Thilakan passes away.

Thank you.

Surendranath Thilakan, who makes every act an emotional discovery, onscreen.

Pix Credit : The Hindu

Surendranath Thilakan aka Thilakan has been in my mind for quite some time, especially since the tragic motor accident that his car was involved in, last year.It seemed that life had planned quite a number of eventful surprises for him in real life, that he could maybe reflect on, imbibe in, distill its essence, swiftly turn around and serve it to us, a hundred manifold, onscreen.

When Thilakan appeared onscreen for the first time in Periyar (1973), it was for a project directed by PJ Antony ( his only outing as a director and who was also his mentor in theatre), Thilakan had by then been a seasoned theatre professional, with close to two decades under his belt, a master of nuances and if needed, exaggeration. To debut in a related medium of expression, with two decades of experience in its fundamentals is no mean feat. Maybe that must be the reason why, try hard if you must, one cannot find a role amongst his close to 280 movies that he has been a part of, that could have been better. You could try again, but I could guarantee you that you would come up without an answer. That seems to be unique, if Imay add- a feat that comes natural to a meager handful in Indian cinema ! OK, make that international cinema.

Namukku Parkkan Munthiri Thoppukal (1986), a Siemens VCR and Thilakan, the scumbag

Thilakan in Namukku Parkkan Munthiri Thoppukal (1986)

Hate is a strong word. For the one who feels it, it is at best an emotion. For the others, it is a cause for dissection, to conclude the primal reason for such a strong emotion. Most often, we encounter both these aspects ourselves, holding a particular reaction of hate under the scanner of reason long after we have experienced it.