Malayalam actor KTS Padannayil passes away at 88

Malayalam actor KT Subramanian Padannayil, popularly known as KTS Padannayil, passed away on July 22, Thursday morning at the Indira Gandhi Cooperative Hospital in Ernakulam. He was 88. Padannayil was admitted to the hospital on July 19. "He was admitted to the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and passed away at 6 am on Thursday," Sijo, Public Relations Officer of the hospital, told TNM.

Padannayil began his career as a theatre artist. His entry into acting was with the play Vivaha Dallal in 1956. He had a career in theatre spanning over 50 years with leading theatre groups like Vaikom Malavika, Changanassery Geetha, Kollam Tuna, Attingal Padmashree, and Edakochi Sargachethana, Mathrubhumi reported. Padannayil, who saw a rather late entry into movies, rose to fame with his role as a comedian in movies directed by Rajasenan. He became active in films in the 90's.

Padannayil's role as a grandfather in the movie Sreekrishnapurathe Nakshathra Thilakkam, where he starred with other lead characters like Jagathy Sreekumar, late Cochin Haneefa and Innocent, was much appreciated. Directed by Rajasenan, who has some hit comedy movies to his credit, the 1998 movie had Nagma in the lead role.

Padannayil also had memorable roles in Rajasenan's other hit movies like the Jayaram starrer Aadyathe Kanmani and Aniyan Bava and Chettan Bava, both of which were released in 1995. He also acted in movies like Amar Akbar Anthony and Rekshadhikari Baiju Oppu. Directed by Nadirshah, Amar Akbar Anthony (2015) had Prithviraj, Jayasurya and Indrajith in the lead roles. Rekshadhikari Baiju Oppu, which released in 2017, was directed by Ranjan Pramod and had Biju Menon in the lead role.

According to reports, Padannayil used to run a small shop at Tripunithura in Ernakulam even when he was acting in movies. He is survived by his wife Remani and children Syam, Swapna, Sannan, and Sajan.