KOCHI: Sitting next to his departed long-time collaborator since morning, Lal broke down on seeing Fazil, the duo’s initial mentor. The guru and the shishya comforted each other, trying to come to grips with the loss of Siddique. Mammotty looked distraught as he came to bid a friend farewell. There were emotional scenes as the film industry joined satirists and parody artists and the public to pay tributes to the progenitor of some of Malayalam’s evergreen comedy flicks.
Thousands visited Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium to pay their last respects to the artist and filmmaker who entertained moviegoers in the early 1990s and 2000s.“The character of Appukuttan in In Harihar Nagar was a turning point in my career. Our friendship began even before that, when I associated with Fazil in Manivathoorile Aayiram Sivarathrikal. Siddique-Lal cast me in Hitler, Makkal Mahatmyam, and Godfather, among others. Their scripts were perfect and I never had to improvise,” recollected actor Jagadish.
Representatives of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), including Edavela Babu, and other senior artists, including Dileep, Janardhanan, Zeenath, Harisree Ashokan, Nandu, Saikumar and Bindu Panicker spent time with Siddique. Actor Jayaram spoke about the days when as struggling mimicry artists they spent a lot of time together. “Siddique, Lal, Prasad, Zainuddin and I used to meet every evening. We all shared one dream: cinema,” said Jayaram. Dulquer Salman, Fahadh Faasil, Jayasurya, Vishnu Unnikrishnan, Nazriya, Mithra Kurian, Unnimaya Prasad were among the many young artists who paid homage.
Pala MLA Mani C Kappan, who directed the popular ‘Mannar Mathai Speaking’, which was written by the Siddique-Lal duo, and Chandy Oommen also paid their tributes. “I realised the depth of the relationship between my father and Siddique only after I talked to his daughter. He took the lead on a documentary on appa. It was then that I started to know him better. His demise is a huge loss for my family, too,” said Chandy, son of former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
The funeral was held at Central Jama masjid at 6pm following the public viewing at Siddique’s home at Pallikkara. MLAs T J Vinod and Uma Thomas attended the funeral. The last rites were performed with state honours.