P Balachandran passes away at his residence in Vaikom

Actor – writer

P Balachandran

, who has been under treatment for the past eight months passed away today morning at his residence in Vaikom.

As per reports, he was 69 years old. And is survived by his wife Sreelatha and two children, Sreekanth and Parvathy. The actor appeared last in the Mammootty film ‘One.’

The artiste, whose official name was Padmanabhan Balachandran Nair, was born on February 2, 1952 to Padmanabha Pillai and Saraswati Bhai at the Sasthamkotta village in Kollam district of Kerala. He is also the winner of Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award and Kerala Professional Nataka Award. One of his best plays is Paavam Usman.

Some of the movies that he has scripted are Ulladakkam, Pavithram, Agnidevan, Punaradhivasam and Kammatti Paadam. He had debuted as a filmmaker too, in the year 2012, through the film Ivan Megharoopan. Some of his notable roles as an actor are in films like Trivandrum Lodge, Angry Babies in Love and Kismath.

His last film as a scriptwriter was Edakkad Battalion 06, which was directed by Swapnesh K Nair and had Tovino Thomas and Samyukta Menon in the lead.

Many artistes and technicians have written tributes to him on their social media pages. Actor Anoop Menon, who wrote a detailed note, mentions, “A friend who was always at the other end of the phone with heartwarming positivity, this is a personal loss that is irreparable. Can’t forget those early mornings during Trivandrum Lodge where you would come to my hotel room from yours and leaf over the scenes of that day I was hastily penning down and give suggestions that only a writer of your calibre could do.”