Theatre exponent Ramachandran Mokeri, who passed away here on Sunday, had used the art form as a platform of protest through his street plays and one-act plays. His works include Chihnabhinnam and Thendikkoothu and various adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays, through which Mr. Ramachandran questioned institutional practices and the conventional definition of aesthetics. He acted in maverick film-maker John Abraham’s classic movie Amma Ariyan, ‘Chintha’ Raveendran’s Ore Thoovalpakshikal, and James Joseph’s Galileo.
Mr. Ramachandran also served as the director of the School of Drama affiliated to the University of Calicut and worked in the English Department of Zamorin’s Guruvayoorappan College, Kozhikode.
Kannur Film Society
Born in 1947 at Mokeri, near Panur, in Kannur district, he was active in the theatre circles of Thalassery in his formative years. He was one of the founders of the Kannur Film Society. His plays such as Rakthasakshikal and Onchiyathinte Katha were well appreciated. The play titled Swathanthryam Nishedhikunnavarodu, conceived along with writer N. Sasidharan, was hailed as an example of political resistance.
He died on Sunday at a private hospital in Kozhikode where he had been undergoing treatment for respiratory problems. The body was kept at the Kozhikode Town Hall for the public to pay their last respects and then taken to Thalassery. He is survived by wife Usha and sons Manu and Johns. Calicut University Vice Chancellor M.K. Jayaraj and Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi have condoled the death of Mr. Ramachandran.
