Aranmula Ponnamma (April 8, 1914 — February 21, 2011) was a Malayalam cinema actress whose roles as mother and protagonist was acclaimed over a career that spanned over five decades. She was born as one of five children of Malethu Kesava Pillai Parukutty Amma and Aranrula Pathanamthitta in Travancore.
Ponnamma’s personal life and death
Aaranmula Ponnamma was widely known as “Amma” or “Mother in Malayalam cinema” in the Malayalam movie Industry. The 96-year-old actress, who was hospitalized for more than a week after a bone fracture, died in a private hospital. Her body was cremated at Shanthi Kavadam. Aranmula Ponnamma lived a quite difficult life, she lost her husband quite soon and she survived her both children Rjashekaran and Rajamma’s death. Her grand daughter is Radhika is married to Suresh Gopi, Malayalam cinema actor, producer, singer and politician.
Aranmula Ponnamma – Career
Ponnamma began her career as Carnatic music vocalist at the age of 12 years. She began singing at gatherings organized by the Hindu Mahamandal on the banks of Pampa river.
She also made her stage debut at a time when female roles were played predominantly by male artists. During the black and white era of Malayalam cinema, films were released in which she had prominent roles. She joined the first group of students of the Swati Tirunal Music Academy. After completing her training, she was appointed a music teacher at Cotton Hill Girls High School in Thiruvananthapuram.
In 2005, Aranmula Ponnamma was awarded the J. C. Daniel Award by the Kerala government, the highest distinction for contributions to Malayalam cinema. Ponnamma’s acting debut happened when she turned 29, in a play titled Bhagyalakshmi alongside Augustine Joseph, father of renowned singer K.J. Yesudas. She went on to act in some of the more popular plays, before debuting in movies.
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Her debut role was that of the mother of the character played by Miss Kumari, a prominent actress at the time in Sasidharan (1950). The same year at the age of 29 she did another mothering role in Amma, starring Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair. She soon became popular into mother roles.
She herself once said “I played a negative role in Paadunna Puzha and that of a wayward woman in Yachakan. But after that, I was always chosen as the mother.” In her six-decade old career, she acted as the mother or grandmother of first-generation actors like Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair, second-generation actors like Prem Nazir and Sathyan, and third-generation actors like Mohanlal and Suresh Gopi. Aranmula Ponnamma once revealed that her role model was her mother, who had to care for a family of five children after her father’s untimely death. Her last film was “Gourisankaram” in 2003 when she was already 90 years old.
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