Malayalam cinema's beloved grandpa Unnikrishnan Namboothiri dies at 98

Malayalam actor Unnikrishnan Namboothiri who rose to fame with popular grandpa roles in Mollywood died at the age of 98. For the uninformed, Unnikrishnan has acted in many Malayalam and Tamil movies and has acted in Rajnikanth's Chandramukhi, Kamal Haasan starrer Pammal K Sambandham, Ajith starrer Kandukondain Kandukondain to name a few. He is survived by his children Devi, Bhavadas, Yamuna and P V Kunhikrishnan, who is judge at the Kerala High Court. He is also the father-in-law of musician, composer and filmmaker Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri, and grandfather of composer Deepankuran.

He was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Kannur. For the past few days, reports were doing rounds on how the actor had recovered from Covid – 19. As per reports, a few weeks ago, he was hospitalised after suffering from pneumonia. Apparently, after recovering, he was discharged from the hospital but as he suffered from fever again in a few days, he was admitted again. And that’s when he tested positive for Covid – 19. It is in the year 1996, through the Jayaraj film ‘Desadanam,’ that he debuted as a film actor. Some of his other major movies are ‘Kalyanaraman,’ ‘Chandramukhi,’ ‘Pammal K Sambandham,’ ‘Meghamalhar,’ ‘Kaliyattam,’ ‘Rappakal,’ ‘Loudspeaker,’ ‘Pokkiri Raja,’ ‘Mayamohini,’ ‘Kandukondain Kandukondain’ and the film ‘Mazhavillinattam Vare,’ which was co-written and directed by his son-in-law, musician and composer Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri. He has also handled comedy with ease in many movies, the most memorable of which is Kalyanaraman, in which he played the character of Dileep’s grandfather, named Thekkedathu Gopalakrishnan.