Madampu Sankaran Namboothiri (23 June 1941 − 11 May 2021), popularly known as Madampu Kunjukuttan, was a

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

actor, author and

screenplay writer A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

Background and personal life

Kunjukuttan was born in Kiralur village of Thrissur District on 23 June 1941. He studied Sanskrit, Hasthyaayurvedam (treatment of elephants), worked as teacher for Sanskrit at

Kodungalloor Kodungallur (; also Cranganore, Portuguese: Cranganor; formerly known as Mahodayapuram, Shingly, Vanchi, Muchiri, Muyirikkode, and Muziris) is a historically significant town situated on the banks of river Periyar on the Malabar Coast in Th ...

and was also a priest in a nearby temple. Madampu also worked for Ākāsha Vāṇī (

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

). He was married to Savithri Antharjanam and had two daughters, Jaseena Madampu and Haseena Madampu.

Career

His noted works includes Aswathamavu, Mahaprasthanam, Avighnamasthu, Bhrashtu, Entharo Mahanubhavulu, Nishadam, Pathalam, Aryavarthanam, Amrithasya Puthrah and Thonnyasam. He also wrote screenplays for the movies 'Makalkku', 'Gourisankaram', 'Saphalam', 'Karunam' and 'Deshadanam'. Kunjukuttan's novel ''Mahaprasthanam'' won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Best Novel in 1983. He won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay in the year 2000 for the Malayalam film ''Karunam'', directed by

Jayaraj Jayarajan Rajasekharan Nair, professionally credited as Jayaraj, is an Indian filmmaker, who predominantly works in Malayalam film industry. He has won many awards, including Crystal Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Golden ...

. He contested in the Assembly election in 2001 from Kodungallur on a BJP ticket, but did not win. In 2003, he won the Ashdod International Film Award for Best Screenplay for the film '' Parinamam (The Change)'' directed by P.Venu. He received

Sanjayan Mannikoth Ramunni Nair (1903–1943), better known by his pseudonym, Sanjayan, was a Malayalam writer, journalist and one of the pioneers of satirical writing in Malayalam literature. Along with E. V. Krishna Pillai, another of the notable Malay ...

Award in 2014. He was famous for being the host of TV show ''E4 Elephant'' along wit
Sreekumar Arookutty
ref> on

Kairali TV Kairali TV is an Indian Malayalam-language general entertainment television channel owned by Kairali TV Network (Malayalam Communications Limited). It is headquartered at Thiruvananthapuram. It was launched on 17 August 2000. The channel is ...

. He died on 11 May 2021, at a hospital in

Thrissur Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and t ...

, succumbing to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

related complications.

Filmography

* '' Shyamaragam'' (2020) * ''Utyopyile Rajavu'' (2015) * ''Chirakodinja Kinavukal'' (2015) * '' Aattakatha'' (2013) * '' Orma Mathram'' (2011) * '' Adayalangal'' (2008) * '' Veeralipattu'' (2007) * ''

Aanachandam ''Aanachandam'' is a 2006 Indian Malayalam language film directed by Jayaraj and starring Jayaram, Remya Nambeesan, Sai Kumar, Innocent, Cochin Haneefa, Salim Kumar anf Jagathy Sreekumar. It was released in 2006. This film was a commercial suc ...

'' (2006) * '' Vadakkumnadhan'' (2006) * ''

Rasikan Rasikan (English: ''Admirer'') is a 2004 Malayalam film directed by Lal Jose and written by Murali Gopy starring Dileep in the lead role with Murali Gopy, Biju Menon, Samvrutha Sunil, Sishwa, Siddharth, Sukumari, Kalabhavan Abi, Aniyappan ...

'' (2004) * '' Agninakshatram'' (2004) * '' Parinamam'' (The Change) (2003) * ''Maargam'' (2003) * ''Kattu Vannu Vilichappol'' (2001) * ''

Karunam ''Karunam'' is a 2000 Indian Malayalam film, directed and produced by Jayaraj. The film stars Biju Menon, Eliyamma, Madambu Kunjukuttan and Vavachan in lead roles. The film had musical score by Sunny Stephen. The film is the second installment ...

'' (2000) * ''

Shantham ''Shantham'' ( en, Calmness, italic=yes) is a Malayalam feature film directed by Jayaraj. It stars I M Vijayan, a leading Indian football player of modern times, M G Shashi, Seema Biswas and K P A C Lalitha. The renowned Kathakali artiste Kal ...

'' (2000) * '' Agnisakshi'' (1999) * ''Purushardham'' (1986) * ''

Aaraam Thampuran ''Aaraam Thampuran'' () is a 1997 Indian Malayalam-language action drama film directed by Shaji Kailas, written by Ranjith and produced by Revathy Kalamandhir. It stars Mohanlal in the title role with Narendra Prasad, Manju Warrier, Sai Kumar, ...

'' (1997) * ''

Ashwathama In the Hindu epic the ''Mahabharata'', Ashwatthama ( sa, अश्वत्थामा, Aśvatthāmā) or Drauni was the son of guru Drona and Kripi (sister of Kripacharya). He was the grandson of the sage Bharadwaja. Ashwatthama ruled ...

'' (1978)

Television

* ''E4 Elephant''

References

External links

Madambu Kunjikkuttan at MSI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunjukuttan, Madampu 1941 births 2021 deaths People from Thrissur district Male actors from Kerala Male actors in Malayalam cinema Indian male film actors Malayalam-language writers Malayalam novelists Malayalam short story writers Recipients of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award 20th-century Indian male actors 21st-century Indian male actors 20th-century Indian short story writers 21st-century Indian short story writers Indian male short story writers Indian male novelists Indian male screenwriters 20th-century Indian novelists 21st-century Indian novelists Malayalam screenwriters Novelists from Kerala 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Screenwriters from Kerala 20th-century Indian male writers 21st-century Indian male writers Best Original Screenplay National Film Award winners Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in India