Kalabhavan Mani facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kalabhavan Mani
Mani in 2010
Born	(1971-01-01)1 January 1971 Chalakudy, Kerala, India
Died	6 March 2016(2016-03-06) (aged 45) Kochi, Kerala, India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Film actor Singer
Years active	1995 – 2016
Spouse(s)	Nimmi Mani ​ (m. 1999⁠–⁠2016)​
Children	1

Kunnisseri Veettil Raman Mani (1 January 1971 – 6 March 2016), better known by his stage name Kalabhavan Mani, was an Indian actor and singer. Mani started his career as a mimicry artist with the Kalabhavan comedy troupe. He had starred in over 250 films, including Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, and Telugu films, and was renowned for his humorous characters and villain roles.

Mani won the National Film Award – Special Jury Award and Kerala State Film Award for his performance as Ramu in Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njaanum (1999).

Personal life

Kalabhavan Mani was born in a Tamil Paraiyar family as Kunnisseri Veettil Raman Mani in Kerala to Chenathunad Kunnisseri Veettil Raman and Ammini at Chalakudy, Thrissur District on New Year's Day in 1971. He had an elder brother, Velayudan (deceased), younger brother, R. L. V. Ramakrishnan (dancer) and four sisters, Thankamani, Leela, Santha and Ammini Jr. He studied at GLPS East School Chalakudy till 4th grade and Government Boys School, Chalakudy till 10th grade.

Mani married Nimmy on 22 September 1999 and has a daughter named Sreelakshmi, born in 2000. He was once an autorickshaw driver from Chalakudy. His brother, R. L. V. Ramakrishnan acted in Bamboo Boys in a cameo role, starring alongside Cochin Haneefa, his brother, Harisree Ashokan and Salim Kumar.

Career

Mani during a stage program.

He started his career as a mimicry artist with the drama group Cochin Kalabhavan.His film debut was as a junior artist in Vijayakanth Captain Prabhakaran. He started his acting career in the Malayalam film Aksharam as an auto rickshaw driver. He got his first major breakthrough with the Lohithadas movie Sallapam (1996), which was a hit. After this, he acted in several movies in the comedy roles. He did some notable roles in movies such as Dilliwala Rajakumaran, Manthra Mothiram, Gajaraja Manthram, Katha Nayagan, Mayaponman and Kottappurathe Koottukudumbam. Mani's comic role as Monayi in the 1998 movie Summer in Bethlahem was appreciated among the audience. After portraying several comic characters, his true potential to do the character roles was revealed in the film Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njaanum. He did the role of a blind singer in it which earned him the Special Jury Award at both National Film Awards and Kerala State Film Awards. These awards helped Mani to do the character roles and villain roles in several movies while also doing comedy roles in numerous films. In Vakkalathu Narayanankutty (2001), he played the villain role. However his performance as villain was first noted in the movie Rakshasa Rajavu (2001), where he played the role of a crooked corrupt politician called Gunasekharan. The Guard is unique film as it has only Mani as a star cast in it. His performance as a poor eccentric person called Kuttan in Karumadikuttan received high appreciation. Mani returned to his unique comical role with the Jayaram starrer One man show. Mani was praised for his performance in Valkannadi (2002). The revenge drama had Mani in the role of Appunni, a blacksmith with the history of mental illness. He was also noted for his performance in the character role in Malayali Mamanu Vanakkam. After the comedy movies Kuberan and Bamboo Boys, both of them released in 2002, Mani almost shifted his complete focus on doing character and villain roles. Mani's notable movies in 2003 include Vellithira, Balettan, Pattalam and War and Love. He once again returned to do the comedy role with the 2004 Priyadarshan screwball comedy movie Vettam, which is probabily his last notable movie in a complete comic role. He also had a small appearance in Magic Lamp. Mani's performance as Chemban Gurukkal, the blind master martial artist, in Ananthabhadam (2005) received high appreciation. In Ben Johnson, he played the role of an action hero for the first time. It was one of the highest-grossing movies in 2005. The success of Ben Johnson saw Mani playing the similar hero roles in movies such as Lokanathan IAS, Chacko Randaman, Kisan, Payum Puli, Red Salute etc. He got a lot of praise for his performance as the villain in Chotta Mumbai (2007). In the movie, Mani played the character called Nateshan, which is considered one of the biggest villain characters in Malayalam. Mani played the lead role in the family drama Aayirathil Oruvan (2009), which was critically acclaimed In 2010, Mani acted in several films in the lead roles such as Orange, Pulliman, Black Stallion and Canvas. However, most of these were a huge failure at box office. In 2012, he acted in the multi-starrer crime drama film Bachelor Party. His performance as Looyi Papan in Amen (2013) was acclaimed by both the critics and audience. Mani's last Malayalam movie is Poyi Maranju Parayathe, which was released in 2016 after his death.

He grabbed everyone's attention in the Tamil film industry as the villain in the movie Gemini (2002), which featured Vikram in the lead role. He acted in more than 30 Tamil films along with numerous Kannada and Telugu films. His last Tamil film is Pudhusa Naan Poranthen released in 2016.

Along with his acting career, Mani established a parallel industry of Nadan Pattu (folk songs), by selling a record number of releases. His first music album was Kannimanga Prayathil. Most of his songs were written and composed by Arumugan Venkidangu. He also released several religious songs and Mappila Pattukal.

Charity

Mani is well known for providing humanitarian assistance to people in need. He was approached and was offered a seat in the 2016 Kerala Legislative Assembly election by LDF. He had openly told that he was a Leftist and used to Campaign for CPI(M) and left parties during elections. Mani is known for doing a lot of charity work for the poor people. Reportedly, on an average day, around 20 people from less privileged backgrounds used to come to visit him at his residence. As a fund-raiser and performer, he also had contributed money to the local festivals of the religious organisations and provided funds to the schools in his village.

Death

Kalabhavan Mani died at 7:15 pm on 6 March 2016, aged 45. The day before, he was admitted to Amrita Hospital, Kochi. The police registered a case as unnatural death due to the presence of toxic chemicals in Kalabhavan Mani's body.

His unexpected death led to a case by his friends and family which has been filed for investigation through Kochi City Police. On 18 March 2016, based on the forensic test from the Regional Chemical Examiner's Laboratory, death cause was identified with high probability a highly poisonous chemical, Chlorpyrifos—usually used in insecticides, which is banned in many countries for residential use, it is considered a hazardous substance for general ecology. The report suggests that Mani might have consumed the poison knowingly or unknowingly over the days before his death.

His sudden demise led to emotional reactions from his fans and many of his co-stars in the Malayalam Film Industry along with the rest of the South Indian Film Industry. The Mollywood film fraternity and thousands of fans of late actor Kalabhavan Mani paid homage to the versatile artiste during a memorial service on 13 March 2016, at Carmel Higher Secondary School in Chalakudy organised by well-wishers. Tributes were celebrated through the media with 2–3 hours programme special. Mani was cremated with full state honours at his home premises on 7 March. The shopkeepers of Chalakudy paid homage to Mani by closing their shops on the same day.

Legacy

Chalakkudikkaran Changathi is a 2018 Malayalam film directed by Vinayan based on the life of Kalabhavan Mani.

Awards and honours

National Film Awards

• 1999 – Special Jury Award – Vasantiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njanum

Kerala State Film Awards

• 1999 – Special Jury Award – Vasantiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njanum

Filmfare Awards

• 2002 – Best Villain (Tamil) – Gemini

Asianet Film Awards

• 1999 – Best Actor Award – Vasantiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njanum
• 2007 – Best Actor in a Villain Role – Chotta Mumbai

Vanitha awards

• 2008 – Vanitha Chandrika Award for Best Actor in Villain Role– Chotta Mumbai

Jaihind TV awards

• 2010 – Special Jury Award

Other awards

• 2014 Bharat Gopi Foundation Award

Filmography

Malayalam films

2010s

2000s

1990s

Tamil films

Telugu films

Kannada films

As playback singer

• Sammanam (1995)
• Kottaram Veettile Apputtan (1998)
• Kannezhuthi Pottum Thottu (1999)
• Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum pinne njanum (1999)
• O Priye (2000)
• Achaneyanishttam (2001)
• Akasthile Paravakal (2001)
• The Guard (2001)
• Karumadikkuttan (2001)
• Bamboo Boys (2002)
• Kanmashi (2002)
• Vaalkannadi (2002)
• Kusruthy Kannan (2003)
• Kanninum Kannadiykkum (2004)
• Kazhcha (2004)
• Malsaram (2004)
• Ananthabhadram (2005)
• Ben Johnson (2005)
• Chacko Randaaman (2006)
• Kissan (2006)
• Red Salute (2006)
• Abraham Lincoln (2007)
• Evan (2007)
• Kabadi Kabadi (2008)
• Twenty Twenty (2010)
• Chakorandaman (2006)
• indrajith (2006)
• aandavan (2007)
• paayum puli (2007)

As music director

Story

• MLA Mani Pathaam Classum Gusthiyum (2012)

Television

• Manimelam as host (Kairali TV)
• Gajarajan Guruvayur Keshavan (Surya TV)
• Meera (Asianet)
• Vinodsala (Doordarshan)
• Chiri Arangu (Doordarshan)

See also

In Spanish: Kalabhavan Mani para niños