Adoor Pankajam (1929 – 26 June 2010) was an Indian actress, in Malayalam movies. She hailed from

Adoor Adoor (sometimes spelled ''Adur'') is a Municipality in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala State, India. It is the headquarters of Adoor Taluk and Adoor Revenue Division. Etymology Adoor (Ad-oor) in Malayalam translates as "Ad" means "separ ...

Pathanamthitta Pathanamthitta (), is a municipality situated in the Central Travancore region in the state of Kerala, India, spread over an area of 23.50 km2. It is the administrative capital of Pathanamthitta district. The town has a population of 37 ...

district of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

state. Mainly, she was a supporting actress and a

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

. Her sister

Adoor Bhavani Adoor Bhavani (1927 – 25 October 2009) was an Indian actress in Malayalam cinema, best known for her appearance in the National Award-winning film '' Chemmeen'' (1965), directed by Ramu Kariat. She had acted in about 450 films, including ''M ...

was also a Malayalam cinema actress. Pankajam's most noted performance was in the

national award The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorate ...

winning film ''

Chemmeen ''Chemmeen'' () is a 1965 Indian Malayalam-language romance film, based on the novel of the same name by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai. It was adapted into a screenplay by S. L. Puram Sadanandan, directed by Ramu Kariat, and produced by Babu Is ...

'' as "Nalla Pennu". She also did a pivotal role in India's first neo-realistic film '' Newspaper Boy'' (1955). In 2008, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy honoured Pankajam and

Bhavani Bhavānī (also known as Bhāvya, Tulajā, Turajā, Tvarita, Aṃbā, Jagadambā and Aṃbē) is manifestation of Adi Shakti (Durga). Bhavani translates to "giver of life", meaning the power of nature or the source of creative energy. She is co ...

for their overall contributions to theatre and drama.Adoor Bhavani, Pankajam to be honoured
/ref> She died at the age of 81 on 26 June 2010.

Personal life

Adoor Pankajam was born to Adoor Paarappurathu Kunjuraman Pillai and Kunjoonjamma in 1925 and was the second child of 8 children. Her sister

also became famous later through plays and movies. She could only study till 4th standard due to financial difficulties. But still she continued her music studies under

Pandalam Pandalam is a municipal town in Pathanamthitta district Kerala, India. Pandalam is considered a holy town due to its connection with Lord Ayyappa and Sabarimala. Rightly recognised to be the ''educational and cultural capital of Central Trava ...

Krishnapillai Bhagavathar till the age of 11. By this time, she had done musical kacheri in most of the temples around her village. At 12, she started acting in Kannur Kerala Kalanilayam troupe against the will of her parents. She acted in their play ''Madhumadhurayam'' on over 300 stages. Her next play was ''Rakthabhandham'' by a theater in Chengannoor. In this play, she did a comic role which was widely accepted. She met Devarajan Potti, the owner of Kollam Bharatha Kalachandrika while she was working with this troupe and later married him. Potti later started another troupe called Parthasarathy Theaters and during her tenure with this troupe, she got an invitation to act in movies. She has a son named Ajayan, who is a cinema/TV serial actor.

Career

She started her acting career with the stage play ''Madhu Madhuryam'' by Kalanilayam Theaters. Her first movie was ''Premalekhanam'', produced by Pappa Soman. But her first movie which got released was ''Vishappinte Vila'', directed by Boban Kunchacko. Her last movie was the

Dileep Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan Pillai, better known by his stage name Dileep, is an Indian actor, producer, and businessman who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry. He has acted in more than 150 films and has won several awards, inc ...

-starrer '' Kunjikoonan''. She has acted in over 400 films during her career. In 1976, she and her sister

started a Theater troupe called Adoor Jaya Theaters. But later the sisters got split up and Bhavani left the Theater. Pankajam went on with the theater with her husband Devarajan Potti and she kept the Theater active for over 18 years. In 2008, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy honoured Pankajam and

for their overall contributions to theatre and drama. She has also received the

Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actress The Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actress was an award presented annually from 1969 to 2014 at the Kerala State Film Awards of India. The Kerala State Film Awards is managed by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, an autonomous non-pr ...

for her performance in the movie ''Sabarimala Ayyappan''.

Filmography

Dramas

*Parithranayam *Pamsula *Homam *Rangapooja *Paashupathrasthram *Madhumadhurayam *Rakthabhandham *Kalyanachitti

TV Serial

* Parinamam

References

External links

*
Celebrating 40 years of a movie classic

AMMA to give monthly aid to 18 film stars

Adoor Pankajam at MSI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pankajam, Adoor 1925 births 2010 deaths Indian film actresses Actresses from Kerala Actresses in Malayalam cinema Actresses in Malayalam television People from Pathanamthitta district 20th-century Indian actresses Malayalam comedians Indian women comedians 21st-century Indian actresses Actresses in Tamil cinema