Celebrating Madhu

KOCHI:  At 86, actor Madhu has the alluring charm that has the whole of the filmdom revere him. The stature the actor commands was evident with people across all walks of life swarming the Thiruvananthapuram Press Club, the hub of all activities.    On Monday, a grand tribute was paid to the towering film personality as he celebrated his 86th birthday. “I am overwhelmed with happiness. I knew people liked me, but I did not know they liked me this much. Thank you for showering all the love,” said Madhu.

Christened ‘Madhu Madhuram Thiru Madhuram’, the programme felicitated Madhu and the celebratory occasion was marked by sharing interesting anecdotes relating to the actor. Amid a crowd of film fraternity and well-wishers, Madhu cut the cake. The contributions of the evergreen actor which includes an unparalleled body of work were also hailed at the ceremonial occasion by senior artists and filmmakers.

Remarking that Madhu was one actor whose name is etched into the history of Malayalam cinema, Minister for Culture A K Balan said that with the kind of strong roles Madhu played, he was able to bring forth the struggles of the marginalised. A memento was presented to the actor by the Minister.

“Having done some stellar roles in movies, he has ventured into direction, production and now sits at the helm as a ‘karnavar’. We will never forget Pareekkuti, the protagonist in Chemmeen which Madhu has poignantly portrayed. And with his strong roles, he has brought to the fore the many grievances of the marginalised. The list of movies is endless,” said Minister Balan. Terming it as a rare gathering, filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan said that it gave him immense happiness to be with the hero of his first film ‘Swayamvaram’.V S Sivakumar MLA, Sreekumaran Thampi, Mukesh MLA, Suresh Kumar, Menaka Suresh, Indrans, O Rajagopal and many others from the film fraternity attended.

Website on Madhu
A website encompassing the contributions of Madhu to the film world was launched during the celebrations. The website which traces the journey of the actor also carries interviews, biography, filmography details and olden movie clippings and posters. The website ‘madhutheactor.com’ was launched by filmmaker Sreekumaran Thampi.