Hyderabad: Despite struggles, Mollywoods favourite comedy actor Innocent sailed through life smiling. Born on March 4, 1948, in Kerala, Innocent studied till 8th grade and discontinued his studies as he could not cope with studying. He then set up a leather business, and then a cycle renting business to make a living, but both failed terribly.
After some time, he entered politics and became the Municipal councillor of Irinjalakuda. He won from the Chalakudy Lok Sabha constituency in 2014 as a CPI-M candidate and had been quite a significant voice in the Parliament while representing the constituency. Innocent entered the film industry in 1972 with the movie Nrityashala, but it was with Ramji Rao speaking that he got his deserved acclaim.
The veteran actor who had acted in around 700 movies and produced many of them was a comedian and a character actor. He played comedy roles in Ramji Rao Speaking, Mannar Mathai Speaking, Kilukkam, Godfather, Vietnam Colony, Nadodikattu, Manichitrathazhu and Kalyanaraman among others.
2020 is the only year he didn't appear in any films due to cancer treatment since 1980. A gifted writer, he authored as many as 5 books. He also wrote for magazines and newspapers. A memoir on his combat with cancer, ‘Cancer Wardile Chiri’ (Laughter in the cancer ward) is one of the best sellers in Malayalam for its witty presentation of how he survived one of the most painful phases of his life with a positive outlook. As his wife Alice was diagnosed with cancer, he termed themselves as the “cancer couple’’. The couple has a son, Sonnet.
Also read: Malayalam actor Innocent dies at 75: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Dulquer Salmaan mourn his demise
