Malayalam cinema loses veterans

In a span of months Malayalam cinema lost some stellar personalities. Actor Murali was the most recent with actor Rajan P Dev and Writer and Director Lohithdas passing away just a few months earlier.

Murali was unforgettable in movies "Varavelpu", "Karunyam" (which was a Lohithdas movie), "Amaram", a lesser known "Garshom" and in "Kireedam" just to name a few. Another movie of his that I can remember for his stellar role is one where he brings up Rehana, who plays his daughter, as his friend Suresh Gopi's child. The movie brought me to tears.

Rajan P Dev added another facet to the stereotyped Villain and in the process played the role in Tamil and Telugu movies too. In his Villain roles he was good at comedy too. Just a week before his passing away I couldn't help laughing at his role in the movie "Chocolate".

Lohithdas will be remembered for his screenplay work on many of Malayalam cinema's classics such as "Kireedom", and the sequel "Chenkol", "Thaniayavartham", "Amaram", "Dasaratham", "Jathakam", "Mukthi" and "Valsalyam" and as a director his "Karunyam" will always be one my favorite Malayalam films of all time. Only just a few vacations earlier had we seen his "Neivedyam" his last movie. His "Kasthooriman" starring Meera Jasmine, an actress he introduced to Malayalam is also worth mentioning.

All three veterans leave a void that is difficult to fill. May their souls rest in peace.