Veteran Actor Innocent Death: How The 8th-grade Dropout Became The King Of Comedy Of Malayalam Cinema

Veteran actor Innocent, who was ruling the Malayalam cinema for the last four decades, breathed his last on Sunday. He was 75. He was being treated in the Intensive Care Unit because of respiratory issues and passed away due to multi-organ failure and cardiac arrest. The state award-winning had worked around in almost 750 films and went on produce five films.

The former MP was under treatment at a Kochi hospital from March 3. The hospital in its statement said, "He was infected with Covid and had respiratory issues along with multiple organ failure resulting in heart failure," the hospital said in a release.

The former MP defeated Congress staunch PC Chacko, in the 16th Lok Sabha elections from the Chalakkudy constituency. Innocent was backed by Left Democratic Front.

For 18 years, Innocent served as the president of AMMA, (Association of Malayalam Movie Artists). The multifaceted personality has five books to credit and was a renowned columnist in magazines and newspapers.

As we pay our last tribute to the late actor, let's take a look back at his inspiring life tale. From being an 8th-grade dropout to becoming the king of comedy in Malayalam cinema, he came a long way.

ACTOR INNOCENT'S EDUCATION

The actor did not complete his study as he was unable to cope with the school lessons. As a result, he dropped out in the eighth grade.

INNOCENT'S TALE OF FAILED BUSINESSES

After dropping out, Innocent moved to Davangere, Karnataka in the early 1970s, and joined his brothers' matchbox factory. His role as factory manager required him to travel to Chennai more often. Chennai, being the hub of cinema rekindled his love for acting. Due to his new intertest in acting his factory ran into massive debts.
Later he left his factory and returned to his hometown and started a leather business, which again failed, he then started his cycle renting business, but that too did not prove to be a success.

INNOCENT'S POLITICAL CAREER

After suffering a major loss in all his business attempts, Innocent joined politics. During the 1970s, he served as the Thrissur District Secretary of the Revolutionary Socialist Party. In 1979, he became a councilor in the party from his native Irinjalakkuda Municipal council.

INNOCENT'S ACTING CAREER

After this, he finally started working towards his passion for acting and made his debut in 1972. Hoever, he became a household name with the 1989 film Ramji Rao.
He went on to open his film production house, Satru Combines, with producer David Kachappilly and also worked as a production executive. They together produced four award-winning Malayalam films including Lekhayude Maranam Oru Flashback, Ormakkayi, and Vida Parayum Mumpe.