Initial Indian movies did not have strong mother characters. Mother roles gained prominence after a few Hindi movies were released following the advent of the art form in the country. Though Hindi could claim credit for introducing mother characters in Indian cinema, such roles gained prominence in Tamil. The movie, 'Avvayar', is an example of the high pedestal on which Tamil culture has placed mothers.
Kannamba, TA Madhuram, Pandari Bai, MV Rajamma, Muthulakshmi, and Manorama were the prominent early mothers in Tamil cinema. Kannamba needs a special mention, as she, like Shivaji Ganesan, delivered lengthy dialogues, capturing the essence of a mother's untold sorrows.
After Tamil, mother characters received much importance in Malayalam cinema. Aranmula Ponnamma was the artiste well-known for the portrayal of mother characters in early Malayalam movies. The mothers she portrayed were all loving, and embodiment of benevolence.
Another artiste to play mother roles then was Pankajavalli. However, perhaps playing a negative character in 'Jeevitanauka' her later characters were all those of a nitpicking and quarrelsome mother-in-law. Adoor Bhavani, TR Omana, Sukumari, Adoor Pankajam, and Kaviyoor Ponnamma followed Pankajavalli as mothers in Malayalam cinema. Kaviyoor Ponnamma debuted in cinema after gaining much theatre experience.
Kaviyoor Ponnamma chechi's distinct acting style while portraying mothers perhaps made her more adept for such roles than Aranmula Ponnamma. Kaviyoor Ponnamma first donned the mother role in the then-superhit director Sasikumar's 'Kudumbini', in which Sheela, older to Ponnamma, played her daughter. Ponnamma chechi's portrayal of the mother in 'Kudumbini' was much lauded and producers and directors preferred her for the mother's roles in their cinemas.
I was wonderstruck when I first heard that Ponnamma chechi did a sterling performance as the mother of Madhu and Sathyan in 'Thommante Makkal'. She surprised the audience as Thikkurissi's wife in the 1971 movie 'Nadi', and Thilankan's mother in 'Periyar'. She later acted as Thilakan's wife and Sathyan's heroine in 'Odayil Ninnu'.
It is unlikely that Malayalam cinema would have such a versatile actor like Ponnamma chechi, who took women characters to a different level. Even while portraying mothers on the tinsel screen, she played the heroine in 'Rosy'. Ponnamma chechi later became the heroine's elder sister, sister-in-law, and mother-in-law before cementing her place in mother roles.
Chechi maintained a cordial relationship with her colleagues. She was Ponnu to those close to her. Mani Swami, who produced PM Menon-directed "Rosy", later took the same Ponnu as his lifelong partner.
Though she had played mother to almost all heroes, present and past, Ponnamma chechi was the screen mother to Mohanlal in more cinemas. Producers and directors used to seek her whenever their cinemas demanded a perfect and gracious mother, though Ponnamma chechi had been in the field for six decades. Though she had been keeping away from acting, she was willing to face the camera if someone offered her a different role.
Ponnamma chechi acted in several movies for which I have written the script. My favourite, however, is her mother's role in Jayaraj's 'Kudumbasmetham'. Though I had watched her movies earlier, I think I first met her in person in 1974. I was then associated with the 'Chitrapaurnami' film weekly. Our 'Chitrapaurnami' collective used to meet almost every evening, and during one such meeting, an idea was mooted to publish a comprehensive history of Malayalam cinema. The idea was mooted by John Paul. Neither John nor I then had the least inkling that we too would be part of cinema. Armed with the idea, we first met Mani Swami, Ponnamma chechi's husband.
They were then living on the first floor of a house in Chennai. We introduced the idea to Mani Swami. After thinking for a while, he said, "The idea is good but difficult to implement".
He explained the pros of cons of such an attempt. John felt that chasing the dream of publishing the Malayalam cinema's history would lead to losing his job at the Canara Bank. What if we chased the idea for months and lost our livelihood? This thought made us drop the idea.
Mani Swami looked at us as we kept quiet, without saying our decision. "Don't be disappointed. We will look into it later," he said.
It was during a break during the conversation that I first saw Ponnamma chechi. The image of chechi treating us to snacks and tea remains fresh in my memory.
Sridevi, who later became a superstar in India, and her family were then staying on the ground floor of the same house. While leaving, I noticed a beautiful girl, aged 12 or 13, returning home from school on a bicycle. However, I did not identify her.
John identified the girl. "This is the child artiste who played Murugan in Neela's 'Kumarasambhavam'," he said. It was then common to make girls play the roles of boys. The girl I then saw had already acted in small roles in Tamil movies as well. I could not believe that Muruguan in "Kumarasambhavam" and the girl were the same person. John must be correct. He has a good memory, I thought.
Six months before John's death, he mentioned our meeting with Sridevi. "Do you remember seeing teenaged Sridevi when we went to meet Mani Swami," he asked over the phone. "Alas, that girl too had gone."I later met Sridevi while she was acting in IV Sasi's 'Alinganam' in Hyderabad. She had by then become a known actor. I wanted to confirm with her that I had seen her at her house earlier. However, I did not get time to ask her.
Let us come back to Ponnamma chechi. She acted in more than 700 movies in 60 years. She won the state award for the second-best actress four times. She spent her last days in the memories of her late husband in a gracious home on the banks of Aluva river.
