Mathew Mullasseril Alex (25 May 1959 – 23 June 2015), popularly known as Dr. M. M. Alex , was an Indian actor and alternative medicine researcher. He was known for starring in blockbuster Malayalam films, ''

Rajavinte Makan ''Rajavinte Makan'' () is a 1986 Indian Malayalam-language gangster film directed and produced by Thampi Kannanthanam from a screenplay written by Dennis Joseph and based on the 1980 novel ''Rage of Angels'' by Sidney Sheldon. It stars Mohanla ...

'' (1986) and ''

Thoovanathumbikal ''Thoovanathumbikal'' () or, Dragonflies in the Gentle Rain, is a 1987 Indian Malayalam-language romantic drama film written and directed by P. Padmarajan, based partly on his own novel ''Udakappola''. It revolves around Jayakrishnan (Mohanlal) ...

'' (1987) Alex produced more than 220 documentaries and digitisations on world peace, religion, tourism, health systems and human rights. He was also the founder of Vedik India Society and The Institute of Ancient Integrative Therapies Research. He also served as the jury member for the

National Film Awards The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

. Alex was honoured with the "Ambassador of Peace Award" by

Universal Peace Federation The Unification Church () is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists or sometimes informally Moonies. It was founded in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon in Seoul, South Korea, as the Holy Spirit Association for the Unificatio ...

and "Samskrita Mitra" award by the Government of India. He was also the president of Samskrita Bharathi – Tamil Nadu. Dr. M. M. Alex died from a

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

on 23 June 2015, aged 56.

Early life

Dr. Alex was born as Mathew M. Alex in Kottayam,

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. He was the son of Ammini Alex, a panchayat officer and Health officer M. M. Alexander of the Mullasseril house. He grew up in Kottayam with his elder brother Shaji M. Alex and younger sister Saji M. Alex. He graduated from

CMS College Kottayam The CMS College (Church Missionary Society College), established in 1817, is one of the earliest Western-style colleges in India. The college is considered to be the oldest institution of higher education in India along with the Presidency Colle ...

, before starting his career as an actor. Mathew later went by his father's name Alex and became M. M. Alex although it is not clear as to why.

Career

Early career

Alex debuted in the Malayalam Blockbuster "

(1986)", as a student leader. The film starred Mohan Lal and

Suresh Gopi Suresh Gopi (born 26 June 1958) is an Indian actor, playback singer, television presenter and politician who is currently serving as the Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Minister of Tourism since June 2024. He was ele ...

. It was directed by

Thampi Kannanthanam Thampi Kannanthanam (11 December 1953 – 2 October 2018) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor, who worked in Malayalam cinema. He has directed 16 films. Personal life Thampi was born on 11 December 1953 as the sixth so ...

. He continued to reprise the same role in its remake,

Makkal En Pakkam ''Makkal En Pakkam'' () is a 1987 Indian Tamil-language gangster action film directed by Karthik Raghunath. The film stars Sathyaraj, Rajesh, and Ambika. It is a remake of the 1986 Malayalam film ''Rajavinte Makan''. The film was released on 1 ...

(Tamil – 1987). His flair for playing a villain bagged him roles in more than 60 films. He was well noted for his role as "Babu" in the successful film, "

(1987)" starring Mohan Lal and directed by

Padmarajan Padmarajan Padmanabhan Pillai, better known as P. Padmarajan (23 May 1945 – 23 January 1991) was an Indian film maker, screenwriter and author who was known for his works in Malayalam literature and Malayalam cinema. He was the founder of a ...

. His role as an antagonist gained him wide publicity. He concluded his acting career with the Malayalam film " Parampara (1990)" directed by

Sibi Malayil Sibi (; ;) is a city situated in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. The city serves as the administrative headquarters of the district and tehsil of the same name. Etymology The origin of the town's name is attributed to Rani Sewi, a Hin ...

. Though it was at the peak of his acting career, Alex decided to quit and enter the field of alternative medicine and spirituality.

Alternative medicine

Dr. M. M. Alex received an honorary doctorate in

Indology Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is ...

and

alternative medicine Alternative medicine refers to practices that aim to achieve the healing effects of conventional medicine, but that typically lack biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or supporting evidence of effectiveness. Such practices are ...

from the

Michigan State University College of Human Medicine The Michigan State University College of Human Medicine (MSUCHM) is an academic division of Michigan State University (MSU) that grants the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree, emphasizing patient-centered care and a biopsychosocial approach to caring ...

. He founded the non-profit organisations Vedik-India Society (2000), E-Ducatus Foundation, Institute of Ancient Integrative Therapies and Research with his wife, Anitha Alex. He travelled extensively and digitised India district wise to promote Indian culture around the world. He also developed a massive database on 250 common ailments and therapies from eastern disciplines like

Ayurveda Ayurveda (; ) is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practised throughout India and Nepal, where as much as 80% of the population report using ayurveda. The theory and practice of ayur ...

Yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

Mantra A mantra ( ; Pali: ''mantra'') or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words (most often in an Indo-Iranian language like Sanskrit or Avestan) belie ...

Tantra Tantra (; ) is an esoteric yogic tradition that developed on the India, Indian subcontinent beginning in the middle of the 1st millennium CE, first within Shaivism and later in Buddhism. The term ''tantra'', in the Greater India, Indian tr ...

, Sangeetha Sastra, Manas Ayurveda and Gandharva Veda. He worked on merging modern and ancient medical therapies by creating a digital database on medical aspects of various alternative forms of treatment.His work involved a comprehensive and integrated understanding of many systems and modules that operate in the fields of: # Western medical care and research (e.g. diagnostics, current pharmacological/surgical therapies and clinical discovery/trials methodology. # Life sciences (

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

and

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...

). # Traditional Indian medical therapies. # Astrophysics and their impact on human biology. # Current high-impact lifestyle/psychological/psycho-social/environmental issues (e.g. ageing, stress, sleep,

circadian rhythm A circadian rhythm (), or circadian cycle, is a natural oscillation that repeats roughly every 24 hours. Circadian rhythms can refer to any process that originates within an organism (i.e., Endogeny (biology), endogenous) and responds to the env ...

infertility In biology, infertility is the inability of a male and female organism to Sexual reproduction, reproduce. It is usually not the natural state of a healthy organism that has reached sexual maturity, so children who have not undergone puberty, whi ...

and

electromagnetic field An electromagnetic field (also EM field) is a physical field, varying in space and time, that represents the electric and magnetic influences generated by and acting upon electric charges. The field at any point in space and time can be regarde ...

effects/nutrition from GM crops).

Tourism and religion

With the craft and credibility from the film industry, Alex produced more than 220 documentaries ranging from

World religion World religions is a Social construction, socially-constructed category used in the Religious studies, study of religion to demarcate religions that are deemed to have been especially large, internationally widespread, or influential in the deve ...

, education, tourism, Health systems and many other titles. He continued to work on projects for the Tourism of Kerala and other states during the 1990s. His notable works include the documentaries ''A Vision'' and ''Mission to Tirupati'', 'Alphabet of life' and 'A Pilgrimage to Holy Sabarimala'. It was one of the few documentaries screened in association with the

National Film Development Corporation of India The National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) based in Mumbai is the central agency established in 1975, to encourage high quality Indian cinema. It functions in areas of film financing, production and distribution and under the Min ...

(NFDC) festival. Alex conducted a global tour with the support of the Union Department of Tourism. He helped organise the Nishagandhi Dance Festival, Kerala in 1992.

Culture

Apart from research and tourism, Alex was a propagator of the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

language. He was the president of

Samskrita Bharati Samskrita Bharati (, ) is a non-profit organisation working to revive Sanskrit. Sanskrit was a pan-Indian language in the Vedic and classical period but lost its place to its derivative regional dialects in modern India. Samskrita Bharati has ...

, Tamil Nadu (2005–2015). The organisation aims to democratise and popularise Sanskrit language by encouraging the use of simple Sanskrit in everyday conversational texts. Alex was also the Head of Sanskrit Academies and Research Institutes for the World Samskrit Book fair.

Alexonics

Dr. Alex had invented a unique custom made audio module called 'Alexonics'. Each module is produced according to an individual's

astrological Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that propose that information about human affairs and terrestrial events may be discerned by studying the apparent positions of celesti ...

profile resulting in a 93,312 file database. The repeated listening to its vibrations can enhance and regulate the physiological as well as the psychological self. He had worked on this project with Late. Dr. Solomon Victor, Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam, Dr. B.M. Hegde and Dr. Sandeep, over a span of 25 years. With the ambition to spread world peace, Alex disseminated 'Alexonics' to a few world leaders and world pioneers. He was invited to deliver a talk on Alexonics for Ted.x at Delhi in 2010. The product will be available to the public soon.

Nakshatra paintings

Dr. Alex conceived a unique ideology to depict the 27

Nakshatra Nakshatra () is the term for Lunar mansion in Hindu astrology and Buddhist astrology. A nakshatra is one of 27 (sometimes also 28) sectors along the ecliptic. Their names are related to a prominent star or asterisms in or near the respective s ...

s as the wives of the moon ( Lord Chandra) in a set of 30 paintings, including those of the Sun god, Moon god and the Cosmic Serpent (

Naga Naga or NAGA may refer to: Mythology * Nāga, a serpentine deity or race in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions ** Phaya Naga, mythical creatures believed to live in the Laotian stretch of the Mekong River ** Naga, another name for Bakunawa, an ...

). The paintings are based on the Samhitas,

Shastra ''Śāstra'' ( ) is a Sanskrit word that means "precept, rules, manual, compendium, book or treatise" in a general sense.Monier Williams, Monier Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Article on 'zAstra'' The word is ge ...

Vedas FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

, Meta-physics,

Astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...

and Bio- physics. These are to be auctioned soon.

Events

* He was the Judge for the Malayala Manorama's 3rd Annual Pookalam Festival along with his wife, Anitha Alex September 2005 * Chief guest of the World Sanskrit Day Function held in August 2008. * Delivered a lecture on 'Good Health Today with Modern and Ancient Therapies' at the

India Habitat Centre The India Habitat Centre is a multipurpose building in the city of New Delhi, India. It was the brain child of the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) Chairman, Santosh Sharma. The India Habitat Centre is one of India's most compr ...

, May 2009 * Conducted a 28-day

Agnihotra Agnihotra (IAST: ''Agnihotra'', Devnagari: अग्निहोत्र) refers to the yajna of offering ghee into the sacred fire as per strict rites, and may include twice-daily heated milk offering made by those in the Śrauta tradition. Th ...

Yagna In Hinduism, ''Yajna'' or ''Yagna'' (, ɐd͡ʒɲə ) also known as Hawan, is a ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras. Yajna has been a Vedic tradition, described in a layer of Vedic literature called Brahmanas, as well a ...

for

World Peace World peace is the concept of an ideal state of peace within and among all people and nations on Earth. Different cultures, religions, philosophies, and organizations have varying concepts on how such a state would come about. Various relig ...

in July 2009. * Delivered a lecture on 'Impact of Triple Eclipses- Reality or Myth?' at the India Habitat Centre, Delhi. The event was organised by the Foundation of Peace, September 2009. * Was invited as a speaker for TEDx.Delhi to talk on his custom made device "Alexonics" August 2010. * Helped organise the World Samskrit Book Fair (Head of Sanskrit Academies and Research) in January 2011.

Accolades

* Jury for the

50th National Film Awards The 50th National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 2002. Awards were announced by ...

, India (2003) * Jury for the

58th National Film Awards The 58th National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema for the year 2010. The selection process started by ...

, India (2011) * Recipient of the 'Ambassador of Peace' award from the

* Recipient of the 'Samskrita Mitra' award from the Government of India.

Death

Dr. Alex died in Chennai on 23 June 2015, following a cardiac arrest. The Funeral was held at St.Paul's Orthodox Church at Kollad near Kottayam on 25 June. He is survived by his wife Anitha Alex and sons Dr. Alexander Mathew and Basil Mathew (Actor Tejas)

Filmography (partial)

* 1986-

Rareeram ''Rareeram'' is a 1986 Indian Malayalam film, directed by Sibi Malayil and produced by Appachan. The film stars Mammootty, Shobhana, Nedumudi Venu and Geetha in the lead roles. The film has musical score by Kodakara Madhavan. Cast *Mammootty ...

* 1987- Avalude Katha * 1987-

* 1987- Kanikanum Neram * 1987- Kottum Kuravayum * 1988-

Witness In law, a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, either oral or written, of what they know or claim to know. A witness might be compelled to provide testimony in court, before a grand jur ...

* 1988-

August 1 Events Pre-1600 * 30 BC – Octavian (later known as Augustus) enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Republic. *AD 69 – Batavian rebellion: The Batavians in Germania Inferior (Netherlands) revolt u ...

* 1990-

Randam Varavu ''Randam Varavu'' () is a 1990 Indian Malayalam-language crime thriller film, directed by K. Madhu and written by John Paul. The film stars Jayaram, Rekha, Jagathy Sreekumar and Sukumaran. The film's musical score is by Shyam. This film was ...

* 1990- Parampara * 1990- Vyooham

References

External links

*
Article by FilmyFriday

Article by M3DB, Malayalam

* Indian Habitat Centre �
Annexure 1 March 28
, Programs: Jan 2009 – December 2009 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alex, M. M. 1959 births 2015 deaths 20th-century Indian male actors Alternative medicine researchers Indian male film actors Male actors from Kottayam Male actors in Malayalam cinema Male actors in Tamil cinema