One of the most versatile and vibrant actresses of Malayalam, Sukumari, 73, who brought to life hundreds of unforgettable characters on the screen with her inimitable portrayals, is no more.
The actor, who was undergoing treatment in a hospital in Chennai for burn injuries she had suffered about a month ago, passed away following cardiac arrest at 5.30 pm on Tuesday. She will be cremated in Chennai on Wednesday.
Sukumari Amma, as she was fondly called by the film fraternity, had suffered the burns while lighting a lamp on February 27. She had also undergone plastic surgery.
The veteran, energetic actor, who performed in over 2,500 films in a career spanning over six decades, started her acting career at the age of 10.
She had been part of the industry even during the black and white age and has donned a variety of roles, including mother, wife, aunt and grandmother along with many generations of actors. She has acted in all South Indian languages and in Hindi.
She was unique in that she used her own voice in all languages without dubbing.
She was honoured with Padma Shri in 2003. She bagged the national award for best supporting actress in 2011 and the state award for second best actress four times in 1974, 1979, 1983 and 1985.
Born in 1940 to Madhavan Nair and Sathyabhama Amma in Nagercoil in the erstwhile Travancore, she was married to director A Bhimsingh when she was 30. She is survived by son Dr Suresh.
A first cousin of the Travancore sisters Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini, she went for an all-India tour with the sisters after mastering dance forms like Keralanadanam, Kathakali and Bharatanatyam. Sukumari was noticed by director Neelakantan when she went to the sets of a film with Padmini, and hence debuted in the Tamil film Oriravu as a child artist. Later, she became an integral part of the industry after her roles in Thaskaraveeran and Koodappirapp.