V. T. Aravindaksha Menon

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V. T. Aravindaksha Menon
Born(1921-07-22)22 July 1921
Kodungallur, British Raj
Died3 May 1994(1994-05-03) (aged 72)
NationalityIndian
OccupationActor
Known forIntroducing realistic acting in the professional theatre of Kerala
SpouseL. Sarasamma
Children1
Parents
  • Kochurama Warrier (father)
  • Parukutty Amma (mother)
Awards

V. T. Aravindaksha Menon was an Indian actor from Kerala. Apart from performing lead roles in several plays, he has acted in 17 Malayalam films and sung two Malayalam film songs. He received the National Drama Award for acing in 1965, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for theatre from Sangeet Natak Akademi, Government of India, in 1965 and the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Fellowship for drama from Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi, Government of Kerala, in 1993.

Contents

Biography

Aravindaksha Menon was born on 22 July 1921, to Kochurama Warrier and Parukutty Amma at the Thaiparambu house in Vadassery, Kodungallur in present-day Thrissur district of Kerala. [1] He belongs to the lineage of the Kodungallur (Cranganore) royal family, from which many people in the field of art and literature were born. [2] He participated in many musical and drama competitions during his school days and won. After completing his high school education, he studied classical music and conducted concerts. [1]

Menon died on 3 May 1994. [3]

Personal life

Menon was married to L. Sarasamma, and they have one son A. S. Jayasankar. [3]

Career

Theatre

Aravindaksha Menon was associated with the professional theatre stage from 1951. He first acted in the play Banker written by Kedamangalam Pappukutty in 1951. [4]

Aravindaksha Menon joined Kalanilayam, one of the famous theatre companies in Kerala at that time, in 1951. His lead roles in the plays produced under Kalanilayam were the role of Kadamattathu Kathanar in the play Kadamattathu Kathanar, and the lead roles in the plays Ilayidathu Rani and Devadasi. [5] He also played the character Duryodhana in the play Kurukshetram based on Kurukshetra War, and the title character of Pazhassi Raja in the play Pazhassiraja by Kozhikode Raja Theatres. [3] These performances of his marked the beginning of realistic acting in the professional theatre of Kerala. [5]

In 1964, Kalanilayam introduced the story of the thief Kayamkulam Kochunni from Aithihyamala in a play with the same name and with the caption "Kerala's First Socialist Revolutionary". [6] In it, the title character Kochunni was played by Aravindaksha Menon. He received the National Drama Award for Best Actor in 1965 for this role. [6]

In his career, Menon performed in various parts of India as a member of professional theatre groups including 'Ochira Parabrahmodayam Sangeetha Natana Sabha', 'Kalanilayam' and 'Kozhikode Raja Theatres'. [4]

Cinema

The 1950 film Stree directed by R. Velappan Nair, the 1967 film Indulekha directed by Kalanilayam Krishnan Nair, the 1970 film Sabarimala Sree Dharmashastha directed by M. Krishnan Nair, the 1973 films Raging directed by N. N. Pisharody, and Veendum Prabhatham directed by P. Bhaskaran, the 1981 films Sreeman Sreemathi, Poocha Sanyasi and Valarthumrigangal directed by T. Hariharan, Chatta directed by Bharathan, and Kattukallan directed by P. Chandrakumar, the 1982 films Varikuzhi directed by M. T. Vasudevan Nair, Oru Mottu Virinjapol directed by G. P. Balan, Balloon directed by Ravi Guptan, the 1983 films Thavalam directed by Thampi Kannanthanam, and Varanmare Avashyamund directed by T. Hariharan, the 1986 film Kochuthemmadi directed by A. Vincent, and the 1991 Sibi Malayil film Santhwanam are the Malayalam films in which Aravindaksha Menon acted. [7]

Singing

The film songs sung by Aravindaksha Menon are the two songs from the 1970 film Sabarimala Sree Dharmashastha , starting with "Ellam Ellam", written by P. Bhaskaran and composed by V. Dakshinamoorthy, and starting with "Tripura Sundari Natanam", written by Sreekumaran Thampi and composed by V. Dakshinamoorthy. [7]

Awards and honors

For the title character he played in the play Kayamkulam Kochunni, Aravindaksha Menon received the National Drama Award for Best Actor in 1965. [6] In the same year he received Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for theatre from Sangeet Natak Akademi, Government of India. [2] He received the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Fellowship for drama in 1993. [8]

References

  1. 1 2 Paricayam (in Malayalam). 1967. p. 8.
  2. 1 2 Fellows and Award-winners of Sangeet Natak Akademi 1952-2010: Citations and Composite Data. Sangeet Natak Akademi. 2011. p. 68.
  3. 1 2 3 Krishnakumar, G. (5 January 2018). "In pursuit of 'missing token'". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  4. 1 2 Bhāsi, Maṭavūr (1990). മലയാള നാടകസർവ്വസ്വം (in Malayalam). Caitanyā Pabḷikkēṣans. p. 24. A Malayalam language encyclopaedia on theatre
  5. 1 2 Lal, Ananda (2004), "Menon, V. T. Aravindaksha", The Oxford Companion to Indian Theatre, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780195644463.001.0001/acref-9780195644463-e-0354, ISBN   978-0-19-564446-3 , retrieved 12 July 2025
  6. 1 2 3 "ആരായിരുന്നു ഇത്തിക്കരപക്കി? കായംകുളം കൊച്ചുണ്ണി സിനിമയുടെ പശ്ചാത്തലത്തില്‍ ഒരന്വേഷണം". www.mediaoneonline.com (in Malayalam). 16 October 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  7. 1 2 "വി ടി അരവിന്ദാക്ഷമേനോൻ". M3DB. Archived from the original on 4 November 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
  8. ↑ "Wayback Machine" (PDF). keralasangeethanatakaakademi.in. Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
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