5 Malayalam comedians who left the movie buff spellbound, while playing serious characters!

Watching comedy movies and hilarious characters cheer you up. Comedy genre is a dish fit for the gods as it never fails to impress the audience. Malayalam cinema has some excellent actors who deliver comedy content. Although they make it look effortless, delivering comedy content isn’t that easy. And unfortunately only a few know about it, which often results in the comedians being underrated.

A person who can make someone laugh their lungs out could handle any complex role with sheer perfection and these Malayalam actors proved it with grace!

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One cannot speak of the comedy genre without mentioning Jagathy Sreekumar. The veteran actor is possibly one of the most talented actors Malayalam cinema has ever seen. Jagathy Sreekumar ventured into the movies in the mid-1970s and has entertained the cinephiles playing the hero, supporting characters and characters with a touch of humour. The ace actor has proved his acting chops several times and the character Chenicheri Kurup from ‘Urumi’ reassured that he could handle not only hilarious characters but also ones with grey shades. He played one of the ministers in the period drama, who has a great influence on the King. Be it the femininity, or the crooked jokes, or the villain traits, Jagathy Sreekumar played the role to perfection!

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Jagadish wears many hats: he is an actor, comedian, former professor, scriptwriter, playback singer. And most importantly an excellent actor. His iconic dialogue, “Excuse me… (Well, you know the rest!)” still tickles the funny bone, and most of the time we have only seen Jagadish playing characters with humour. But the actor left the cinephiles awestruck when he played Thankappan Nair in the 2016 film ‘Leela’. Thankappan Nair is apparently the worst father, someone who doesn’t deserve to be referred to as a ‘father’. From raping his own daughter to later selling her off to buy some booze and finally breaking into tears for the one mistake that led to others, the character Thankappan Nair was intense and complex, but Jagadish managed to pull off with grace.

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Salim Kumar is a phenomenal comedian and there’s no doubt about it! But the actor’s works weren’t really honoured until he appeared in the 2005 film ‘Achanurangatha Veedu’. He played a widower and father of three daughters. Life takes an unexpected turn when Samuel’s (Salim Kumar) youngest daughter Lisamma (Muktha) becomes a rape victim. Salim Kumar poured his soul into the character and the rest is history. Salim Kumar bagged the best second actor award for the film and later in 2010, he once again proved his prowess as an actor through ‘Adaminte Makan Abu’ for which he bagged the National Award for best actor.

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They say give a person the right shoes and they could conquer the world. And filmmaker Dr. Biju did exactly that. Suraj Venjaramoodu is one of the popular comedians in Malayalam, but the actor didn’t get many characters where there is space for performance. Suraj Venjaramoodu broke the jinx when he signed the 2015 film ‘Perariyathavar’. He played the role of a father in the film and won the National Award for best actor for his performance.

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Surabhi Lakshmi is one of the newly recognized talents in Malayalam cinema. She is also popular for her comedy roles, especially the one she did for the television series ‘M80 Moosa’. Surabhi Lakshmi made headlines after acting in the 2017 film ‘Minnaminungu’. She played the role of a mother, who has a teenage daughter. From being a single mother to sacrificing her happiness for her daughter’s smile, Surabhi played the role well and she won the National Award for best actress.

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