Sukumaran
Born	Edappal Ponnamkuzhi Veettil Parameswaran Sukumaran Nair (1948-06-10)10 June 1948 Edappal,Malabar District,Madras State, India (Present-dayMalappuram,Kerala, India)
Died	16 June 1997(1997-06-16) (aged 49) Thiruvananthapuram,Kerala, India
Occupations	Actor film producer
Years active	1973–1997
Spouse	Mallika Sukumaran ​ (m. 1978)​
Children	Indrajith Sukumaran Prithviraj Sukumaran
Relatives	Poornima Indrajith (daughter-in-law) Prarthana Indrajith (granddaughter)

Edappal Ponnamkuzhi Veettil Parameswaran Sukumaran Nair (10 June 1948 – 16 June 1997), knownmononymously asSukumaran, was an Indian actor and producer ofMalayalam films.^[1][2] Sukumaran became a popular film star inMalayalam cinema during the 1970s. He was considered one of the superstar trios of Malayalam cinema during the late 1970s and early 1980s along withSoman andJayan.^[3]

Later, he became known for hischaracter roles and antagonistic roles during the 1980s and 1990s, notably the villain inCID Unnikrishnan B.A., B.Ed. (1994) andOnnaam Muhurtham (1991), playing character roles in films likeSouhrudam (1990). In 1978, he won theKerala State Film Award for Best Actor for his performance inM. T. Vasudevan Nair'sBandhanam. As a producer, he produced such films asIrakal andPadayani.

On 16 June 1997, Sukumaran suffered a massive heart attack and died. He was 49 at the time of his death.

Sukumaran was born atEdappal,Ponnani taluk,Malabar District,Madras Presidency,British India (present-dayMalappuram District,Kerala) in the year 1948 as the eldest son of Parameshwaran Nair and Subhadra P. Nair.^[4] He had two younger brothers and a sister. (Dr. Sethumadhavan, Dr. Sivadasan, and Sathee Devi).

Sukumaran was educated at St. Thomas Higher Secondary School, Pala^[5] and atChurch Mission Society Higher Secondary School, Thrissur. After completing his master's degree in English literature fromUniversity College, Thiruvananthapuram, with a gold medal, he began a job as a college lecturer for three years atGovernment College, Kasaragod, and atScott Christian College,Nagercoil.

During his tenure teaching English atScott Christian College inNagercoil, Tamil Nadu, Sukumaran got an offer to act in the Malayalam movieNirmalyam, directed byM. T. Vasudevan Nair. He accepted the role of a defiant youngster in the film. The film went on to win accolades from all over and won a couple ofNational Film Awards as well. Despite being noted as a talented actor, Sukumaran did not receive any offers for some time after. He was thinking of returning to the teaching profession, when he was offered a role inShankupushpam.^[6] With that film, Sukumaran carved a niche for himself in theMalayalam film industry. He worked with directorP. Venu in the filmThacholi Thankappan (1983).Thakilu Kottampuram, directed by Balukiriyath was one of his Best films in the 80s, He then went on to act in substantial roles in films such asAvalude Ravukal,Angadi,Bandhanam,Etho Oru Swapnam,Manasa Vacha Karmana,Ahimsha,Spodanam,Shalini Ente Koottukari,Angakkuri,Kolilakkam,Theekkadal,Sandarbam,Witness andKottayam Kunjachanan. By the year 1985, he had stopped playing hero roles.^[7] His role as a defiant police officer inOru CBI Diary Kurippu and its sequelJagratha, directed byK. Madhu, was noted for its characterisation and earned cult status when the third sequel in the series,Sethurama Iyer CBI, hadSai Kumar portraying the son of the police officer, with the mannerisms and voice tone of Sukumaran. Sukumaran won theKerala State Film Award for Best Actor in 1978 for his role inBandhanam.^[4] Sukumaran had his own production company, called Indraraj Creations. One of his productionsIrakal, directed byK. G. George, was selected for the Indian Panorama in theInternational Film Festival of India (IFFI).^[4] TheAssociation of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) had sidelined and unofficially banned Sukumaran from films for around three years during the mid-90s, for some of the comments he made on the industry and its politics.^[8] His last film wasShibiram, directed by T. S. Suresh Babu.

Sukumaran married actressMallika Sukumaran on 17 October 1978.^[9] They have two sons who both work inMalayalam film industry;Indrajith Sukumaran andPrithviraj Sukumaran. ActressPoornima Mohan and journalist Supriya Menon are his daughters-in-law.^[10] His grand daughterPrarthana Indrajith is aplayback singer. Sukumaran died due to a massiveheart attack on 16 June 1997.

• Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor – 1978 –Bandhanam (directed byM. T. Vasudevan Nair)

• Irakal (1985)
• Padayani (1986)

DirectorKR Mohanan shot Ashwathama (1979) with Sukumaran in a lead role for six days. Thereafter, the actor's schedule clashed with that of another movie, andMadampu Kunjukuttan replaced him in Ashwathama.^[11]

• Sukumaran atIMDb
• Sukumaran at MSI

• 1948 births
• 1997 deaths
• Male actors in Malayalam television
• Indian male television actors
• Male actors from Kerala
• Kerala State Film Award winners
• People from Malappuram district
• Male actors in Malayalam cinema
• Indian male film actors
• Malayalam film producers
• 20th-century Indian male actors
• Film producers from Thiruvananthapuram
• Kerala Film Critics Awards winners

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