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Sankaradi
Portrait of Sankaradi
Born	Kanakku Chembakaraman Parameswaran Pillai Chandrashekaran Menon (1924-07-14)14 July 1924 North Pavavur Kingdom of Cochin, British India (present day Ernakulam, Kerala, India)
Died	8 October 2001(2001-10-08) (aged 77) Cherai, Kochi, Kerala, India
Nationality	Indian
Occupations	Actor Politician Journalist
Years active	1963 – 1998
Spouse	Sharada
Parents	Paravoor Memana Parameswara Pillai Chankaradiyil Thoppil Parambil Janaki Amma
Awards	Kerala State Film Awards 1970, 1971 - Second Best Actor

Paravoor memana Kanakku Chembakaraman Parameswaran Chandrashekara Menon, better known by his screen name Sankaradi (14 July 1924 – 8 October 2001), was an Indian actor. He was a veteran Malayalam comedian and character artist, who had over 700 Malayalam films to his credit. He dominated the Malayalam film scene in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s as a comedian along with Adoor Bhasi and Bahadoor. Later, he switched to character roles.

Early life

Sankaradi passed intermediate from Maharajas College, Ernakulam. Before entering films, Sankaradi briefly dabbled in politics, journalism and theatre. He had earlier joined the Indian National Congress, but later became a cardholder of the undivided Communist Party of India (CPI). However, he returned his party card after the CPI split in 1964 and turned to theatre.

Sankaradi joined the trade union movement at Baroda Railways while he was studying Marine engineering at Baroda. He abandoned his studies to pursue a job as a journalist in The Literary Review a newspaper based in Mumbai.

Film career

A stint in theatre in the mid-1960s in Kerala prepared Sankaradi for his foray into films. Since his debut in Kunchacko's Kadalamma, he remained an integral part of Malayalam cinema till his death.

In 1968, he acted in Viruthan Shanku, the first full-length comedy in Malayalam cinema directed by P. Venu. Sankaradi won the state's best character artiste award in 1969–71. He also holds the record for featuring in over 300 films with Prem Nazir.

Awards

Kerala State Film Awards:

• Second Best Actor - 1970 - Vazhve mayam, Ezhuthatha Kadha
• Second Best Actor - 1971 - Various Films

Personal life

He was born to Memana Parameswara Pillai and Chankaradiyil Thoppil Parambil Janaki Amma in 1924 at Cherai, Kochi, India. He had four siblings, Balan Menon, Sarojini, Lakshmikuty and Indira. Later on, he adopted the screen name 'Sankaradi' from the name of his Matrilineal family name "Chankaradiyil" by discarding the "-yil" and changing "Chankaradi" to "Sankaradi"

Sankaradi remained a bachelor for a long time till he married Sharada in the late 1980s; the couple had no children. He was known throughout his film career by his house name(Tharavadu) "Sankaradi". He died at his home in Cherai at 10 PM on 8 October 2001, aged 77. He was ailing for a while until his death. He was cremated with full state honours at the premises of his home the next day. Harikrishnans, directed by Fazil, was his last film.

Filmography

Posthumus

The 2017 Malayalam film, Varnyathil Ashanka, directed by Sidharth Bharathan shows the reprisal of Sankaradi's character (photograph only), leftist ideologue, Kumara Pillai from Sandesham, along with his party worker Bobby Kottarakkara as Uthaman, and rival party chief Yashwanth Sahai (Innocent).

1990s

1980s

1970s

References

1. "CINIDIARY - A Complete Online Malayalam Cinema News Portal". Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
2. ""മലയാളത്തിലെ ആദ്യ റിയലിസ്റ്റിക്‌ ആക്ടര്‍"". Archived from the original on 26 May 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
3. "ശങ്കരാടിയില്‍നിന്നാണ് ആ കഥാപാത്രത്തെ ഞാന്‍ കണ്ടെത്തുന്നത്.-സത്യന്‍ അന്തിക്കാട്‌". Mathrubhumi (in Malayalam). 9 October 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
4. "നിർമാല്യത്തിലേക്ക് എംടി ആദ്യം ക്ഷണിച്ചത് ശങ്കരാടിയെ". Indian Express Malayalam (in Malayalam). 9 October 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
5. ^ "ശങ്കരാടി: സ്വാഭാവികതയുടെ നന്മ". Archived from the original on 19 June 2008. Retrieved 18 December 2008.
6. "CINIDIARY - A Complete Online Malayalam Cinema News Portal". Archived from the original on 19 June 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
7. "ശങ്കരാടി മലയാളത്തിലെ ചിരകാല പ്രതിഭ | Sankaradi | Smrithi | Safari TV - YouTube". YouTube. 26 August 2018. Archived from the original on 11 October 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
8. "Rediff.com, Movies: Sankaradi passes away". Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
9. "OOPsss... Something not found?? | Chakpak". Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2008.

External links

• Sankaradi at IMDb
• Sankaradi at MSI

• 1924 births
• 2001 deaths
• Indian male film actors
• Male actors from Kochi
• Kerala State Film Award winners
• Male actors in Malayalam cinema
• 20th-century Indian male actors
• Indian male stage actors
• Male actors in Malayalam theatre
• 21st-century Indian male actors
• Malayalam comedians
• Indian male comedians
• 20th-century Indian comedians