Kochi, Sep 20 (IANS): Malayalam film industry’s most popular screen ‘mother’ Kaviyoor Ponnamma breathed her last at a private hospital here on Friday evening, said film industry sources.

Known for her characteristic big, red bindi, 75-years-old Ponnamma was ailing for a while.

Starting her acting career in Malayalam drama in the late 1950s and later graduating to films, Ponnamma was the most sought-after actress to portray the role of a mother and a grandmother.

She had played ‘mother’ to legendary actors like Sathyan and Prem Nazir, Mammootty, Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi and numerous others.

In her long and distinguished acting career she donned the grease paint in over 700 films, mostly Malayalam.

She last donned the grease paint in 2022, following which age-related illness caught up with her and the actress was mostly at home.

Her husband passed away in 2011 and she had one daughter who is settled in the US.

For the last few weeks, she had been ill and mostly confined to a hospital bed as her condition worsened.

People from the Malayalam film industry reacted to the news of her demise with shock and sadness.

Actress Nayva Nair expressed sadness over the fact that she was not able to go and meet Ponnamma when she was ailing.

“I feel really sad that I was not able to see her. I used to call her ‘Ponnu’ and it was real fun and frolic when I was with her during shoots. She was like a real mother and not a filmy mother,” said Nair who is out of the country at the moment.

Award-winning actress Urvasi said, “For me she was Ponnu aunty and was a good friend of my mother. They had a very close relationship and I was the beneficiary and she liked me a lot. She lived not like a screen mother but as heroine. She was a foodie and used the best of cosmetics and she often used to advise me.

“I remember once she got really angry when someone on the set did not give me due respect. She will always remain in my memories.”

At the height of her career Ponnamma had to face stiff competition from Sukumari and KPAC Lalitha.

However, her scenes with superstar Mohanlal always turned out to be a smashing combination and won the hearts of many and films like ‘Thenmavin Kombathu’ and ‘Kireedom’ will go down as all-time hits. Ponnamma and Mohanlal acted in around 50 films together.

Ponnamma had won numerous awards including the Kerala state government’s prestigious film awards and she was also popular in the television industry.

Many of her screen ‘sons’ and ‘daughters’ visited Ponnamma when she was in hospital.

Last year, there were rumours that the actress had been abandoned by her family and was living in misery. However, Ponnamma refuted the rumours saying, she was living with her youngest brother.

The formalities of the last rites of the departed actress will be decided by her daughter who is based in the US.