Madhu (actor)

Personal life

He was born on 23 September 1933 at Gourishapattom, Trivandrum. His father, R. Parameswaran Pillai, was the Mayor of Trivandrum and his mother Kamalamma was a housewife. He has four sisters. He had his primary education from L.P School, Kunnukuzhi, Thiruvananthapuram. He did pre university degree from MG College and pursued Bachelors in Arts in Hindi from University college, Thiruvananthapuram. He studied and finished post graduation in Hindi from Banaras Hindu University (BHU).

He was married to Jayalakshmi till her death in 2014. They have a daughter Uma.

Career

He started his career as a Hindi lecturer in S T Hindu College, Nagercoil. During that time he chanced upon a newspaper advertisement inviting applications for the National School of Drama Course. While studying at NSD, he became acquainted with Ramu Karyat, who offered him a role in his forthcoming film Moodupadam. After completing the course, Madhu went to Chennai to screen test for Karyat's film. While there, in 1963, he was offered a role in N N Pisharody's film, Ninamaninja Kalpadukal and this became his debut.

He had expressed all facets of life through his various acting roles. Perhaps his most notable role was in Karyat's Chemmeen, which won the President's Gold Medal. Madhu entered Malayalam cinema at a time when lead roles were dominated by actors like Prem Naseer and Sathyan and created a niche for himself. One of the early films of his career was Bhargavi Nilayam, a suspense movie, followed by Udhyogastha by P. Venu. One of the most common leading co-stars that Madhu worked with, particularly after 1975 was the multi-talented actress Srividya.

He later worked as a producer, director and storywriter. In an acting career spanning four decades, Madhu acted in over 300 films. His first movie as a director is Priya released in 1970, in which he played the role of villain.

Although he was a big star in commercial film, he was generous enough to act in parallel movies. He acted in Adoor Gopalakrishnan's Swayamvaram, P. N. Menon's Olavum Theeravum etc.

Madhu's directorial debut, "Priya," established new trends in the Malayalam film industry by introducing the concept of the protagonist as an anti-hero. Following this, Madhu went on to direct approximately 14 films. He was also the proprietor of the once-famous Uma studio. In 1995, Madhu produced the film "Mini," which was honored with a National Award.

Madhu also acted in the Hindi film Saat Hindustani, which was the debut movie of the Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan in 1969.

Madhu has also done three Tamil films, as Rajinikanth's father in Dharma Dorai and the 2007 release Oru Ponnu Oru Paiyan.He appeeared in Bharatha Vilas as guest appearence

Awards and accolades

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