Malayalam theatre and film actor KTC Abdulla passed away on Saturday, at the PVS Hospital in Kozhikode. He was 82 years old. He will be laid to rest at the Mathottam mosque in Kozhikode on Sunday afternoon.
Abdulla played quite a few memorable roles, as the kind old Gulf Malayali in Lal Jose’s Arabikkatha, as the touching old character who plays Soubin’s stepfather in Sudani from Nigeria, and many more. He came to Malayalam cinema through Ramu Kariyat’s Dweep in 1977, Mathrubhumi reports. Abdulla has acted in more than 30 films since then including Gaddama, Oru Indian Pranayakadha, Om Shanthi Oshana and so on.
Tributes poured in from everywhere, including Nigeria, from where Samuel Robinson who played the title character in Sudani from Nigeria, wrote ‘Rest in peace #Greatactor #Greatperson #Sosad’.
Lal Jose wrote, “KTC Abdullakka has gone, RIP.” Zakariya Mohammed, director of Sudani from Nigeria, wrote in Mathrubhumi about Abdulla who did the first ‘clap’ for Sudani, which was also the first film he directed. When the movie became a success, Abdulla told him he was worried if a movie that he did the first clap for might become a failure.
Abdulla was acting in the film Mohabbathin Kunjabdulla directed by Shanu Samad when he passed away. He was playing the central character in it. “Mohabbathin Kunjabdulla yathrayayi…. Ellaam baaki vechitu,” Shanu Samad wrote. "Mohabbathin Kunjabdulla is gone… leaving everything behind." Zakariya too wrote of Abdulla mentioning the film excitedly. He had already been unwell but was still full of excitement about the film, Zakariya wrote.
Abdulla was born to Unnimoyin and Bipathu in 1936. He joined work at Kerala Transport Corporatoon in 1959 and since then have been known as KTC Abdulla. He began acting in theatre before coming to cinema. He was also an A Grade artiste with Akashvani.