A versatile actor and brilliant comedian
One of Malayalam cinema’s most versatile comedians, Innocent Vareed Thekkethala was born in Irinjalakuda in Kerala on February, 28, 1948 as the third of eight children. He was not academically inclined and during the Emergency, he shifted base to Davanagere in Karnataka where he along with his cousins ventured into business. He later tried his hand at several businesses and came a cropper. That was when he had a brainwave and decided to chance his luck in the film industry. And the rest, as they say, is history. Innocent joined a film production company as a production executive and having had a little experience in theatre landed his first role in the film Nrithasala in the year 1972.
The doyen of Malayalam film comedy was famous for his use of the Trissurian flavour laced with a native slang. The failed businessman would soon turn into a household name and with a string of brilliant performances in highly successful movies. Top-notch directors in the eighties and nineties like Priyadarshan, Sathyan Anthikad, Fazil and Kamal among several others repeated him in almost all their films him with meaty roles. He won over audiences with his brand of humour which involved not just body language but a few set mannerisms and flawless dialogue delivery.
In a five-decade career, Innocent portrayed a whole gamut of roles in megahits like Godfather, Vietnam Colony, Manichithrathazhu, Devasuram etc. He also donned the villain’s cap in films like Mazhavilkavadi, Ponmuttaidunna Tharavu and Ganamela. Films like Ramji Rao Speaking, Kathodu Kathoram and Kilukkam had phenomenal runs at the box office largely due to brilliant performances by Innocent. He teamed up with another versatile comedian Jagathi Sreekumar in several films but the one that the audiences lapped up was Kabooliwala, a laugh riot.
The comedian also essayed serious character roles with consummate ease worked in 700 films and shared an excellent rapport with matinee idols like Mammootty, Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi and even with new generation stars like Prithviraj, Asif Ali, Jayasurya, Tovino Thomas and Indrajit. He also acted in a good number of films with well-known actors like Jayaram, Dileep, Manoj K Jayan and others.
Innocent won three Kerala state awards and also several other awards from TV channels. Later in his career he also dabbled in TV and being an avid conversationalist, became the life and soul of reality shows. While he confined himself mostly to Malayalam films he also acted in a few Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and even English films. The last film where he acted was ‘Pachuvum Alpudavilakkum released in 2023.
Inclined towards politics, he was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2014 as an independent backed by the Left Democratic Front from the Chalakudy constituency in Kerala. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with throat cancer. A relapse made it difficult to discharge his obligations as an MP. Innocent however unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2019. He served as the President of the film artiste’s body AMMA (Association of Malayalam Movie Actors) for several years and played a pivotal role in turning the organisation into a highly beneficial one for artistes, especially those who had fallen on bad times.
Innocent was also revered by a generation of stars who often availed his wise counsel. He also authored seven books including one titled ‘Cancer Wardile Chiri’ (Laughter in the Cancer Ward) reminiscing on the days he spent in the hospital. His autobiography ‘Njan Innocent’ (I am Innocent) turned out to be a best seller. ‘Irinjalakudakku Chuttum’ another of his books won him the Kerala Sahitya Academy Award.
Although Innocent recovered from cancer, he suffered from an attack of Covid and complications thereof. The actor was hospitalised in a critical condition and passed away on the 26 March, 2023. His departure has left a void in Malayalam cinema that can never be filled.
C.V. Aravind is a Bangalore-based freelance journalist.