THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It would be a heartening news for meme-makers that their trolls are bringing a smile to the face of legendary actor Jagathy Sreekumar, the star of Malayalam memes.
“I would show him good ones received in my phone. Yesterday he had a hearty laugh seeing a lockdown meme featuring his Pillechan character in Meesa Madhavan,” says his daughter Parvathy Shone. Apart from the flood of lockdown trolls, spending time with his four grandchildren for days together has lifted the mood of Jagathy, who is yet to fully recover from the injuries following a vehicle accident eight years ago. His son Rajkumar’s children ten-year-old Jagan Raj and one-year-old Janvi Raj, daughter Parvathy’s children P C George, 10, and Aradhana Shone, 4, are his companions now.
“Pappa is joyful when surrounded by them. He’s a dedicated viewer of their songs and amateur dance steps. The children too are happy. The boys are his big fans,” she said. “It was a surprise for George when he watched Kilukkam for the first time. Is this our grandpa who’s doing this comedy?” Parvathy said the boy was wondering since he has only seen an ailing grandpa.
Everyday, Jagathy is taken out to the courtyard in the evenings and this has become more lively after the lockdown, his daughter says. Even the elders, Jagathy’s wife Sobha Sreekumar, Parvathy and her in-law Pinky, would join the children in their games to see that smile on their loved one’s face. After the accident, Jagathy has not gone out of his house many times. There were four or five shootings and occasional outings, his daughter said. For outing the family selects less-crowded places since, after the accident, the actor has a dislike for photo session with strangers. Obviously, it would be impossible for them to control the fans who would surround him for selfies.
It will take some more time for the actor to be back to normal life though his condition has improved a lot. Now he can’t walk on his own and the right forehand is paralysed besides speech-related problems. He would utter words but cannot speak more. Besides medication, he is undergoing physiotherapy, speech and music therapy sessions.“He’s improving slowly and steadily. Now he can comprehend what he hears, say words, read the newspaper and watch TV,” Parvathy said.
The family is taking extra care for Jagathy in the wake of the Covid-19 spread. Visitors are strictly banned.
“Even before this we’d allow only close friends and relatives to meet him. Even in their company, he would feel discomfort after sometime because he can’t talk to them,” Parvathy said. Actors Mammooty, Mohanlal, Dileep, Nedumudi Venu and Innocent are among those would regularly ring up her to know about his health, according to Parvathy.