Kalpana, who died of suspected cardiac arrest in Hyderabad on Monday at the age of 50, was one of the finest comediennes ever in Malayalam cinema. Among her contemporaries, she had no peer.
It, however, would be wrong to label her just as a comedienne. Of late, she had evolved into one of the finest character artists of her time. The proof of that was also there in her very last release Charlie , which is still running in cinemas.
As a sex worker infected with HIV, she was there for a few minutes in the movie, but she could make an impact, effortlessly.
Like she did in just about every role she enacted.
In Charlie , her character, Mary, dies in tragic circumstances.
While watching the scene, little would one have imagined that the actress’s life too would end prematurely.
Comic roles
That life may have been short, but it was a remarkable one, as she endeared herself to the Malayali film-viewer with her several comic roles over the past three decades. She was a natural in front of the camera.
She had impeccable timing, which made the difference in the comic roles she did.
She was quite brilliant in dialogue delivery. And there was also that smile, which could be innocent, mischievous or foolish, as the situation demanded.
In films such as Peruvannavapurathe Visheshangal , Gandharvam , Mr. Brahmachari , Dr. Pasupathi , Punnaram and Kudumba Kodathi , she proved she was second to none when it came to doing comedy.
She was particularly brilliant as the Telugu-speaking woman in Kudumba Kodathi .
In films such as Thanichalla Njan , in which she won the National Award for the best supporting actress, Spirit and Kerala Cafe , she had done great work in character roles. Till she won the National award, for portraying real-life character of a middle-aged Muslim woman, no recognition had come her way (she acted in about 300 films).
And that had bothered her. Kalpana had once told this writer in an interview: “Not even the myriad channel awards never found my acting worthy.”
But, the moviegoer always did.
At Tripunithura
The body of actor Kalpana will be kept at Layam Koothambalam Hall, Tripunithura, on Tuesday from 2 p.m. for the public to pay their last respects, R. Chandrika Devi, municipal chairperson, said in a statement here.
The body will be taken to the actor’s apartment at Tripunithura Thekkumbagam after two hours.
After the rituals at her residence, it will be taken to the municipal cemetery around 7 p.m.
