Popular Malayalam stage, movie and television actor Thodupuzha Vasanthi passed away at a private hospital in Thodupuzha on Tuesdaymorning. She was 65.
Vasanthi was battling cancer for some time now. A diabetic as well, her right leg was amputated a year ago.
The cremation will be held in the evening at the premises of her brother’s house in Thodupuzha.
A vibrant actor, most of Vasanthi’s onscreen characters were bold and candid. In a film career that began in 1975, Vasanthi acted in over 450 films and was mostly seen doing side roles and even negative ones.
Some of her most popular films include Yavanika, Poochakkoru Mookkuthi directed by Priyadarshan, Alolam, Karyam Nissaram, Nirakkoottu and Godfather, to name a few. In her over four-decade-long career, she shared screen space with all the leading lights of the Malayalam film industry.
She was born in Manacuad village in Thodupuzha in Idukki district. Her husband passed away in 2010. They did not have any children.
Vasanthi had been living a lonely life after her mother also died a few years ago.
Vasanthi’s foray into acting began at a tender age through the ballet group of her father Ramakrishnan Nair, who was a theatre artist. She was named Thodupuzha Vasanthi by another popular actor, Adoor Bhavani.
Yavanika was directed by ace yesteryear director K G George. Vasanthi played the role of Rajamma in the movie, gaining her wide appreciation and making her a popular name in the film industry.
She was popular in radio plays as well. She had won the state government award for theatre acting.
However, after she was diagnosed with cancer a few years back, she was mostly in and out of hospital, and it was only after the vernacular media reported about her hapless condition did the Malayalam film industry know about her situation. After this, Women in Cinema Collective, a platform of female actors and film makers of the Malayalam industry, had come forward to give assistance to Vasanthi.
She had reportedly started a dance school when offers from the film industry began to decline. But it was shut down two years ago.
“I apologise for not lending a helping hand when she needed it. I bid adieu to an actor who had dedicated her life to acting,” actor Kunchacko Boban said in a Facebook post.
With IANS Inputs