Maheshwari Amma, better known by her stage name K. P. A. C. Lalitha (10 March 1947 – 22 February 2022), was an Indian film and stage actress who worked primarily in the Malayalam film industry. Considered one of the greatest actresses in the history of

Indian Cinema The cinema of India, consisting of motion pictures made by the Indian film industry, has had a large effect on world cinema since the second half of the 20th century. Indian cinema is made up of various film industries, each focused on p ...

, she started her acting career with Kerala People's Arts Club, a theatre collective in Kayamkulam, Kerala. In a career spanning five decades, she starred in over 550 films. Lalitha has won two

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 ...

for Best Supporting Actress along with four Kerala State Film Awards. In 2009, she was honoured with the

Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award The Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award, initially named Raj Kapoor Award for Lifetime Achievement after Raj Kapoor is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films. List of honourees † - Indicates ...

at the 2009

Filmfare Awards South The Filmfare Awards South are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, Malayalam cinema and Kannada cinema. They are presented by ''Filmfare'' magazine of The Times Group. When it was intr ...

. Lalitha latterly served as the chairperson of

Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi is located in Thrissur city, of Kerala, in India. The academy presents awards for various fields like music, dance, theatre and traditional art forms. Some of the major awards include: * Kerala Sangeetha Nata ...

. She was married to the late Malayalam filmmaker Bharathan.

Early life

Lalitha was born as Maheshwari Amma at Aranmula, in present day

Pathanamthitta District Pathanamthitta District (), is one of the List of districts of Kerala, 14 districts in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. The district headquarters is in the town of Pathanamthitta. There are four municipalitie ...

, on 10 March 1947. She was born to Kadaykatharayil Veettil Ananthan Nair and Bhargavi Amma, as the eldest among five children; her four siblings were Indira, Babu, Rajan and Shyamala. She is the child born five years after her parents' marriage. Her father was a photographer who was from Kayamkulam and mother was a housewife who was from Aranmula. She spent most of her childhood at Ramapuram near Kayamkulam. Her family migrated to Changanassery, Kottayam for her to join dance class. In a young age itself she had very much interest in dance. She learned to dance when she was a child under the guidance of Chellappan Pillai and then under Kalamandalam Gangadharan. She started acting in plays when she was 10 years old. Her first appearance on stage was in the play ''Geethayude Bali''. She later joined Kerala People's Arts Club (K. P. A. C.), which was a prominent leftist drama troupe in

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 ...

. She was given the stage name Lalitha and later, when she started acting in movies, the tag K.P.A.C. was added to her screen-name to differentiate it from another actress known as Lalitha.

Acting career

Her first movie was the film adaptation of ''Koottukudumbam'' directed by K. S. Sethumadhavan. In 1978 she married Bharathan, a noted Malayalam film director. She took a break from film acting for sometime, doing only a few films. The second era of her career started with ''

Kattathe Kilikkoodu ''Kattathe Kilikkoodu'' () is a 1983 Indian Malayalam-language drama film directed by Bharathan and written by T. Damodaran from a story by Nedumudi Venu. The film was produced by P. V. Gangadharan and stars Bharat Gopy, Mohanlal, Srividya ...

'' (1983) directed by her husband. Her pairing with Innocent was hugely popular with the audience between 1986 and 2006 with successful films like Gajakesariyogam, Apporvam Chillar, Makkal Mahatmiyam, Shubha Yatra, My Dear Muthachan, Kannanum Polisum, Arjunan Pillaiyum Anju Makkalum, Injankaddai Mathai and Sons, Pavam Pavam Rajakumaram. During this time, she did many critically acclaimed roles including those in ''

Kattukuthira ''Kattukuthira'' () is a 1990 Malayalam-language drama film directed by P. G. Viswambharan and scripted by S. L. Puram, based on his classic play of the same name. The film stars Thilakan as the cantankerous Kochuvava along with Vineeth, Anju ...

'' (1990), ''Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam'' (1986), ''Ponn Muttyidunna Tharavu'' (1988), Kottayam Kunjachan (1990), ''

Vadakkunokkiyantram ''Vadakkunokkiyantram'' () is a 1989 Indian Malayalam-language black comedy film written and directed by Sreenivasan, who also stars in the film along with Parvathy. The film is about the marital discord caused by a husband's Othello syndrome ...

'' (1989), ''

Innathe Program ''Innathe Program'' is a 1991 Indian Malayalam film, directed by P. G. Vishwambharan and produced by Changanassery Basheer. The film stars Mukesh, Siddique, Radha (in her final Malayalam film to date), A. C. Zainuddin and Philomina in the ...

'' (1991), ''Dasharatham'' (1989),

Kanalkkattu ''Kanalkkattu'' is a 1991 Indian Malayalam-language film directed by Sathyan Anthikad and written by Lohithadas. It stars Mammootty, and K. P. A. C. Lalitha, in lead roles with Murali, Mamukkoya, Jayaram, Urvashi, Shari, Oduvil Unnikrish ...

(1991),''Venkalam'' (1993), '' Godfather'' (1991), ''

Amaram ''Amaram'' () is a 1991 Indian Malayalam drama film directed by Bharathan and written by A. K. Lohithadas. It stars Mammootty, Maathu, K. P. A. C. Lalitha, Ashokan, Murali, Chitra, and Kuthiravattam Pappu in the main roles. The film's sc ...

'' (1991), ''Vietnam Colony'' (1993), '' Pavithram'' (1993), '' Manichitrathazhu'' (1994), '' Spadikam'' (1995), and '' Aniyathipraavu'' (1997). She won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in ''

'' (1991), a film directed by her husband Bharathan. In 1998, when her husband Bharathan died, she took a break for a few months, only to come back with an acclaimed performance in Sathyan Anthikkad directed ''Veendum Chila Veetukaryangal'' (1999). K.P.A.C. Lalitha's notable roles after that were in '' Shantham'' (2000), ''Life Is Beautiful'' (2000) and ''Valkannadi'' (2002). She won her second National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ''Shantham'' (2000), directed by Jayaraj. K.P.A.C. Lalitha acted in over 500 films in Malayalam cinema. Apart from Malayalam, she acted in some Tamil films including '' Kadhalukku Mariyadhai'' (1997), Maniratnam's '' Alai Payuthey'' (2000) and '' Kaatru Veliyidai'' (2017). Particularly, her performance in Tamil film '' Kadhalukku Mariyadhai'' as Shalini's mother won her critical acclaim.

Personal life and death

Lalitha had a daughter Sreekutty and a son Sidharth who debuted as an actor in the movie ''Nammal'', which was directed by Kamal. After a short career in acting, he chose a career in film direction. In 2012, he made his directorial debut with '' Nidra'', which is the remake of 1984 film with the same title written and directed by his father Bharathan. She published an autobiography, titled ''Katha Thudarum'' (''Story To Be Continued''), which won the Cherukad Award in 2013. Lalitha died in Thrippunithura on 22 February 2022, at the age of 74. She had been hospitalised since November 2021 due to multiple health issues, including liver ailment and diabetes. Her mortal remains was taken to her home in Wadakkancherry, and was cremated with full state honours.

Filmography

Awards

;

* 1990: Best Supporting Actress – ''

'' * 2000: Best Supporting Actress – '' Shantham'' ; Kerala State Film Awards * 1975: Second Best Actress – '' Neela Ponman'', ''Onnum Lelle'' (1975) * 1978: Second Best Actress – ''Aaravam'' * 1990: Second Best Actress – ''

'' * 1991: Second Best Actress – '' Kadinjool Kalyanam'', '' Godfather'', '' Sandesam'' ; Asianet Film Awards * 2000: Best Supporting Actress – '' Shantham'' * 2007: Best Supporting Actress – ''Thaniye'', '' Nasrani'', '' Aakasham'' * 2011: Best Supporting Actress – '' Snehaveedu'' ;

* 2009:

; Other awards * 2007: Premji Award * 2009: Thoppil Bhasi Prathibha Award * 2009: Annual Malayalam Movie Award (Dubai) for Best Outstanding Performances * 2010: Bharat Murali Award * 2011:

Bahadoor Padiyath Kochumoideen Kunjalu (1930 22 May 2000), better known by his stage name Bahadoor, was an Indian actor who appeared in Malayalam films, primarily in comedic roles. He, along with Adoor Bhasi, were the two major comedians in Malayalam ...

Award * 2011: Kambisseri Karunakaran Award *2012: Thoppil Bhasi Prathibha Award *2013: MT Chandrasenan Award * 2013: Cherukad Award for Literature for Autobiography "Katha Thudarum" (Writer) * 2014: Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Fellowship * 2014: Sangam Lifetime Achievement Award * 2014:Vanithalokam Award * 2015: Part-Ono Films- ''Samaadharanam''-'Prashasthipathram' * 2015: SIIMA Lifetime Achievement Award * 2015: Vanitha Film Award – Lifetime Achievement * 2015:TCR Bharath P.J.Antony Smaraka Abhinaya Prathibha Award * 2015:IIFA Awards IIFA Utsavam – Performance in a Supporting Role (Female) – Nominated * 2016: Parabrahma Chaithanya Award * PK Rosy Award * Devarajan Master Award * Good Knight Film and Business Awards 2017

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lalitha, K.P.A.C. 2022 deaths 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Best Supporting Actress National Film Award winners Kerala State Film Award winners People from Aranmula Indian television actresses Actresses from Kerala Indian film actresses Filmfare Awards South winners Actresses in Malayalam cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses from Alappuzha Indian voice actresses Actresses in Malayalam television Indian stage actresses Actresses in Malayalam theatre Indian actresses South Indian International Movie Awards winners 1947 births Recipients of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Fellowship Kerala Film Critics Awards winners