Mani’s last Tamil film was Papanasam, ( Drishyam’s remake). Remember the animal grunts of Teja, the villain of Gemini. Jayaram had suggested Mani’s name for a cameo in his upcoming film, Aadupuliyattum, but by then Mani was ill.Īfter proving his calibre in Malayalam, Mani worked in Tamil and Telugu cinema too. “Since both of us were passionate about mimicry, it was great fun to be with him,” he adds. Jayaram worked with Mani on more than thirty films and calls him a versatile actor who could take on any role, be it a comedian, a character actor or a villain. Watching Mani perform on stage I understood his potential.” “Father Abel, spoke about Mani as a talent to watch soon in films. Mani was also a good singer and brought out several albums.Īctor Jayaram who was Mani’s senior at Kalabhavan (a performing arts centre in Kochi, Kerala) remembers meeting the late actor for the first time during the 25th anniversary celebrations of Kalabhavan. Joining Kalabhavan centre for performing arts in Kochi and doing stage shows, Mani entered the film industry with Aksharam. Mani found his true calling after winning the first prize at the State School Arts Festival held in 1982 in Kollam. In order to supplement the family income Mani did several kinds of jobs including carrying sack-loads while in school, climbing up coconut trees as a coconut picker to driving an autorickshaw. Until then he was wearing hand me downs that were passed on to his mother who worked in households. Vinayan remembers Mani telling him that he got his first set of new clothes only when he was in class eight. His poor family background did not deter him from dreaming big. While the Bharat Gopi Foundation award came much later, Mani won the national and state awards for VLPN.īorn in 1971, Mani grew up in Chalakudy. His talent matched the likes of Kodiyettam Gopi.” “Mani drew that effect into his expressions. “Have you noticed that when a visually challenged person speaks, there is a stress on their faces,” asks Vinayan. After a ten-minute shoot, Mani would rest his eyes for fifteen minutes. The eyes hurt and Mani suffered from watering eyes. “It is not easy squinting and contorting the eyes for that blind man’s look,” explains Vinayan. Mani played an impoverished, blind singer in VLPN. “ VLPN was an experiment on which I took a risk,” says the director of the historic film, Albuthadweep. The second hurdle came when an actress who had initially agreed to do the film returned the advance on being told that Mani would be playing the lead. After discussing the script, he enacted a few scenes for me.”īut others did not share Vinayan’s vision.įinding a producer was the first challenge. Vinayan who has an eye for spotting talent says, “Mani was only a second-level comedian then, but I had a strong conviction about Mani’s acting prowess. Until then, Mani, who had been in the industry for three years was mostly doing small roles. What made Malayalam film-maker Vinayan take a chance with late Kalabhavan Mani in the 1998 film, Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Nyanum (VLPN)?
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