Unnikrishnan Namboothiri, the fun grandpa of ‘Kalyanaraman,’ is no more

Malayalam actor Unnikrishnan Namboothiri, who has played many notable grandpa roles in M-Town films starting with the award winner movie ‘Desadanam,’ is no more. He was 98 years old and was under treatment at a private hospital in Kannur.
He is survived by his children Devi, Bhavadas, Yamuna and P V Kunhikrishnan, who is judge at the Kerala High Court. He is also the father-in-law of musician, composer and filmmaker Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri, and grandfather of composer Deepankuran.
For the past few days, reports were doing rounds on how the actor had recovered from Covid – 19. As per reports, a few weeks ago, he was hospitalised after suffering from pneumonia. Apparently, after recovering, he was discharged from the hospital but as he suffered from fever again in a few days, he was admitted again. And that’s when he tested positive for Covid – 19.
It is in the year 1996, through the Jayaraj film ‘Desadanam,’ that he debuted as a film actor. Some of his other major movies are ‘Kalyanaraman,’ ‘Chandramukhi,’ ‘Pammal K Sambandham,’ ‘Meghamalhar,’ ‘Kaliyattam,’ ‘Rappakal,’ ‘Loudspeaker,’ ‘Pokkiri Raja,’ ‘Mayamohini,’ ‘Kandukondain Kandukondain’ and the film ‘Mazhavillinattam Vare,’ which was co-written and directed by his son-in-law, musician and composer Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri. He has also handled comedy with ease in many movies, the most memorable of which is Kalyanaraman, in which he played the character of Dileep’s grandfather, named Thekkedathu Gopalakrishnan.
Recently, it was also in the headlines that for the first time ever, he couldn’t cast vote in the LSG polls due to the pandemic.