Popular Comedians in Malayalam Films

Malayalam cinema has been showing a steady progress ever since the release of the first film ‘Vigathakumaran’ in the year 1928.  The Malayalam movies stood out for their quality and high standard movies were made by great directors who brought out movies that were appreciated by the Malayalam audience. But today we realize that there is a genuine shortage for good quality movies and sometimes genuinely good movies made by debut directors struggle to get theatrical release. Malayalam movies which had reached out to the expectations of the intelligent Malayalam audience, now lacked in quality. But whatever said and done, comedy was and is always a prominent part of Malayalam cinema. Now let’s take a look at some popular comedians in Malayalam cinema.

S.P.Pilla (Born 1913 – Died 1985) known for his comic roles in many old Malayalam films started his career as a supporting stage actor. Though his first film was released in 1940, it was only after the release of Nalla Thanka in 1951, that he rose to fame as a comedian.

Bahadoor (Born 1930 – Died 2000).This name was his stage name while his original name was Kunjalu Kochumoideen Padiyath. Struggling for his living during his younger years, he was given a chance to act in a film ‘Avakasi’ in 1954, but it was the film Padatha Painkili, released in 1957, that marked his presence in Malayalam fils, and he along with Adoor Basi, became very popular pair of comedians.

Adoor Bhasi ( Born 1927 – Died 1990) whose original name was K.Bhaskaran Nair, began his acting career as an amateur stage artist and his first movie was ‘Thiramala’ released in 1953, and became notable after the film ‘Mudiyanaya Puthiran’. Acting in over 800 films, he was a great comedian from the 50’s to the 80’s.

Kuthiravattum Pappu, (Born 1936 – Died 2000)  popularly known as ‘Pappu” has acted in over 1000 Malayalam movies He was a stage actor since the age of 17. With getting the best comedian on stage, his first Malayalam movie was ‘Moodupadam’ but his noted role was in the movie ‘Bhargavi Nilayam’, from which character, he earned the name Kuthiravattum Pappu, and he became one of the beat comedian in Malayalam films.

Kuthiravattum Pappu

Mala Aravindan started his career as a Tabala artist and started his career in films with the movie ‘Sindhooram released in 1968.

Innocent (Born 1948) entered film industry with the movie Nrityashala in the year 1972 and has played a number of comedy roles in Malayalam films. His witty mannerism and dialogue delivery in Thrissur accent made him a leading comedian in Malayalam cinema.

Jagathy Sreekumar (Born 1951) started his career with the theatre from class V, and his first film was ‘Chattambi kalyani’ in 1975. He has acted more than 1,100 and is the leading, and the most popular comedian in Malayalam films. Kerala audience has accepted him as the best comedian in Malayalam cinema.

Jagathy-Sreekumar
Salim Kumar (Born 1968) is an actor who can handle comedy roles with ease and is one of the popular comedians in Malayalam films this generation. He started his career as a mimicry actor and is also associated with professional drama. His entry to Malayalam films was in 1997, with the movie ‘Ishtamaanu Nooru Vattam.

Mamukkoya (Born 1946) started his career as a theatre actor and entered film industry with the movie ‘Anyarude Bhoomi’ in 1979. His Mappila dialect and style of acting created a niche for himself as a popular comedian actor in Malayalam films. He is also the first winner to get the State Award for best comedian in Malayalam cinema.

Harisree Ashokan (Born 1964) started his career as a amateur theatre actor and has done a number of comedy roles as the hero’s sidekick since his first movie ‘Ramji Rao Speaking’ in the year 1989.

Suraj Venjaramood (Born 1974) started his career as a mimicry artist with very successful mimicry shows. Today he is the leading comedian in Malayalam films and is very popular for his effective mockery of Thiruvanthapuram accent. He entered films in the year 2002 with ‘Jagapoga’ in which he did a double role and has acted in 103 movies till today and in the year 2007 and 2010 he won the awards for the Best Actor in A Comic Role.