KOLLAM: Kathaprasangam artist Mukundan Pillai, popularly known as Kollam Babu, passed away here on Sunday due to age-related ailments. He was 80. He had performed the story telling folk art in thousands of stages that won many awards, including the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award in 1979.
Kollam Babu, who has been an exponent in the field for the past 45 years, has also written many plays and was a member of the Greek Drama troupe. He debuted as a theatre performer at the age of 13 when he played a 60-year-old in the amateur play ‘Children of the Street’.
Later, in 1959, after completing his Class X, he got into the shoes of a ‘Kathikan’ or story-teller. It was promoted by his brother Gopinathan Nair, a singer, who narrated Viswanathan’s novel ‘Neelasari’. Kollam Babu’s funeral was held at his residence in Thekkumbhagom. Finance Minister K N Balagopal, mayor Prasanna Earnest and deputy mayor Kollam Madhu were among those who paid their last respects.