Acting defined by a unique sense of rhythm

January 29, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 05:44 am IST - THRISSUR:

The true measure of a comedian is how he elicits guffaws even before he utters a line. His very appearance should tickle your funny bone. Mala Aravindan was among the few comedians in Malayalam cinema who had this special skill.

Not an easy achievement. Because comedy is serious business. He did this by hard work, drawing upon his long experience on stage that saw him work for several troupes. He fashioned a new style with his trademark dialogue delivery marked by pitch switch and rising inflection. He complemented this by a goofball body language and impeccable sense of timing. Theoreticians, especially those of the Stanislavski system, maintain that an actor’s success stems from his understanding of tempo-rhythm, which defines the character’s pace and cadence, and has an effect on movement, emotions, motivations, and thought processes.. All these must have come easily for Mala because he was a percussionist. He claimed to have been the only tabla player among cine actors. Rhythm was in his blood. Other than acting, playing tabla was his life-long passion. A recording for a TV channel a year ago saw him play like a pro.

He could also sing well. He was heard singing snatches of the K. B. Sundarambal song, ‘Thanithirunthu Vazhum,’ amid his serio-comic routine in Kanmadam . He also sang for a Mohanlal film. He came from the stage, but consciously avoided being stagey on screen. The movies, Bhoothakannadi and Kanmadam saw his mature performances.

He filled in for an actor who did not turn up at a drama troupe where he worked as a musician. Drama led to cinema. He soon got top billing in major productions and became a household name. He rubbed shoulders with four generations of actors, from Nagesh, Satyan, Prem Nazir, and Soman to Mammotty, Mohanlal, Mukesh, and Jayaram, and from S.P. Pillai, Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair, and Kaduvakkulam Antony to Dileep, Jayasurya, and Aju Varghese. He hit it off with fellow actors, especially Jagathy Sreekumar and Kuthiravattom Pappu, with whom he constituted a triumvirate that let loose a laugh riot in Malayalam cinema of the 1970s and 80s. The bond among the trio was deep. After an accident tore Jagathy away from the arc-light, an emotional Mala said, “Nothing should happen to him. I want to leave the world before he does.”

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