Thilakan

Surendranatha Thilakan (15 July 1935 – 24 September 2012), known mononymously as Thilakan, was an Indian film and stage actor who had starred in over 200 Malayalam films.

Thilakan is regarded as one of the finest actors in Indian cinema, and popularly mentioned as the Perumthachan (master craftsman) of Malayalam Cinema. He has won 3 National Film Awards and 9 Kerala State Film Awards. The Government of India awarded him with the Padma Shri in 2009 for his contributions towards the arts.

Thilakan died on 24 September 2012, following a cardiac arrest at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. He was 76.

Career

Early performances

Thilakan started his career in acting as a theatre artiste when he ventured into full-time acting in theatre after leaving intermediate college mid-way in the year 1956. During this period he and a few friends formed a drama troupe in Mundakayam, where his father was working as an estate supervisor, and the troupe was called the Mundakayam Nataka Samithy. He worked with Kerala People's Arts Club till 1966, followed by stints in Kalidasa Kala Kendra, Changanacherry Geetha, and P. J. Antony's troupe. He also performed in several radio plays presented by All India Radio.