Legendary South Indian filmmaker K.S. Sethumadhavan passes away
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Thiruvananthapuram: Veteran, award-winning Malayalam filmmaker KS Sethumadhavan breathed his last today (December 24, Friday) morning at his residence in Chennai. He was 90.
As per film industry sources, Sethumadhavan had not been keeping well for some time due to age-related ailments.
He is survived by wife Valsala Sethumadhavan and children, Santhosh, Uma, and Sonu Kumar.
A multi-time recipient of the national and state awards, Sethumadhavan has directed over 60 movies in five languages during his career spanning many decades since early 1960s. Besides Malayalam, he has also directed movies in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi.
He was a recipient of the KC Daniel award 2009 for his overallcontribution to Malayalam film industry.
Evergreen movies like "Odayil Ninnu", "Anubhavangal Palichakal", "Oppol", "Aranazhikaneeram", "Achanum Bappayum" and so on, which are considered landmark films in Malayalam, were the contributions of Sethumadhavan.
Sethumadhavan was born in 1931 to Palakkad couple Subramanium and Lekhsmi and spent his boyhood days in West Arkott in Tamil Nadu and Palakkad. Sethumadhavan did his Botany degree at Govt Victoria College and forayed into films working as assistant to Director K Ramnathan.
After launching himself as an independent filmmaker through the Sinhalese movie "Veeravijaya" (1960), he directed his first Malayalam film "Jnana Sundari".
It was Sethumadhavan who introduced the iconic Kamal Haasan as a child actor in Malayalam through the movie "Kannum Karalum" and in the lead role through his film "Kanyakumari".
'Venalkinavukal,' a 1991 movie based on the script of Jnanpith laureate M T Vasudevan Nair, was his last outing in Malayalam.
People from various walks of life condoled the death of the veteran filmmaker.
In his message, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the demise of Sethumadhavan was a loss not only to the film industry but also to the entire cultural arena of the southern state.
Vijayan also hailed him for introducing an innovative approach in the Malayalam industry and for making movies acceptable to all sections of the society.