Kedamangalam Ali

Kedamangalam Ali Biography

Kedamangalam Ali was a noted character artist associated with Malayalam cinema yesterdays. He was active in the black & white era that can be called as Golden era too. He started his film career in the year 1961 and got opportunity to work with the ace filmmaker of Malayalam, Ramu Kariat who casted him in the Malayalam film, Mudiyanaya Puthran. Since then he was active in the film scene throughout 1960s and 1970s playing less significant character roles. Kedamangalam Ali died on April 26, 1986. He died in his middle ages.

He was born in 1932 in Kedamangalam near North Paravur in Ernakulam District, Kerala. So he added the tag ‘Kedamangalam’ to his name. He started his film career at the age of 29 in the early 1960s. Thus Mudiyanaya Puthran based on Thoppil Bhasil’s famous play marked his film journey. He has been a part of several blockbusters of Malayalam cinema such as Mudiyanaaya Puthran (1961), Ninamaninja Kaalppaadukal (1963), Moodupadam (1963), Ammaye Kaanaan (1963) and Bhargaveenilayam (1964). He was also seen in the iconic movie of Malayalam cinema, Chemmeen (1964). Towards the end of 1970s he received less significant roles.

After his debut film, he received opportunity to work in Ninamaninja Kaalppaadukal (1963), which received national award for best regional language film. In the year 1964, he had three releases. He got opportunity to share screen space with both the lead heroes of Malayalam cinema – Prem Nazir and Sathyan in 1964. Since then he got opportunity to work with many leading directors of Malayalam cinema.

Though he was a talented actor, his acting talents were not fully exploited by Malayalam film directors. For the same reason he could get only a few meaty roles throughout his career though he stayed in the industry for two decades. He was active in the film industry till 1983. Enne Njaan Thedunnu was his last release. He passed away in 1986 at a comparatively young age of 54.

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Updated: July 09, 2016