He entered the film industry as a screenwriter with Ashwadhamavu in the year 1979. In 2000, he bagged the prestigious National Award for best screenplay for Karunam, which was directed by Jayaraj. His film, Parinamam had won the award for the best screenplay at the Ashdod international film festival in Israel in 2003. Some of his other noted works as a screenwriter include Makalkku, Gourisankaram, Saphalam and Deshadanam. Besides writing, he has also acted in a slew of movies, including Mohanlal’s Aaraam Thampuran, director Shyamaprasad’s Agnisakshi and Jayaraj’s Shantham.
RIP! 🙏🏼#MadambuKunjukuttan Sir. PS: Social media timelines are beginning to look like obituary columns. Prayers for the departed and their families..and hope that times change for the better soon. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/As1z9oT44f
— Prithviraj Sukumaran (@PrithviOfficial) May 11, 2021
He is survived by his two daughters Jaseena Madampu and Haseena Madampu.
The Malayalam film celebrities have condoled the demise of Madampu Kunjukuttan. Actor Prithviraj said that his social media timeline has started to look like an obituary column. “RIP! Folded hands #MadambuKunjukuttan Sir. PS: Social media timelines are beginning to look like obituary columns. Prayers for the departed and their families..and hope that times change for the better soon (sic),” Prithviraj wrote on his Twitter page.
Madampu Kunjukuttan comes at a time when the Malayalam film industry is still mourning the death of iconic screenwriter-director Dennis Joseph. The filmmaker passed away last night following a heart attack.
Legendary Malayalam screenwriter and director Dennis Joseph passed away on Monday evening. He breathed his last at a private hospital in Kottayam following a heart attack.
Before becoming a force to reckon with in the Malayalam film industry, Dennis Joseph worked as a journalist with a magazine. And it was in 1985, he made his debut as a screenwriter with Eeran Sandhya, which had Mammootty, Shobhana, Rahman and his uncle Jose Prakash in the lead roles. And he never looked back. Dennis penned some of the biggest box office hits of Malayalam cinema, including New Delhi. The 1987 film had an ensemble cast, including Mammootty, Sumalatha, Suresh Gopi, Urvashi, B. Thiagarajan, Siddique, Vijayaraghavan, Mohan Jose, Devan, and Jagannatha Varma. It was one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of that year. And it even inspired remakes in Telugu, Kannada and Hindi.
Dennis Joseph is also the writer behind other critically and commercially successful films in Mammootty’s career. Dennis’ Nirakkoottu, Shyama, Nyayavidhi, Veendum, Thanthram were among the movies that were instrumental in establishing Mammootty’s stardom in the industry. In fact, Dennis made his directorial debut with critically acclaimed Manu Uncle, which had Mammootty in the lead role. The National Award-winning film revolved around a bunch of school kids who come to Kerala to spend their vacation. And their holiday turns into an action-adventure as these kids begin a parallel investigation into a museum burglary. And the rest of the film humorously unfolds how these kids bring the culprits to justice with the help of Manu Uncle, played by Mammootty. The film also had Mohanlal in a memorable cameo as himself.
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