Veteran
Malayalam
actress
Aranmula
Ponnamma
died
at
a
private
hospital
in
Thiruvananthapuram
yesterday
evening
(February
21).
The
96-year-old
actress,
who
is
known
for
her
roles
as
caring
and
loving
mother,
was
suffering
from
age-related
ailments.
She
is
survived
by
two
daughters.
Aranmula
Ponnamma
started
her
acting
career
at
the
age
of
29
with
the
play
'Bhagyalakshmi'
opposite
Augustine
Joseph.
Later,
she
made
her
film
debut
with
late
Thikkurissi
Sukumaran
Nair's
movie
Sasidharan.
Then
she
continued
playing
the
roles
of
a
caring,
loving
and
suffering
mother
and
grandmother.
The
senior
Malayalam
actress
starred
in
hundreds
of
movies
in
her
career
spanning
six
decades.
She
played
the
mother
or
grandmother
of
first
generation
actors
like
Thikkurissy
Sukumaran
Nair,
second
generation
actors
like
Prem
Nazir
and
Sathyan
and
third
generation
actors
like
Mohanlal
and
Suresh
Gopi.
However,
Ponnamma
won
many
awards
including
the
state's
prestigious
JC
Daniel
award
for
lifetime
achievement
in
2006.
She
was
honoured
with
National
and
State
film
awards
in
best
supporting
actress
category
for
her
performance
in
the
film
Kathapurushan,
directed
by
Adoor
Gopalakrishnan
in
1995.