Madampu Kunjukuttan
Madampu Sankaran Namboothiri (23 June 1941 − 11 May 2021), popularly known as Madampu Kunjukuttan, was a Malayalam actor, author and screenplay writer. Background and personal life. Kunjukuttan was born in Kiralur village of Thrissur District on 23 June 1941. His parents were late Sankaran Namboothiri and late Savithri Antharjanam. Originally named after his father according to the local customs, he later began to use his nickname. He studied Sanskrit, Hasthyaayurvedam (treatment of elephants), worked as teacher for Sanskrit at Kodungalloor and was also a priest in a nearby temple. Madampu also worked for Ākāsha Vāṇī (All India  Radio). He was married to late Savithri Antharjanam and had two daughters, Jaseena Madampu and Haseena Madampu. Career. His noted works includes Aswathamavu, Mahaprasthanam, Avighnamasthu, Bhrashtu, Entharo Mahanubhavulu, Nishadam, Pathalam, Aryavarthanam, Amrithasya Puthrah and Thonnyasam. He also wrote screenplays for the movies 'Makalkku', 'Gourisankaram', 'Saphalam', 'Karunam' and 'Deshadanam'. Kunjukuttan's novel "Mahaprasthanam" won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Best Novel in 1983. He won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay in the year 2000 for the Malayalam film "Karunam", directed by Jayaraj. He contested in the Assembly election in 2001 from Kodungallur on a BJP ticket, but did  not win. In 2003, he won the Ashdod International Film Award for Best Screenplay for the film "Parinamam (The Change)" directed by P.Venu. He received Sanjayan Award in 2014. He was famous for being the host of TV show "E4 Elephant" along with Sreekumar Arookutty on Kairali TV. He died on 11 May 2021, at a hospital in Thrissur, succumbing to COVID-19 related complications.