Ochira Velukkutty Biography 
Ochira Velukkutty was a legendary stage actor of Malayalam theater, best known for playing female characters. He along with his co-artist Sebastian Kunjukunju Bhagavathar has delivered numerous performances together, playing the lead. Sebastian Kunjukunju Bhagavathar used to play the male lead, while Velukutty played his heroine, in the pre-independent era, when women artists were not so common in Indian theatre, and the female characters were played on stage by male artists by putting on the makeup. 1930 play Karuna, the trendsetter is the most famous work of this duo, which broke the style of musical operas existed in Malayalam theatre till then.
Ochira Velukutty was born in 1905. He was one of the prominent dramatists in the early phase of Malayalam professional drama. Till 1930s, music operas were most common. He joined hands with his co-actor Sebastian Kunjukunju Bhagavathar to produce Karuna, a play based on Kumaran Asan’s famous work with the same name. The play was a huge success and they staged it for more than 7000 times. As a stage actor he worked with Sebastian for the first time in 1929, when they appeared as lead pair for the play, Parudeesa Nashtam. Sebastian played Adam while Velukutty played Eve. After the success of the play, the career of Sebastian took off, who was only a struggling actor then. This jodi was well appreciated by audience, and they together played numerous plays as a pair.
His role as Vasavadutta in Karuna secrured him a major position in the history of Malayalam theatre. He played a huge role in the growing phase of Malayalam theatre in its initial days. He passed away in 1954, aged only 49.
Published: September 19, 2018
Updated: September 19, 2018
