P Balachandran, playwright & noted actor, passes away

Kochi: P Balachandran, actor, playwright, scriptwriter and director, passed away at the age of 69 on Monday morning. Balachandran, who had been ailing for the past few months, breathed his last at his residence in Vaikom. His demise puts an end to a career that spanned over more than four decades in Malayalam theatre and film industry.
Before becoming popular as an actor, Balachandran was known for his contributions to Malayalam theatre.He had won Kerala Sahitya Akademi Best Playwright Award for ‘Paavam Usmaan’ and Kerala Professional Drama Award for ‘Prathiroopangal’ in 1989.
Born in Sasthamkotta in Kollam in 1952 as the son of Padmanabha Pillai and Saraswati Bhai, Balachandran began his literary career during his school education and wrote his first play while studying at DB College, Sasthamkotta.
He began exploring opportunities in theatre during his studies at the School of Drama, Thrissur, and later under the guidance of renowned playwright G Sankara Pillai.
‘Makudi’, ‘Mayaseethankam’, ‘Kalyanasowgandhikam’, ‘Maaramarayattam’ are some of his noted plays. He has directed the plays ‘Ekaki’, ‘Lago’, ‘Theatre Therapy’, ‘Oru Madhyavenal Pranayaravu’ etc.
Balachandran was a faculty at the School of Letters, Mahatma Gandhi University. He had also worked as a teacher at the School of Drama briefly.
He forayed into cinema by writing the script for Mohanlal-starrer ‘Uncle Bun’ in 1991. His skills as a screenwriter became popular with the 1994 film ‘Ulladakkam’.
The movie ‘Punaradhivasam’, he wrote in 2000, received several awards. His other noted scripts include ‘Pavithram’, ‘Thacholi Varghese Chekavar’, ‘Kammattipadam’, ‘Edakkad Batallion 06’.
In 2012, he directed ‘Ivan Megharoopan’, based on the life of poet P Kunhiraman Nair.
Balachandran, who acted in more than 40 films, was noted for his character Kora in ‘Trivandrum Lodge’ (2012), written by Anoop Menon and directed by V K Prakash.
Other films in which he acted include ‘Sakhavu’, ‘Kammattipadam’, ‘Hotel California’, ‘Beautiful’, ‘Immanuel’, ‘Nadan’, ‘Charlie’, ‘Athiran’ etc. He last appeared on screen in the Mammootty-starrer political-thriller ‘One’.
He leaves behind his wife Sreelatha and children Sreekanth Chandran and Parvathy Chandran.
The cremation was held within the premises of his house on Monday evening in the presence of several people from Malayalam theatre and film industry.