One time wonders of Mollywood

Sometimes you don't need hundreds of movies make an impact on the audience's mind, but just that one memorable performance that would last longer. Mollywood has seen some great such performances over the years. Directors have drafted surprising cast for particular roles that paved way for non-native actors to play pivotal characters in movies, many of such characters stayed long in the viewer's mind. Here we look at some one-time wonder performances that happened in M-town.

Amala Akineni, born to a Bengali father and an Irish mother, was a talented Bharatanatyam dancer who made her way into the movies. Tamil director T Rajendar introduced Amala into the big screen through his movie ‘Mythili Ennai Kathalii’, which was a blockbuster hit of that time. The overnight fame made Amala the most sorted heroine in South as she went onto act in more than fifty movies in Tamil and Telugu, becoming people’s favourite in no time.

In 1991, Amal made her debut in Mollywood in the movie ‘Ente Sooryaputhriku’, directed by Fasil. This heroine-oriented movie saw one of the finest performances of Amala. The actress was roped in to play a character role in ‘Ulladakam’ in the same year which was a critically acclaimed movie that did well at the box-office too. That was Amala's last movie in Malayalam, as the actress quit acting the very next year following her marriage with Nagarjuna. Amala returned to Mollywood with a strong performance in the 2017 movie ‘C/o Saira Bhanu’. Though that cannot be called a one-time-wonder as she has acted in three Malayalam movies, Amala will be always remembered for her performance in ‘Ente Sooryaputhrikku’.

Born in Nepal, Siddarth Lama is best known among Kerala movie lovers as Rimpoche in the blockbuster Mohanlal starrer ‘Yodha’, directed by Sangeeth Sivan in 1992. It was through cinematographer Santho Sivan that Siddharth was drafted for ‘Yodha’. Santhosh Sivan met Sidharth accidentally when the latter went to meet actor Yuvraj Lama, who is the father of Siddharth. Sidharth shined as the little Rimpoche, the chosen one to be the next Lama. Siddharth's character Rimpoche is hunted down by evil forces when Mohanlal's character Ashokan comes for Rimpoche's rescue. Sidharth's Nepalise accent, shaven head and adorable face were taken to heart by Kerala filmgoers and the movie was a classic comedy hit. Siddharth was never seen in any movies afterwards. The actor also won the best child actor at the State Awards that year. He returned to Mollywood though Lenin Rajendran's ‘Edavappathi’ released in 2016.

This British Indian origin actress still creates a pinch of pain in Malayalam movie lover's mind owing to the climax of the only Malayalam movie she did, 'Vandanam'. A romantic thriller, directed by Priyadarshanam, Vandanam had Mohanlal in the lead as an investigating officer. Priyadarshan drafted Girija for the role of Gadha in ‘Vandanam’, after being impressed by her performance in the Maniratnam movie ‘Geethanjali’. Girija, portrayed Gadha's role with conviction and her on-screen chemistry with experienced Mohanlal was also appreciated. She carried throughout the movie a sense of gloom, yet performed the comic sequences brilliantly with the superstar. The film ends with Mohanlal and Girija's characters parting ways without a chance to meet again; one of the painful climaxes made in Mollywood. This was Girija's only Malayalam movie and the actress didn't pursue acting for long as her interest turned to philosophy and spirituality.

The graceful looking Nitish Bharadwaj, who started his career as a theatre director and actor, was a noted figure in entertainment circles. The actor, who was famous for his role as Lord Krishna in the television serial Mahabharata, was drafted to play the lead role in ace director Padmarajan's last movie 'Njan Gandharvan'. Nitish played the role of a celestial character Gandharvan in this surreal love story. The film wasn't received well by moviegoers initially which made Padmarajan sad, and weeks after the release of the movie, the legendary director was found dead. The movie then went on to be a great success and was later considered as one of Padmarajan's best works. Nitish's performance as a godly character was very apt for his appearance and was well received by the audience. Njan Gandharvan was the only movie Nitish has acted in Malayalam.

Not many would recognise Suchitra Krishnamoorthy as the actress has been away from the big screen for long. Suchitra, who started her career as television serial actor at very young age, became a prominent model for many big brands. However, the actress made her debut in cinema through the Malayalam movie directed by Shaji Kailas. She played the role of Anu Pillai, a modern day single mother who works as an architect. Jayaram was the hero in the movie. The movie was a commercial success for its situational comedies. Suchitra's performance as a modern day single mother was well received by the audience. Suchitra then did few Hindi movies and took a break from the industry after her marriage. However, she returned to Bollywood through the movie 'My Wife's Murder' after a 10-year hiatus.