They were Sivan and Parimalam in Malayalam cinema’s 2002 blockbuster hit ‘Nammal’. As actor Jishnu Raghavan who played the much lovable Sivan bid adieu after battling cancer for more than two years, Bhavana (Parimalam) was too stunned to react.
“I don’t know what to say,” she kept repeating to the media. The only thing she wanted to remember her dear friend was for his optimism. “He said he will make a comeback in a powerful role. Whenever I used to ask about his health, I was told that he is okay, he will recover. I don’t know what else to say...” Bhavana said.
Almost everyone from the Malayalam movie industry called Jishnu an affable, humble and positive person.
"I have not seen such a positive person like Jishnu. He was dedicated to his profession. He positively accepted his illness. I am also worried about his father Raghavan and how the family will take in this tragedy," K Madhu director.
"He had many ambitions; he wanted to do many more things. He was positive about life; he always talked about life and positive thoughts. Even in his first film Jishnu was confident in front of camera. He was an optimistic young man," Kamal actor, whose film Nammal was Jishnu's first movie.
Actor Jagadeesh called Jishnu’s humility rare in cinema. “He was always humble and polite in spite of being the son of such a big star. It is rarely that we see actors who are so down to earth. I know that he used to tell his close friend Bhavna that he would make a comeback to Malayalam cinema in a powerful role. He used to even tell actor Innocent (who also battled cancer) not to worry and that cancer can be defeated.”
"He was very weak in his last days, but he consoled me and told me to be brave. He wanted to do many more things in Malayalam cinema. He was a positive person," said actor and MP Innocent.
"He was an amazing actor. Since he was very positive and kept himself happy we did not know that his condition was severe. His demise is really painful," actor Harisree Ashokan