THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The photograph of a bulbul clicked by actor Mammootty now hangs on the wall of a luxury hotel. The frame that captures the bird sitting on a leaf was auctioned for Rs 3lakh, and it was bought by Achu Ullat, a native of Malappuram and the chairman of Leena Group.
It was one of the main attractions of the ‘Paadiparakunna Malayalam,’ a photo exhibition organised in memory of the famous ornithologist K K Neelakantan, who goes by the pen name Induchoodan, held at Durbar Hall in Kochi recently.
After the exhibition, the Induchoodan Foundation announced that the photograph would be auctioned. “The photo bears the signature of Mammootty. A base price of Rs 1 lakh was fixed at the auction headed by actor V K Sreeraman,” said the organisers.
According to the organisers, the money from the sale will be used for the foundation’s activities. During the concluding session of the exhibition, Malayalm critic and writer M K Sanu addressed the crowd.
“K K Neelakandan was a multifaceted genius. I knew him from the day he came to Maharaja’s College as an English professor, but I didn’t know that he was the Induchoodan who wrote the Birds of Kerala until I visited his house,” he said.
The exhibition featured 61 photographs by 23 photographers, including actor Mammootty and renowned bird photographer Jainy Kuriakose.