43 years on, memories of Malayalam actor Jayan still linger

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 16

Numerous stars have appeared and disappeared in the Malayalam film industry, but none could fill replace the first macho actor Jayan who died while shooting for a film 43 years ago.

Forty-one-year-old Jayan, who had made a mark for himself with his daredevil attitude, had met a tragic end while shooting for a film on November 16, 1980.

Jayan was attempting a heroic stunt onboard a helicopter that had taken off with the main villain in the film 'Kolilekkam'. As per the requirement, after a fight sequence he had to throw out the villain from the helicopter but in the process he lost his balance, fell off and died.

On the 43rd anniversary of his death, his exploits come live in the media and also at his home town Kollam, about 70 km from here and houses a life-size statue of his.

A naval officer, Jayan was first spotted by the then hugely popular villain actor Jose Prakash in the early 70s and in just four years, he reached the pinnacle in the industry.

When he passed away, he had already acted in 124 films starting from 1972. His career graph skyrocketed in 1977 when he acted in 19 films, 1978 in 31, 1979 (25) and in 1980 of the 30 films that he was working in, 11 were released after his death.

Among the major hits of Jayan are "Angadi" (regarded as one of the all time hits directed by I.V.Sasi), 'Moorken', 'Manushyamrigam', and 'Chakara' .