"Her artistic journey...": Kamal Haasan pens emotional tribute to veteran actress Kaviyoor Ponnamma

MUMBAI: Kamal Haasan paid a touching tribute to veteran actress Kaviyoor Ponnamma, who passed away due to age-related ailments.

On Sunday, Kamal Haasan took to his X handle and wrote in Tamil which loosely translated to, "Kaviyoor Ponnamma, the best character actor of the Malayalam screen, is nicknamed 'Mother of all Actors'. Because of her acting talent, we brought her to the Tamil screen as well (Sathya). Making her debut as a stage play heroine at the age of 13, her artistic journey continued into cinema, serials and commercials. The news of 'mother Kaviyoor Ponnamma's natural death is saddened. My condolences to her family. Tribute to Anna."

He also shared a scene from Sathya.

She breathed her last at 79 on Friday at a private hospital in Kochi.

She was admitted to the hospital due to age-related ailments for months. The demise of actor Kaviyoor Ponnamma has left the entire film industry in shock. Actors Mohanlal, Mammootty, Dulquer Salmaan along with politicians.

Ponnamma was known for her iconic mother roles. She started her journey as a singer, she transitioned to acting through theatre.

Her notable films include Asuravithu, Velutha Kathreena, KarakanaKadal, Theerthayathra, Nirmalyam,Chenkol, Bharatham, Santanagopalam, Sukrutham, and many more. She also lent her voice as a playback singer in eight films and appeared in over 25 television series.

Ponnamma was noted for playing the mother to many prominent actors such as Sathyan, Madhu, Prem Nazir, Soman, Sukumaran, Mammootty, and Mohanlal.

In addition to her mother's roles, she portrayed diverse characters, including negative roles. She acted in around 1,000 films and even produced the movie Meghatheertham.