Famous Malayalam film actor, musician R Subbalakshmi, dies at 87

Famous Malayalam actor and musician R Subbalakshmi, who won the hearts of the audience as “Muthassi” (Grand Mother) in the film Kalyana Raman and Pandippada, died on Thursday in Thiruvananthapuram. She was 87 years old.

She is survived by her three children, including actor and dancer Thara Kalyan. Her husband, Kalyanakrishnan, predeceased her. She is also the grandmother of actor Sowbhaghya.

Subbalakshmi started her career as an employee of All India Radio and subsequently worked as a music instructor at Jawahar Balbhavan. Subbalakshmi”s film career started after retirement, and she became part of the industry as an adorable grandma.

Her roles in Kalayana Raman and Pandippada Subbalakshmi”s became widely popular. She has been part of around 75 films in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi.

Her well-known movies include Nandanam, Pandippada, CID Moosa, and Thilakkam. She also acted in the Telugu remake of Kalyanaraman and several TV commercials, serials, and TV shows.

Subbalakshmi”s roles in Doordarshan serials such as Valayam and Gandharvayamam have been widely accepted. She also dubbed for some films and sang for films like Marykkundoru Kunjadu and Ammini.