Kaviyoor Ponnamma (10 September 1945 – 20 September 2024) was an Indian actress who appeared in Malayalam films and television. She began her career performing in theatre dramas before foraying into cinema. She also acted in TV serials and commercials and had playback singing credits in few films.
Ponnamma was a four-time Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actress winner. Her sister Kaviyoor Renuka was also an actress. Often called as the "mother to all actors", she acted as mother of almost all actors in her career spanning over decades.[1] At the age of 20, she played the mother of older actors Sathyan and Madhu in Thommente Makkal (1965). She particularly gained critical acclaim for acting as the mother of Mohanlal.[2][3][4][5]
Early life
Ponnamma was born to T. P. Damodharan and Gauri, as the eldest of seven children, on 10 September 1945 in Kaviyoor, Thiruvalla.[6] She had six siblings among whom Kaviyoor Renuka (d. 2004), her younger sister, was also an actress.[7] Even though she was born in Kaviyoor, her childhood was spent in Ponkunnam where her father was doing business. She began taking singing lessons from age five. Ever since she saw a live concert of M. S. Subbulakshmi, she wanted to be a singer and even "look like her". Her arengettam (singing debut) was held in Kaviyoor when she was 11 years old, where she was first introduced by her stage name "Kaviyoor Ponnamma".[8]
Career
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As a five-year-old, she learned music and sang in stage shows.[9] In 1958, she was spotted by Kerala People's Arts Club (KPAC) who was looking for a girl who can sing in their stage play. They also gave her the role of heroine in Mooladhanam, her debut stage drama at age 13.[8] It was directed by Thoppil Bhasi. After five years came her first movie Kudumbini, in which she did the title role of the mother of two children.[10]
Personal life and death
Ponnamma was married to film producer Maniswami in 1969. The couple has a daughter Bindhu who is married and settled in the United States.[10] Maniswami died in 2011 after a long illness.
Ponnamma died from cancer at Lissie Hospital in Kochi, Kerala, on 20 September 2024, at the age of 79.[11][12][13][14]
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