Janardhanan Pillai (born 5 May 1946), also known as Janardhanan Nair, is an Indian actor, producer and a former

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

personnel who predominantly acts in Malayalam films. He acted in his first feature film '' Adyathe Kadha'', directed by K. S. Sethumadhavan in 1971, he acted in more than 700 films. He started his career when Malayalam films were made in black and white. He is known for his style of handling humour and his iconic voice. He started his career playing brusque villains and sub hero roles in the 1970s and early 1980s, acting along with

Prem Nazir Prem Nazir (born Abdul Khader; 6 April 1926 – 16 January 1989) was an Indian actor known as one of Malayalam cinema's definitive leading man, leading men of his generation. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential actors in the hist ...

and

Jayan Krishnan Madhavan Nair (25 July 1939 – 16 November 1980), better known by his stage name Jayan, born as the son of Madhavan Pillai (Kerala title), Pillai and Bharathiyamma in Kollam district, Kollam, was an Indian actor, Officer (armed forc ...

, but later established himself as a highly sought-after comedian. The turning point of his career was his role in the 1988 film '' Oru CBI Diary Kurippu'', which brought out his comic skills. However, he was typecast as a comedian only after the 1993 film '' Meleparambil Aanveedu''. Mimicry artists perform with his noted role of Garvasis Aashan in '' Mannar Mathai Speaking'' (1995). But along with comic roles, he had done serious roles like D.I.G Marar in '' Dhruvam'' and Jayashankar in ''

Mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...

''. Apart from stereotyped

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

characters, he has the distinction of portraying a

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

and a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

character.

Personal life

Janardhanan Pillai was born in the village of Ullala near

Vaikom Vaikom () is a Municipalities of Kerala, municipality in the Kottayam district of Kerala. It is located north of the district headquarters in Kottayam and about north of the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, V ...

on May 5, 1946, to Kollarakkattu Veettil Paravoor K. Gopala Pillai and Gouri Amma, as their youngest son. He has four brothers and three sisters. He had his primary education from NSS High School, Vechoor and pre-university from NSS Hindu College, Changanassery. Later, he joined the

Indian Air force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

for a short period. After two years in 1967, he joined Velu Thampi Memorial N.S.S. College, Dhanuvachapuram for B.Com. He debuted in a Family Planning documentary ''Prathisanthi'', directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan, recommended by lecturer Sreevaraham Balakrishnan. He turned down the offer of bank employment and became Production Manager for ''Chemparathi'', produced by S. K. Nair and directed by P. N. Menon. After that, he worked with Kakkanadan and V. B. C. Nair for '' Malayalanadu'' weekly. Then S. K. Nair sent him to

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

(now called Chennai) to take charge in his Madras office. While working there, he got an opportunity to act in '' Aadhyathe Katha'' in 1972. He is married to Vijayalaksmi and they have two daughters: Rema Ranjini and Laxmi.

Filmography

As actor

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Web series

As dubbing artist

Television

*''Mahathma Gandhi Colony'' ( Asianet) *''Ashtapadi'' ( Surya TV) *''Kanthari'' *'' Badai Bungalow'' ( Asianet) *''Adutha Bellodu Koodi'' (

Zee Keralam Zee Keralam also known as Z Keralam is an Indian Malayalam language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. The channel was launched on 26 November 2018 and it is ZEE's fifth channel in the sou ...

) *'' Surabhiyum Suhasiniyum'' (

Flowers TV Flowers TV is an Indian Malayalam-language, general-entertainment, pay television channel owned by Insight Media City. The channel was launched on 12 April 2015. Flowers TV HD feed is only available through their YouTube channel. History ...

) *'' Uppum Mulakum'' (

)

References

External links

*
Janardhanan at MSI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Janardhanan Male actors from Kottayam People from Vaikom Living people 1946 births Male actors in Malayalam cinema Indian male film actors 20th-century Indian male actors 21st-century Indian male actors Male actors in Malayalam television Indian male television actors Indian male comedians