Kaviyoor Ponnamma, an actor who embodied the mother in Malayalam cinema

Kaviyoor Ponnamma, the iconic Malayalam actress, excelled in motherly roles but showcased diverse talents beyond typecasting.

Fitting into a given role is a dream for any actor, but those who fit too well into a role often find themselves cast in more of the same. For, they become that role, making it impossible for filmmakers to think of anyone else in their place. Actor Kaviyoor Ponnamma, who passed away on Friday at the age of 79, was one such actor. Over a six decade period, she came to embody the role of the mother in Malayalam cinema.

From first playing that role in her early twenties, sometimes as mother to actors elder to her, she played mother to generations of actors from Prem Nazir onwards, in over 300 films. But, despite being caught in the typecast roles, she explored every possible shade of it, from the grieving mother to the scheming one and at times the playful mother.

In the crowd of recent memory are forgotten her earlier memorable turns, like that of Narayani, the oracle’s wife in M.T. Vasudevan Nair’s Nirmalyam (1973), who struggles to take care of a poverty-stricken family. The climactic sequence of the film, in which the oracle spits at a goddess idol, is still spoken about, but leading up to that scene was Narayani’s outburst at him after poverty forced her to do something dishonourable — “You are the one who turned me into this state at this age. The hearth in this household remained unlit when you were busy serving the goddess. When my children went hungry, the goddess did not bring either rice or money.”

That moment, early in her career, might be the most subversive one of hers on screen, but coming a close second would be the role of the mother of Balan, played by Mammootty, in Thaniyavarthanam (1987). In one of the most heartbreaking sequences of motherly love in Malayalam cinema, she gives a morsel of rice laced with poison to her son to prevent him from being branded as a lunatic and locked up by the superstitious family members. In Kodiyettam, she played a single mother who eyes the protagonist Sekharankutty with a hint of desire.

But, it was with Mohanlal that she formed one of the most popular mother-son duos on screen. From the mother of Sethu in the tragic Kireedam to the mother-like figure who demands the character played by Mohanlal to make a sacrifice for the sake of her own son, the two shared a very rare onscreen bond. In His Highness Abdullah (1990), her mental illness makes her assume him to be her own dead son. Her role as Andrew’s mother, waiting endlessly for her son, in In Harihar Nagar remains a painful memory in a film otherwise remembered for its humour.

Young Ponnamma’s singing talent opened the doors to cinema. As a 12-year-old, she began as a vocalist in Thoppil Bhasi’s play Mooladhanam. Soon, she was asked to play the lead role in the classic play. After stints at various drama troupes, including KPAC, she debuted in movies with Sreerama Pattabhishekam (1962). Within three years, she had one of her first mother roles in Thommanum Makkalum, in which Sathyan and Madhu were her sons. She won the Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actor four times.

Late in her career, in one of her last appearances on screen, she and Nedumudi Venu played a crooked couple in Aanum Pennum (2021). The Ponnamma we witnessed in that film, with a hint of mischievous evilness, reminds us that maybe, Malayalam cinema did not fully utilise her potential by seeing just the mother in her.