Mohanraj, the actor who became a household name in Kerala through his iconic portrayal of the villain 'Keerikkadan Jose' in the Malayalam classic Kireedam, passed away on Thursday, October 3, at his residence in Kanjirankulam.
The news of his demise was shared by actor-director P Dinesh Panicker on Facebook. "The villain in the movie Kireedam... Mohanraj, who portrayed Keerikkadan Jose, is now a memory," Panicker wrote in his post, recalling his friendship with the late actor and their collaboration in films like Cheppu, Kilukkam Changathi, Rajaputhran, Pathram, Aram Thampuran, Hitler and Stalin Sivadas.
Mohanraj, who was an enforcement officer before venturing into cinema, became a much sought-after villain in Malayalam films after his breakout role in Kireedam. In an interview to Kaumudy movies, Sibi Malayil spoke about finding Mohanraj, “"One day, Mohanraj came to see me. As soon as I saw him walk into my room, I immediately thought, 'Keerikkadan Jose is standing here.' I felt like calling him Keerikkadan Jose right then. I told Lohi,(Lohithadas, Kireedam script writer) who was writing in the next room, 'Keerikkadan Jose has arrived.' Upon seeing Mohanraj, Lohi instantly said, 'This is our Keerikkadan Jose.' From that moment, without any doubt, we decided that he was the perfect fit for the character. It was his appearance and build that convinced us to choose him.”
Sibi Malayil further added, “ We had no idea about the films he had acted in before, but after the movie was released, he became known by the name Keerikkadan Jose. Very few people knew his real name. It’s rare for an actor to become known by the name of the character they played, but Mohanraj became one of those rare individuals."
Over his illustrious career, he acted in more than 300 films, including Telugu, Tamil, and even two Japanese films. Some of his other memorable roles were in films like Chenkol, Narasimham, Hallo, Spadikam, Rorschach, Mayavi and many more
His funeral will be held on Friday.