Malayalam cinema icon Madhu to be honored in two-day event on 90th birthday

The Thiruvananthapuram Film Community is set to celebrate actor Madhu's 90th birthday over a two-day event this Friday and Saturday. Madhu, who hails from the state's capital, has appeared in more than 400 Malayalam films, including his role in Amitabh Bachchan's debut film 'Saat Hindustani.

The veteran, now an avid YouTuber, has seen it all in a career that began in 1963 and today he leads a retired life at his small home in the capital, along with his only daughter Uma, who lives next door to him.

Speaking to IANS: noted producer G. Sureshkumar who is the live wire of the two-day event to be held here said on the first day that they will be screening "a 45-minute documentary on Madhu Sir shot by Pushpan Divakaran."

“The next day will see a four-hour long cultural event programme which will see songs sung by our seasoned veteran singers . Present on the occasion will be all the leading stars who have acted with Madhu Sir,” said Sureskumar who is the father of National Award winning actress Keerthy Suresh and also husband of yesteryear popular actress Maneka.

Among those who will grace the occasion includes Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi, Dileep, Jagdeesh and several others.

Incidentally, the highlight of the event is that there will be no chief guest and no political personalities.

“This is an event of all from the film industry. All the leading directors, Priyadarshan, Joshy, Hariharan and numerous others will be there,” added Sureshkumar.

Madhu was the first actor in the industry to open his own production studio in the state capital city four decades ago.

Born in the heart of Thiruvananthapuram, Madhu, after his post-graduation in Hindi from the Banaras Hindu University, taught for a brief while at a college near here before joining a three-year course at the National School of Drama, which laid the foundation of a great actor.

Starting off with his debut 'Ninamaninja Kalpadukal', the simple but suave actor in Madhu saw him donning the grease paint in a glittering career which has crossed the golden jubilee mark and by now he has acted in over 400 Malayalam films.

In his initial days in the film industry, he was always playing second fiddle to giants like Sathyan and Prem Nazir and two years after, his debut came 'Chemmeen' (released in 1965, it became the first South Indian film to win the Indian President's Gold Medal for the Best Film), where he played a central role and since then he has had no reason to look back and has now acted with at least two or three generations of actors.

Among the films he has done, 'Kudumbhasamethem', 'Spirit', 'Njan Ekenanu' and 'Theekanal' as his best.
A Padma Shri recipient, Madhu has also won five Kerala State Film awards.