THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Award-winning film actor and Kerala Sangeeta Nataka Akademi chairman Murali died here on Thursday following multiple organ failure.
He was 55.Murali was admitted to a private hospital here on August 5 after he complained of respiratory problems.
The actor had just returned from South Africa, where he was shooting for a Tamil film.
The cremation will be held at Aruvikkara on Friday. The body will be kept at the VJT Hall for the public to pay homage before that.
Murali is survived by wife Shylaja and daughter Karthika.
The doctors who attended on him said that the actor had suffered multiple-organ failure. He had liver cirrhosis which was compounded by pneumonia in his left lung. On August 5, Murali suffered a cardiac arrest. Then, his kidney stopped functioning. Murali was put on the ventilator for almost a day.
Murali had been a diabetic for quite some time.
Murali, who won a national award and three state awards for acting, debuted in a Bharath Gopidirected film, `Njattadi,’ which never got released. He was first noticed in a minor role in Aravindan’s path-breaking film `Chidambaram.’ It was the M.T.Vasudevan Nair-Hariharan team’s `Panchagni,’ in which he played the villain, that shot him to fame. Close on its heels came Lenin Rajendran’s `Meenamaasathile Sooryan’ in which he played the Communist rebel Madathil Appu. With these two films Murali established himself in the industry.
It was George Kithu’s `Aadhaaram’ that catapulted Murali to the status of a hero. This was followed by a slew of films such as `Ardram’ and `Chamayam,’ `Kanakkinavu,’ `Chakoram,’ and `Vengalam’ in which he played the protagonist.
He won the national award for best actor for his portrayal of an ageing Communist in Priyanandan’s debut film `Neythukaran.’ He also won state awards for `Aadhaaram’ (1992), `Kanakkinavu’ (1996), `Thalolam (1998) and Neythukaran (2001). He also won the award for a supporting role in `Amaram’ (1989).
Murali, who began his political career as an SFI activist, contested the 1999 Lok Sabha elections as a CPM candidate from Alappuzha.
He lost to Congress’ V.M.Sudheeran.
Murali was currently serving as the Chairman of Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi.
Murali, who hailed from Kudavattoor in Kollam, completed his schooling from Kudavattoor L.P.School and Thrikannamangalam S.K.V. High School. He did his pre-degree from Sasthamcotta Devaswom Board College and he secured a degree in law from the Thiruvananthapuram Law Academy.
After studies, he worked for some years as a lower division clerk in the Health Department and as an upper division clerk in the Kerala University.