Kerala: Writer & actor Madampu Kunjukuttan no more

THRISSUR: Writer and actor Madampu Kunjukuttan passed away at a city hospital on Tuesday. Kunjukuttan, 81, was suffering from various ailments and had tested positive for Covid-19, when he was admitted to the hospital, two days before his death.
Madampu Sankaran Namboothiri, popularly known as Madampu Kunjukuttan, was born at Madampu Mana, a prominent Namboothiri family at Kiraloor in Thrissur on June 23 in 1941.Madampu had mastered Hashtyayurveda (traditional knowledge system related to the treatment of elephants) and Sanskrit. He had taught Sanskrit at Kodungallur, worked as a temple priest for some time and with the AIR later.
Madampu had made a mark as novelist, short story writer, playwright and even as the anchor of a popular TV show ‘E4 Elephant’. His literary works include Ashwathamavu, Brashtu, Mahaprasthanam, Endaro Mahanubhavulu, Pothu, Amrithasya Puthra, Aryavartham, Nishadam and Ente Thonnisangal.
He had won Kerala Sahithya Academy award for the novel Mahaprasthanam in 1983 as well the national award for the best scriptwriter for the film ‘Karunam’ directed by Jayaraj, in 2000. Madampu had won the Ashdod International Film Award for best screenplay for the film ‘Parinamam’. He was also the scriptwriter for several other popular films, including Desadanam, Gouri Sankaram, Makalkku, and Shalabham.
Madampu had acted in some box-office hits, including Desadanam, Aram Thampuran, Agnisakshi, Aanachandam, Pothan Vava, Vadakkunnathan, Agninakshathram, and Karunam. When the late K R Mohanan made the film ‘Ashwathamavu’ based on Madampu’s novel with the same name, Madampu played the lead role, which was a rare incident in the Indian film field where an author and scriptwriter played the lead role.
Interestingly, Madampu had won the wrath of some of the Brahmin community members when he penned his early works like Ashwathamavu and Brashtu as they challenged the orthodox sections in the community. He had even functioned as the secretary of the Yuva Kala Sahithi, the cultural wing of the CPI.
But Madampu later undertook a drastic reversal of his ideological stance and became the president of the Thapasya, the cultural wing associated with the Sangh Parivar. He contested as a BJP candidate in Kodungallur assembly seat in 2001. The chairman of Brahmaswam Madhom Vedic Research Centre, Vadakkumpad Narayanan, said Madampu in his later life had a feeling that the Communist parties were excessively pampering the minority communities and were neglecting the majority community. He had also then developed the attitude that Communism was an ‘imported ideology’ , Narayanan said.
However, Madampu had later said that he had committed two mistakes, one was the decision to contest as a BJP candidate and the other was to drop out of studies. Madampu leaves behind two daughters Haseena and Jaseena. His wife Savithri had died much earlier.
The last rites were performed at his home compound with full state honours by adhering to Covid protocol, after taking special permission from the health authorities.