Kalabhavan Mani could sing, dance and act with his entire body. He was a rupture in Malayalam cinema. He was the anti-thesis of everything the “star” in Malayalam cinema had come to represent. A Dalit, a rarity among Malayalam actors, Mani would influence filmmakers to recognise his talent and get scripts written for him. In a cinema that continues to be on the lookout for chocolate heroes, he was the difference; an uninhibited actor who spoke to audiences across barriers. The loss of Kalabhavan Mani did not mean just the end of a charismatic era of his career in cinema. It also meant the world has is short of one good human being. Mani was an epitome of simplicity and worked his way to the hall of fame with sheer grit and hard work, despite being talented and a persona in many spheres of cinema. The numerous people he has helped was not measurable and his simplicity despite being a star was noteworthy. Challakudy lost one of its treasured sons. RIP Kalabhavan Mani.
S. Abhishek Ramaswamy
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
