The most popular ‘screen mother’ of the Malayalam film industry Kaviyoor Ponnamma was given a teary farewell on Saturday at her house in Alwaye on Saturday.
The three reigning superstars – Mammootty, Mohanlal and Suresh Gopi – came to pay their last respects while hundreds of film personalities were also present at the prayer meeting.
In a career extending more than six decades and more than 700 films, she played the role of a mother, grandmother or mother-in-law to practically every film star in the Malayalam film industry.
On Saturday, her body was taken from the hospital where she passed away and brought to an auditorium where thousands paid her last respects.
The body was then taken to her house at Alwaye where she has been living for the past 15 years on the banks of Periyar river.
State Industries Minister P. Rajeeve represented the Kerala government. The veteran actor was accorded a state funeral and the pyre was lit in the house compound itself.
Known for her characteristic big, red bindi, 75-year-old Ponnamma was ailing for a while.
Starting her acting career in Malayalam drama in the late 1950s and later graduating to films, Ponnamma was the most sought-after actress to portray the role of a mother and a grandmother.
She had played ‘mother’ to legendary actors like Sathyan and Prem Nazir, Mammootty, Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi, Jayaram and numerous others.
In her long and distinguished acting career, she donned the grease paint in over 700 films, mostly Malayalam.
She last donned the grease paint in 2022, following which age-related illness caught up with her and the actress was mostly at home.
Her husband passed away in 2011 and she had one daughter who is settled in the US.
For the last few weeks, she had been ill and mostly confined to a hospital bed as her condition worsened.
Her scenes with superstar Mohanlal always turned out to be a smashing combination and won the hearts of many and films like ‘Thenmavin Kombathu’ and ‘Kireedom’ will go down as all-time hits. Ponnamma and Mohanlal acted in around 50 films together.
Ponnamma had won numerous awards including the Kerala state government’s prestigious film awards and she was also popular in the television industry.