Malayalam’s king of parody V D Rajappan passes away

trivandrum —V D Rajappan, who entertained Keralites for nearly four decades through a unique genre of storytelling called ‘Kadhaprasangam’ and comic roles in films, has passed away.

The 70-year-old artist, who was bed-ridden with various ailments for the last two years, breathed his last at a private hospital in Kottayam on Thursday. He is survived by wife Sulochana and sons Rajeev and Rajesh.

His last rites will be performed at his home village of Peroor in Kottayam district on Friday, according to family members.

Born to Devadas and Vasanthy at Ettumanoor, Velikkuzhiyil Devadas Rajappan made Kadhaprasangam, a solo performance in which a person tells story by acting and singing, hugely popular by mixing parody songs into story telling.

He gave a new face to the art form by portraying animals and motor vehicles as characters in his stories. His parodies portraying animals like hen, frog, dog, crow, buffalo, snake etc as characters became big hits in the seventies and eighties.

Known as the king of parody, Rajappan staged his Kadhaprasangam performance in over 6,000 stages not just in Kerala but outside the state and abroad, including Middle East. It was his ability to portray different characters that made his entry into Malayalam film industry easy.

He has acted in more than 80 films in his film career from 1982 to 2005. He made his debut on the silver screen with Malayalam move Kakka in 1982. Ok Chacko Cochin

Mumbai (2005) was his last movie. His well known films are Kusuruthikattu, Panchavadi Palam, Mutharamkunnu P.O, Attakka

lasham and Engane Nee Marakkum. His popular Kathaprasangam per- formances are ‘Priye Ninte Kura’, ‘Her Parts’ ‘Amittu’, ‘Kumari Eruma’, ‘Mak Mak’, and ‘Ennennum Kurangettandeh’.

State Minister for Cinema, Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan said Rajappan was a hugely popular artiste who took the art form to newer heights. He described his death to a huge loss to the state.

Rajappan, who started his life as a barber, had struggled a lot in his last years. His family members said that the artiste had faced financial difficulties and loneliness. They said barring a few, none of the members of the film fraternity had even visited Rajappan when he battled with various diseases.