He welcomed me with a warm smile: Kaloor Dennis remembers Ravikumar’s rise

Prem Nazir once held the distinction of appearing in the highest number of love songs in Malayalam cinema. But as the decades passed, the torch of romantic stardom was carried forward by actors like Ravikumar and Vincent, heartthrobs of their era and firm favourites among college-going girls across Kerala.

Scriptwriter Kaloor Dennis recalls that Ravikumar’s emergence as a romantic icon was closely tied to his collaborations with director I.V. Sasi. “It was through 'Aasheervaadam' and 'Angeekaaram', both directed by Sasi, that Ravi began to gain recognition as a star,” Dennis says. “Their friendship ran deep, and in many ways, Ravi could be seen as a ‘product’ of I.V. Sasi’s vision — an actor shaped and supported by a filmmaker who truly believed in him.”

Ravikumar’s roots in cinema, Dennis explains, ran deep. “His father, K.M.K. Menon, had stepped into film production even before stalwarts like Kunchacko of Udaya Studios and P. Subrahmaniam of Merryland Studios came into the picture. His mother, Bharathi Menon, also tried her hand at production and backed 'Divyadarshanam', a 1970s film featuring Madhu and Jayabharathi.”

Dennis recalls first meeting Ravikumar in 1977, before the actor’s breakthrough performance in 'Avalude Ravukal'. “I had travelled to Hyderabad to finalise a few actors and to narrate the screenplay of 'Ee Manohara Theeram'. During that visit, I dropped by the sets of 'Angeekaaram', where a scene with Ravi Kumar and Sridevi was about to be filmed.”

At the time, Dennis was also the editor of Chithrapournami. “When I.V. Sasi introduced me to Ravikumar, he welcomed me with a warm smile and a firm handshake,” he says.

The scene being filmed was set in a registrar’s office — Ravikumar and Sridevi’s characters had eloped and were registering their marriage. The director needed two people to appear as witnesses. “The associate director had arranged for two Tamil locals to play the parts, which didn’t go down well with Sasi,” Dennis remembers. “He snapped, ‘You’ve brought two Tamilians to act as witnesses in a marriage that’s supposed to be happening in Kerala?’”

With no convincing reply from the associate, Sasi turned to Dennis and said, “You and Mathew, who’s with you — please be the witnesses!” And just like that, Kaloor Dennis found himself facing the camera for the first time.

Despite the camaraderie, Ravikumar acted in only two films scripted by Dennis. “Years later, I called him after a long break. He told me that he had recently acted in two Malayalam films — 'CBI Diarykurippu 5' and 'Aarattu', directed by B. Unnikrishnan. In 'Aarattu', he played Mohanlal’s character’s father,” Dennis says. “Perhaps he had hoped it would mark a second innings in cinema.”