Savithri Sreedharan, the veteran stage performer who found a new audience decades into her career playing one of the mothers in Sudani From Nigeria, has died in Kozhikode. She was 83. Savithri had been unwell for some time, undergoing treatment for age-related ailments, and passed away on Wednesday at her home in Mankavu.
For most of her career, cinema was a footnote to a life spent on the professional stage. That changed in 2018, when Zakariya Mohammed cast her as Jameela in Sudani From Nigeria. This heartwarming sports drama went on to become one of Malayalam cinema's best-loved films of the decade. Her Jameela, quietly affectionate and instantly recognisable, earned her a Special Mention at the National Film Awards and the Kerala State Award for Best Character Actress, introducing her to viewers who had little idea of the four decades she had already spent in theatre.
That stage career began in 1961, when Savithri started in amateur theatre with troupes in Mankavu, Thiruvannur and Meenchanda, making her debut in Karutha Velicham for the Valayanad Kala Samithi. She turned professional in 1984, joining Kalinga Theatre, the company founded by K T Mohammed, debuting with Ithu Bhoomiyanu. Over her years with Kalinga, she featured in Kaffer, Srishti, Deepasthambham Mahascharyam, Achanum Bappayum, Sakshathkaram, Kuchelavritham and Samanwayam, and won the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Best Actress for her role in Aniyara.
Her journey through Kerala's professional theatre circuit continued at Vitsan Samuel's Sangamam Theatre, in productions including Iniyum Unarathavar, Kshanikkunnu Kudumbasameetham and Aravindan Sakshiyanu, before she became one of the mainstays of Ibrahim Vengara's Chiranthana Theatres, appearing in Malikaveedu, Pakida Panthrandu, Upaharam, Odiya and Rajyasabha. Her portrayal of Aishakutty in the last of these won her the Kerala State Best Actress award in 1993, sixteen years after she won the state's Best Actress in Theatre honour in 1977. She later worked with Vikraman Nair's Stage India, appearing in Japamala, Agraharam, Aalmarattam and Akkarapacha.
As professional theatre in Kerala went into decline and opportunities grew scarce, Savithri gradually stepped back from the stage that had shaped her artistic identity. Cinema gave her a second act. She had first appeared on screen as a mother in MT Vasudevan Nair's Kadavu in 1991, a role that predated her breakout in Sudani From Nigeria by 27 years. Afterwards came a string of smaller parts in Dakini, Virus, Pada, Pappan and Christy, among others.