Ravi Vallathol, 67, who died in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday, may not have made it big as an actor in cinema, but he showed his skills in the few opportunities that came his way.
Only a few directors such as Adoor Gopalakrishnan exploited the true potential of Ravi. In Oru Pennum Randaanum , the actor gave one of his best performances (in the segment Pankiyamma ).
He appeared in about 50 films, but was more busy on television. He appeared in popular and well-made serials in the early days of Doordarshan such as Vaitharani , which was directed by P. Bhaskaran and scripted by his father and playwright T.N. Gopinathan Nair.
His father was not the only legend in Ravi's family, his granduncle was Vallathol Narayana Menon, one of the greatest poets in Malayalam. Not surprisingly, he dabbled in letters too, though without much success.
He had written the story of the 1986 film Revathikkoru Pavathikkutty , which is still remembered for the fine performance by Bharat Gopi. Ten years before that, he had penned a song ( Thazhvarayil manju peythu... ) for the film Madhuram Thirumadhuram.
But, it was as an actor in serials such as American Dreams , Vasundhara Medicals and Parijatham that he made a name for himself.
He was passionate about acting from a young age. Once Jagathy Sreekumar had told about the numerous stages he had shared with Ravi while they were studying at Mar Ivanios College, Thiruvananthapuram.
“Ravi was quite talented and was particularly good at playing female roles those days,” Jagathy had said. “He looked beautiful as a woman and played as my wife, lover, sister and mother in plays.”
Manoj K. Jayan, who had acted with him in films such as Oru Pennum Randaanum , said Ravi did not get his due as an actor in cinema.
“Ravi was a fine actor, but his personality was such that he did not go after opportunities. He had become a star on television when I started doing serials. Malayalam cinema should have used his talent better,” Manoj said.
