THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Aranmula Ponnamma, who has been described as the ‘mother of Malayalam cinema’ for the numerous mother roles she did in a film career spanning six decades, died at a private hospital here this evening, family sources said.
Ponnamma, 96, had acted as mother to three generations of actors in Malayalam cinema.
She is survived by two daughters.
While in her early career she acted with veterans like Thikkurissi Sukumaran Nair, she played in mother roles with the second generation actors including Sathyan and Prem Nazir.
She also acted with the third generation actors Mohanlal and Suresh Gopi.
Ponnamma has won several awards including the state's prestigious J C Daniel award for overall contribution in 2006 and the national and state awards for second best actress in the film `Kathapurushan' directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan in the year 1995.
She started her career as a stage artiste in 1943 and her debut film was `Sasidharan' (1950) in which she played mother of late actress Miss Kumari.
Except in a few movies, Ponnamma always played the role of mother. In her own words, "I did play a negative role in the film `Padunna Puzha,' but after that I was always typecast as mother. As a mother of two children, I was very comfortable in those roles."